Wednesday afternoon was the celebration marking this month as the grand opening of Treading Together LLC a speaker bureau, consulting, and management services firm. There were door prizes, interesting conversation, tasty treats, and everything else you might expect for such an occasion. I shared the experience with a fellow entrepreneur Kate Liu, meeting planner of Kate Liu LLC.

Planning and hosting a business gathering is a fun way to meet new people and help others do the same. It can be a rewarding experience personally and professionally. I recommend every small business owner plan and host a similar event sometime in the next twelve months. One source of trepidation though might be the cost associated with planning and hosting a professional gathering but here are some hints and ideas that we used to control costs without sacrificing quality.

Idea one, careful scheduling. We put a considerable amount of thought into the scheduling of our event. We placed it on a Wednesday and scheduled it from 4:30 to 6:00pm. Not having the event during a mealtime saved on catering costs. Also, starting around 6:00pm about two blocks down the street from my office happens to be a live outdoor jazz concert on Wednesdays. By having our event just before the jazz concert and by encouraging our guests to stroll up that way towards the end of the gathering we eliminated the costs of hiring live entertainment but practically had a live jazz concert. When you plan your event consider times and locations in your community that can help you leverage other exciting events already happening nearby.

Idea two, teamwork. Kate and I quickly decided to host a grand opening together. This saved us money because we were able to split the catering costs. We also split the amount of time and effort necessary to plan the event. Besides the economical aspects of working together we had the opportunity to meet interesting people that might not have otherwise been on our list; we both gained new business contacts as did our guests. It also made sense for us to join forces because we both attended the same workshop hosted by the Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) in the early stages of our business. We invited the SCORE folks to our grand opening as a sign of appreciation for their help and support early on. Perhaps there is a business contact you have that could co-host a similar gathering with you. Be creative with this idea and think about businesses who have clients that might benefit from meeting and interacting with your clients.

Idea three, catering. Time is money. We hired a caterer we knew and trusted to provide snacks and treats for our guests. The time we saved more than adequately compensated us for the additional expense associated with catering. Money well spent. We did beverages on our own. Soft drink and coffee are easy and require almost zero preparation. To add class to the event we originally thought we would serve wine ‘“ this was going to be the costly part. After some thought and research we opted to serve sangría instead, which is a punch made from wine as the principle ingredient. Our money-saving secret was to use Charles Shaw wines. Charles Shaw wine, sold at Trader Joes, is also known as Two Buck Chuck. At $2 – $4 per bottle the sangría became much less costly. In general sangía is an excellent, money saving, option for providing an adult beverage at social or business gatherings especially when Charles Shaw wine is available.

What tips, hints, tricks, and ideas do Queercents readers have about inexpensive gatherings profession or social? Any great recipes for snacks or beverages?