When I begin work with a new client, I try to understand what their day is really like. At first, I mostly hear about the highs and lows, the top of mind things: big wins, disappointing losses, unexpected problems.

Soon, we expose the underlying issues that tend to amplify otherwise normal events into highs and lows: lack of clear messaging, poorly defined roles, missing skill sets.

Eventually, we get to that individual’s real goals. What do they want from life? What do they need from their business? Why can’t those things happen sooner?

What do owners really want? 

Chapter 6 — Simpler Life; Less Conflict; More Control

Being an owner is stressful. So many things are out of your control.

“You know what I hate? Trunk slammers. These guys with no overhead that sell jobs and can live off a simple markup. They’re killing us!”

“This client won’t pay for higher labor costs. They say that’s my problem.”

“My lead technician got COVID and now I have to hire a freelancer for three jobs!”

“No one is watching the money. My employees all say they’re too busy.”

How can scalability help with that?

Scalability means a new business relationship with your rental equipment and technical team. It means monetizing the experience and expertise you’ve developed over the decades. 

The opposite of scalable is desperate.

You know how one extra job in a slow month can generate a lot of unexpected profit? Scalability is simply making that same phenomenon happen every month. Lower overhead means it takes fewer jobs to cover your expenses, which means you make a profit sooner. 

Scalable businesses don’t have to make up for the losses they sustained “last month.” 

What do you give up?

• Instant access to crew of staff technicians
• “Free” gear sitting on the shelf so you never subrent
• A fleet of trucks and drivers standing by
• Constant battles between sales and operations 
• Cheap customers, because who needs them?
• All the headaches of paying for the above when revenue dips

What do you get?

• A technical team you only pay when you use them
• Fewer repair bills and downtime on critical equipment
• Predictable job costs, which means less stress from not always having to figure out how to make each job profitable
• Dedicated staff who are always focused on making every sale profitable, every job successful, and every customer happy
• More time to focus on filling your sales pipeline
• Less stress, because all of the above is so much easier to manage and the results are much more consistent

When you need the next sale so badly that you can’t wait for the right sale, that’s desperation. 

Moving from a job-cost-based business model to a scalable one isn’t a flip of a switch. Mindsets have to change. Systems and processes need to evolve. Roles and responsibilities have to shift. 

You can choose evolution or revolution. 

In 2020, the pandemic chose revolution for you, and many companies decided to embrace that opportunity and pivot their business models.

However, most event production companies chose temporary pivots to accommodate streaming events, and soon migrated back to their job cost models as in-person events started back up.

Some smart folks asked, “Can we keep these awesome streaming profit margins?”

Yes. Yes, you can.

Immerse your management into a better business model. Register for Jumpstart Management Workshop on Intentional Scalability.