One of the hardest things about running an event business is putting a price on your own time. Many organisers drastically undercharge because they love what they do, feel awkward about money, or simply do not know what their time is worth. But if you are not paying yourself properly, you do not have a business. You have an expensive hobby.
Calculate your minimum hourly rate
Before you can price your services, you need to know the minimum amount you need to earn. Start with your personal financial needs:
- Annual living costs -- Add up your rent or mortgage, bills, food, transport, insurance, and everything else you spend in a year to live comfortably.
- Tax and National Insurance -- Add approximately 25 to 30 percent on top of your living costs to cover income tax and National Insurance. This varies depending on your earnings level and business structure.
- Business overheads -- Add your annual business costs that are not charged to specific events: insurance, accounting fees, software subscriptions, marketing, professional development, and office costs.
- Holiday and sick pay provision -- As a self-employed person, you do not get paid when you are not working. Factor in at least 25 days of holiday plus 5 sick days when calculating your available working days.
- Pension contributions -- If you are self-employed, nobody is contributing to a pension for you. Include a pension provision in your calculations.
Now divide your total annual requirement by the number of billable hours you can realistically work in a year. If you work 48 weeks (allowing for 4 weeks off), and you are billable for 25 hours per week (the rest is spent on admin, marketing, and business development), that gives you 1,200 billable hours per year.
If your total annual requirement is £42,000, your minimum hourly rate is £35. That is the floor, not the target. Your actual rate should be higher to allow for growth, savings, and the inevitable quiet periods where you have fewer billable hours than planned.
Pricing models for event organisers
Hourly rate
Charging by the hour is transparent and straightforward. The client pays for the time you spend, and you track your hours. This works well for consultancy, advisory work, and small projects where the scope is unclear upfront.
The downside is that it penalises efficiency. As you get more experienced and faster at your job, you earn less per event even though the value you deliver is higher. It also creates uncertainty for the client, who does not know the final cost until the work is done.
Day rate
Common for event-day work: production management, stage management, or on-site coordination. A day rate is typically calculated as your hourly rate multiplied by 8 to 10 hours, sometimes with a small discount to reflect the guaranteed block of time. Day rates are simple for both parties and avoid the awkwardness of logging every half-hour.
Project fee
A fixed price for the entire project, from initial planning through to post-event wrap-up. This is the most common pricing model for full-service event organisers. The client knows the cost upfront, and you have an incentive to work efficiently.
To price a project accurately, estimate the total hours you will spend (be realistic, not optimistic), multiply by your hourly rate, and add a margin for contingency (10 to 20 percent). Track your actual hours on the first few projects to calibrate your estimates.
Percentage of budget
Some event organisers charge a percentage of the total event budget, typically 10 to 20 percent. This aligns your fee with the scale and complexity of the event. A £50,000 event at 15 percent earns you £7,500, which may or may not reflect the actual time involved. This model works best for larger events where the budget is substantial and the organiser has full responsibility for budget management.
Retainer
For ongoing clients, a monthly retainer provides a guaranteed income in exchange for a set number of hours or a defined scope of work. Retainers are valuable for cash flow stability and are common with venues or corporate clients who run regular events.
What to include in your price
When quoting, make sure your price covers all the time you will actually spend:
- Planning and research -- Venue visits, supplier sourcing, logistics planning
- Administration -- Emails, calls, contracts, invoicing
- Client meetings -- Including travel time
- Supplier coordination -- Briefing, managing, and checking the work of all suppliers
- Event day -- Often the longest single day, from early setup to late breakdown
- Post-event work -- Reconciliation, feedback, reporting, final payments
New organisers typically underestimate the admin and coordination time. For every hour spent at the event itself, you will usually spend three to five hours on planning and admin. Factor this in.
Dealing with scope creep
Scope creep is when the work expands beyond what was originally agreed, without a corresponding increase in your fee. It is the most common way event organisers end up working for less than their rate.
Prevent it by:
- Defining the scope clearly in writing before starting work. List what is included and, just as importantly, what is not included.
- Quoting for additional requests -- When the client asks for something outside the agreed scope, respond positively but with a price. "Absolutely, I can handle that. It will be an additional £X on top of the project fee."
- Reviewing scope at milestones -- At key planning stages, check that the project is still within the agreed scope. If it has expanded, renegotiate the fee before continuing.
How to stop undercharging
If you find it difficult to charge what you are worth, these mindset shifts help:
- You are not charging for your time -- You are charging for the outcome. The client is not buying 50 hours of your time. They are buying a successful event, delivered professionally, without them having to worry about it.
- Compare to alternatives -- What would it cost the client to hire an events agency? What would they lose if the event was poorly organised? Your fee is a fraction of those costs.
- Cheap sends the wrong signal -- Clients often associate low prices with low quality. A reasonable fee signals competence and professionalism.
- Track your actual hours -- Most organisers discover they work far more hours than they thought. Seeing the real number makes it easier to justify increasing your rates.
Reviewing and increasing your rates
Review your rates at least annually. As you gain experience, build a portfolio, and develop a reputation, your value increases. Costs also rise each year with inflation. If you do not increase your rates, you are effectively taking a pay cut.
When increasing rates, give existing clients reasonable notice and explain the change. Most clients expect annual increases and will accept them without argument, especially if you have been delivering good work. New clients should always be quoted at your current rate.
Your time is the most valuable asset in your event business. Pricing it correctly is not greedy; it is necessary for building a sustainable business that lets you keep doing the work you love. For more on the financial side of events, see our guide on profit margins in the events industry and our overview of building an event budget.
