I exploded my event business, and it made more than $ 1 million last year

• Daniel Meursing is the CEO of first staff, an endowment company on the luxury event in Los Angeles.
• He worked as a server and launched his own lovingly living business with his mother in the suburbs.
• Meursing had to learn to be honest with himself as CEO to increase his income and evolve the business.

This test also filed is based on a transcribed conversation with Daniel Meursing, CEO of first staff. The following has been changed during the duration and clarity.

I moved to New York and signed with New York Model Management in 2015. I was 19 years old and I worked for a catering business as a “model server”. The salary was $ 27 an hour, and it was a good concert. I was also a brand ambassador for a recruitment company of a friend working during pop-up events.

In 2019, I returned to Los Angeles to live with my mother in the suburbs. I had obtained my license as a mortgage lender and I worked in a loan company.

The times were thin, so I also took concerts working for an event company in Los Angeles.

A guest of a party in which I worked in Los Angeles approached me and asked me if I could endow some of his artistic festivals each month. He had been impressed by my work by managing high -level guests at the party. I had a certain experience of management events, so okay.

In a few weeks after meeting this client, I had my first party. I was nervous and I had no idea what I was doing. I had to learn to file invoices and choose a business name, first staff.

Finding staff for these first events was difficult, and I often asked friends to help the last minute. I have never been confident that the staff would appear on time or in the right uniform. At the beginning, I led each event on site.

The holidays went well because I walked in space like a madman, making sure that everything was perfect.

I won around $ 22,000 in 2019 by managing my events and working for other recruitment companies, by reinvesting these wages in my business.

I was also dismissed from my mortgage loan that year. My heart was not really in mortgage loans, and I was enthusiastic about my new opportunity. It was like a sign.

I ate McDonalds every day to maintain low costs

I lived credit cards and paved together $ 4,000 to buy the “Premiertaff.com” site. I spent six months to build the website and create the brand. I ate $ 5 meals at McDonalds and invested everything in the company.

I launched a first -rate staff in October 2019. I was young enough to allow me to start a business and I had the chance to live with my mother.

One of the main things that helped me get a second client was to optimize my website to classify Google and create a Google commercial list. This is how my second client, love events, contacted the following month. They produced weddings in Beverly Hills and hired me as one of their coordinators on site.

People started calling to book events from my Google list. When I started booking several events a day, I knew I had to hire people who are trustworthy to direct them. I built an internal leadership training program to teach my managers how to keep customers happy.

We have provided luxury staff and helped coordinate event spaces, schedules and schedules. From October 2019 to February 2020, I was taking solid momentum and my income increased.

Covid closed our revenues to zero

There was no work in 2020. It was discouraging. I again obtained a job as a mortgage lender. Interest rates had shown and loan activity was booming.

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In 2021, my company was still closed. But I received a call from a client asking to hire 50 people in a week for a wedding. They must have found my website or google list.

I said yes, hoping that I could understand it. Other recruitment agencies had closed or were afraid of the cochem.

I contacted managers from other agencies and asked them to help me. I thought that if I had a good leadership, I could reimburse the rest with less experienced staff. After this event, I was back in business.

This client ended up being a large wedding producer and loved our service. She made us repeated references and business. In 2021, I developed very quickly because I said yes to everyone and I captured a lot of business quickly.

We made around $ 250,000 in revenues in 2021, even if it was a half year of negotiation. We worked on Kid Laroi’s 18th birthday party, the week that his song with Justin Bieber became n ° 1 on the charts. They did a performance with Pyrotechnics during the event.

The hiring of my first full -time employee was a huge factor in our ability to evolve. I hired a young fast influencer microphone. She was naturally good to find people to help me at the last minute and manage back and forth communications. I think the most frightening part for entrepreneurs is to hire the first employee, but that has a big impact on the company.

In 2022 and 2023, we brought in about $ 950,000 in income. We focused on building internal infrastructure and systems and generated a little more than a million dollars in income last year.

You must be honest with yourself as CEO

If you want to be CEO and direct, you must reinvent yourself and be ready to learn. You must have uncomfortable conversations with yourself about everything that can hold you. I am only one owner. I have no partners, investors or official commercial education. My business is only tests and errors.

There was a time when I hit a ceiling in my growth. The company was fine, but I did not hit the projections that I had considered. I could have blamed the economy and my team or apologize. But, being honest with myself, I took things that I appreciated in the company that did not help advance the business.

As CEO, I have to ensure the growth of the business. So I realized my goal from where I needed the most. Since I did this, we have concluded much more important offers. In 2025, I hired a sales and marketing team and we brought in $ 250,000 in income by mid-February.