As we all seek to come out of this pandemic, I hear a lot from just about everyone I speak with from our industry about how it’s going to be when we all “Get back on the floor.”  Many have offered reasonable advice or predictions.  Still I wonder.

There are some pretty easy softballs to hit regarding the future.  Cash for everyone whether show management companies, general contractors, exhibit houses, or labor companies is going to be extremely tight.  Many of the companies we’ve depended upon over the years will either no longer be in business or will have significantly downsized.   Many of the employees from our industry will have moved on.  The team on the ground will be different, less familiar, having no idea on how to service our customers.  “Things will be different…,” as so many people say.  I’m certain you have your own list on why this statement is true.

 Are there situations where companies live this way every day that we can look to for advice on how to face these challenges?  Is it possible to immerge from an event like this stronger rather than weaker? 

I had the displeasure of being blown up during the dot.com bubble.  Not near as much fun as you would think.  Not really fun at all.  That said, it was a truly interesting time.  New business models that promoted speed to market and scale were developed and perfected.

During those days, one had the opportunity to meet many Silicon Valley startups.  Companies that had great ideas but not a lot of cash, were short on resources, and seemingly had a revolving door of employees joining and leaving to pursue opportunities.  No, this story did not end well, but the business models developed during that time still rank as some of the biggest success stories in our economic history.  Think about life right now in the midst of this pandemic without Amazon.com or the Internet. 

The secret sauce that all these companies did very well was partnering with companies who did what they either didn’t do well, or shouldn’t be doing.  The main problem was often companies spent too much time and cash on things that just weren’t core to their business.  Working on these areas often distracted these startups from what they were great at, so they sought partners who could fulfill their needs.  Those partners were great at what many of the startups weren’t.

During the dot.com days, companies like Cisco Systems moved from a direct sales approach to working with a channel of 30,000 partners around the world.  Cisco focused on making the Internetworking equipment that empowered the Internet while their partners handled the distribution, installation, and support.

Today, companies like Bombas Socks make great socks with a unique approach.  You may have heard them advertise on satellite radio or seen them on Shark Tank.  For every pair of socks you buy, they donate one to the homeless community.  Their business is exploding.  They claim 97% of their business is direct to consumer. 

When the pandemic hit, they were in a perfect place to grab massive market share while people couldn’t go out to a physical store.  What they didn’t do as well was run their own website.  Down time and inability to scale was crushing them when they needed Internet performance the most. 

Enter Shopify.  Shopify is running over a million stores online.  They provide the Internet power and software and many other services that startups needed to scale seamlessly.  It’s a win-win for Bombas and for Shopify.  Even companies like Walmart are recognizing that time to market and focus on their core business is the future of not only thriving, but surviving.  They too are relying on Shopify and the software company’s skill even while few people have heard of them before.

As we all prepare to reopen the trade show business, my sense is that we’re all going to need strong partnerships who can help us grow and reopen this industry for our customers.  We’ll need companies who function primarily on their core business, while we focus on our core business.  Time to market and the ability to lift this large and truly wonderful industry up will take working together with a mindset of focusing on our core business, while others support us with the things we can’t be distracted to do. Please consider the partners you’re going to need and trust, so you can start planning today for tomorrow’s time when we all hit the show floor again.

Momentum Management focuses on all aspects of labor services including, installation, dismantle and supervision for tradeshows, in addition to, permanent installations and private events.  Momentum Management’s strategic approach is to become an extension of our partners in order to enhance the overall value delivered to their customers.  More information about Momentum Management is available at www.momentummgt.com.  Reach out to us at contact@momentummgt.com.