So last post I left you after we decided that we needed to move in a different direction for the $5 challenge. To refresh your memory of what happened you can take a look here.

For our next move we decided to look at event planning. Events are great. They’re not too difficult to organise, are lots of fun and bring in a reasonable amount of money in a short amount of time. The only downside is that you only find out if your idea is successful after you’ve invested your time and money and the event is about to take place.

The first event that we tried to organise was a movie night on campus. We’d hire out the campus centre cinema, provide snacks and charge a small fee on the door.

Simple right? 

Well in reality it turned out to be much more difficult. 

We sorted out the movie, bought our food, set up and patiently waited for our guests to arrive. 

Except - no one showed.

So instead of it being a huge night like we planned, it ended up being more like this:

Considerably confused we asked some of the people we invited why they didn’t come, and we got some valuable feedback regarding how we promoted our event. For example, we should have been more personal in our approach and more descriptive about the cause we were supporting.

The movie night wasn’t the only event we tried to do, we also planned to have a dance party. We would run it similar to how MDS runs their parties and as these parties at Monash usually attract a regular crowd of around 40 people, it appeared to be a viable option. I used my connections with MDS and they agreed to provide us with teachers, equipment, advertising space and support on the night. Everything was going to work our perfectly! 

So why didn’t it happen?

Because one very key detail did not fall into place. That is, we weren’t able to secure a venue. And so inadvertently that plan was also a failure.

We had several other ideas in addition to these, but none of them worked out. So when we finally completed the challenge at the end of 4 weeks, we had only made a profit of $47.

While we weren’t very successful at making profit, our failure provided a valuable learning opportunity. We learned the importance of marketing and of recognising the opportunities that networks present, which we can apply to any future business ventures.

Have you done the $5 Challenge? How did you go? I'd love to hear about your experiences!