Name of Business:  VendorBar (www.vendorbar.com) 
 
Mission: VendorBar is an online event planning service committed to making special events less stressful, easier to plan, and more about celebration.  The goal of VendorBar is to offer a comprehensive set of tools and features that will benefit both vendors and their potential clients.  The company will continually assess the website’s features and ease of navigation to better fit the needs and wants of customers as well as provide the best customer service possible to all users of the site.

Began:  2008

Where:  The Company is nationwide. Current areas of increased activity include Boston and Southern California.
 
Founder:  Sarah Gaum, M’ 09

How the Idea Began:  As a former event planner in the Los Angeles area, I constantly had to sub-contract entertainment for parties.  It was nerve-racking waiting to see if the vendor would show up on time, have a good product and represent our company well.  I thought to myself “If I’m an event planner who understands this business and I’m stressed, what about the brides and mothers of bar mitzvahs that only have to plan one party?”  From there, I had the idea of a website with ratings of event professionals from previous clients.
 
Favorite Thing about the Business:  Having event professionals validate my idea when I launched the business at The Special Event industry trade show in San Diego was extremely satisfying and rewarding.  Overall reactions were positive and I signed on vendors from Hawaii to Florida.

Worst Thing about the Business:  Answering the same 3 questions from your 150 helpful classmates!  How is it that they always know to ask these same three questions when you only got 4 hours of sleep, haven’t eaten, and have just left a three-hour lecture?

Lesson Learned:  Thinking about starting a business is one thing, but actually doing it is much more fun!

Contact: sara@vendorbar.com, sgaum1@babson.edu; 636-288-7959