January's quiet. Use it. Before you rush into 2026, look back at 2025. Your numbers tell a story—about what's working, what's not, and where your real opportunities lie. Here's how to conduct a proper year-in-review that actually improves your business.
Why Bother Reviewing?
Most vendors don't do this. They finish the year exhausted, take a break, then dive straight back into quoting and booking. That's a mistake.
Without reviewing, you'll repeat the same patterns—good and bad. You'll undercharge for weddings because you don't realise they're more profitable than festivals. You'll say yes to events that lose you money. You'll miss the trends that could double your business.
An hour spent analysing your year is worth more than ten hours of random marketing.
The Numbers That Matter
Total Revenue vs Total Profit
Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Start here:
- Total revenue: Everything that came in during 2025
- Total costs: Food, fuel, staff, equipment, insurance, marketing, everything
- Net profit: Revenue minus costs. This is what you actually made.
- Profit margin: Net profit ÷ revenue × 100. Healthy is 20-35% for most vendors.
If your profit margin is below 15%, you're working too hard for too little. Something needs to change—pricing, costs, or both.
Revenue by Event Type
Break down your revenue by category:
- Weddings
- Festivals
- Corporate events
- Private parties
- Markets
- Other
Now calculate profit margin for each. You might discover that weddings bring 40% of revenue at 30% margin, while festivals bring 30% of revenue at only 15% margin. That's crucial information for planning 2026.
💡 Pro Tip
Your highest-revenue event type isn't necessarily your most profitable. Calculate profit per hour worked for each event type. The results might surprise you—and should inform which bookings you prioritise.
Average Booking Value
Total revenue ÷ number of bookings = average booking value. Track this over time. If it's growing, you're either raising prices or attracting bigger events—both good. If it's shrinking, you're trading time for less money.
Enquiry Conversion Rate
How many enquiries turned into bookings? Count your total enquiries and divide by confirmed bookings.
- Below 20%: Your pricing might be off, or your follow-up needs work
- 20-40%: Normal range for most vendors
- Above 50%: You might be undercharging, or you've built a strong reputation
Seasonal Patterns
Plot your monthly revenue. You'll see your busy and quiet periods clearly. For most UK vendors:
- Peak: May-September (weddings, festivals, outdoor events)
- Secondary peak: November-December (Christmas markets, corporate parties)
- Quiet: January-March (minimal events, cash flow stress)
Your job for 2026: either fill the quiet months or save enough during peaks to cover them comfortably.
Customer Analysis
Repeat Customers
How many 2025 bookings came from people who'd booked you before? Repeat customers are gold—they trust you, they're easier to serve, and they don't need convincing. If repeat bookings are low, you need to work on client retention.
Referral Sources
Where did your clients find you? Track:
- Word of mouth/referrals
- Google search
- Instagram/social media
- Venue recommendations
- Directory sites
- Other
Double down on whatever's working. If 60% of your bookings come from referrals, invest in making clients so happy they can't help but recommend you. If Instagram brings nothing, maybe stop spending hours on it.
| Metric | How to Calculate | What It Tells You |
|---|---|---|
| Profit margin | Net profit ÷ revenue × 100 | Overall business health |
| Average booking value | Total revenue ÷ number of bookings | Whether you're moving upmarket |
| Conversion rate | Bookings ÷ enquiries × 100 | Sales effectiveness |
| Profit per hour | Event profit ÷ total hours worked | True earning rate |
| Repeat customer rate | Repeat bookings ÷ total bookings × 100 | Client satisfaction and retention |
The Honest Questions
Numbers only tell part of the story. Ask yourself:
- Which events did I actually enjoy? Life's too short to hate your work.
- Which clients were nightmares? Can you spot them earlier and decline?
- What did I say yes to that I should have declined?
- What opportunities did I miss because I was too busy or too cautious?
- Am I earning what I'm worth? Be honest.
Track 2026 Properly from Day One
VendorPad makes year-end reviews easy by tracking every booking, enquiry, and payment automatically. Start the year right—you'll thank yourself next January.
Get Early AccessTurning Insights Into Action
Analysis without action is just procrastination. Based on your review, decide:
Three Things to Do More Of
What worked? More of that. Maybe it's weddings, or a specific venue relationship, or your Instagram presence. Identify your wins and lean into them.
Three Things to Stop or Change
What didn't work? Stop doing it, or fix it. Maybe it's underpriced festival work, or clients from a particular source who always haggle, or marketing that brings zero return.
One Big Goal for 2026
Not five goals. One. Maybe it's hitting a revenue target, or breaking into weddings, or finally hiring help. Pick one thing that would make 2026 meaningfully better than 2025.
Your 2025 numbers aren't just history—they're a roadmap. Use them. The vendors who grow are the ones who learn from their data, not the ones who wing it year after year.
