7 Questions to Ask Before Applying to Your Next Event

A big part of having a successful event has to do with the event being right for your business. Not every event is right for your business. If you're making decisions about which events to participate in based on limited information, fear of missing out, or because applications are open, then you could be setting yourself up for a roller-coaster event season.

Before you submit your next application, take a few minutes to ask these seven questions.

1. Is This the Right Audience for My Products?

When many small business owners think about "audience," they tend to think that it's related to marketing and advertising. That's true. However, narrowing in on the ideal audience or customer for your products helps you decide which events are a good fit for your business, too.

To determine if an event is right for your business, the basic question is, "Will there be shoppers attending the event that are my ideal customer?" Just because an event is well-attended, it isn't an automatic indicator that it's a good event for your business. Another way to frame this is, "Are the people attending the event likely to be interested in what I sell?"

A small event with the right audience will tend to outperform a larger event with the wrong audience.

2. How many other vendors will be selling the same or similar products as yours?

A really important factor to consider when deciding whether to attend an event is: how many other vendors will have a similar product. You may think, "Yes, but my product is different or unique because ..." And while this may be true, it's not necessarily how the event audience will perceive your product, along with the other vendors' products having the same or similar features.

If there are several vendors selling the same or similar products, this may mean the event is saturated, and your sales will likely be impacted. If your goal for the event is sales, then this is a risk, and you will need to assess your tolerance for this risk.

You may decide that you're willing to take the risk because your goal for the event isn't necessarily sales, but is visibility, for example.

Or you may decide that the risk isn't worth the cost of the event and decide not to include this one in your schedule.

3. What Will This Event Actually Cost?

When considering the cost of participating in an event, the booth fee is only part of the cost. Costs that you should consider:

• Booth fees

• Travel expenses

• Lodging

• Meals

• Inventory

• Time

Understanding the total investment helps you make better decisions.

4. What Does the Event Coordinator and Other Vendors Say About It?

If this isn't an event you've personally attended as a vendor or as a shopper/visitor, then ask the event coordinator for references of repeat vendors. They may not be amenable to giving you these references, but it's worth asking for them.

At a minimum, you should ask the event coordinator for the following, if it's not provided in the application:

• What is the expected attendance size and demographic?

• How many other vendors are selling the same or a similar product as yours?

• What is the average sales for a vendor attending the event?

If you're able to talk with vendors who have participated before, ask about:

• What is the typical attendance?

• What is their impression of the attendance demographic?

• How well is the event organized?

• What do they sell and how were their sales?

• What was their overall vendor experience?

Having answers to these questions will help you to make a more informed decision about attending the event as a vendor.

5. Do I Have Enough Inventory?

When evaluating whether you should attend an event, it's important to consider how much inventory you'll need to bring. Consider things like:

• How long will the event last, a few hours or more than one day?

• How many people are expected to attend the event?

• How many items do you expect to sell?

• What other events do you have between now and this event and following this event? And will you have time to prepare enough inventory to support the number of events you have scheduled?

Signing up for events without considering how much inventory you'll need can mean that you'll stress yourself out trying to make enough inventory for each event. Or, worse, you may have to forfeit your fee and skip one or more events due to a lack of inventory. In this case, not only are you forfeiting your fee, but you're also potentially tarnishing your reputation with the event coordinator.

6. How Does This Event Fit Into My Season?

Thinking through your overall business strategy for a season gives you criteria for deciding whether an event fits within the scope of your strategy or not.

Additionally, it's important to ask if the event fits with your other life commitments, which, by the way, should be considered as part of your overall business strategy. The reality is, it's easy to get onto the "event" hamster wheel and think you have to do as many events as possible because you have an income goal to meet. This is a quick road to burnout, for sure.

If you have income goals you want to meet, consider other ways of generating income as part of your strategy. 12 events in a 3-month season is certainly a strategy. However, it's not the only strategy for meeting your income goals.

And as you consider this event, ask yourself, "How does this event add to or detract from accomplishing the goals and strategy I've set for my business this event season?" If it doesn't move you towards meeting your goals and accomplishing your strategy, then you should seriously consider not adding the event to your schedule.

7. What Does Success Look Like?

It's important to consider what your goals are for the event and what "success" looks like. A successful event isn't always aligned with more sales, for example. When thinking about success criteria for an event, consider how the goal/s for this event fit into your overall business strategy for the season.

There are different ways of thinking about success:

• A successful event may be tied to sales volume.

• Or, it may be aligned with acquiring new customers.

• Or you may be doing market research, and your goal is product feedback.

• Or, it may be that success is tied to gaining visibility for your business.

These are all reasonable goals and potentially worthy of the cost of attending the event. All businesses need to spend money on market research, acquiring new customers, and increasing business visibility in order to be successful.

Your measure of success for an event should be aligned with one or more of these factors.

Final Thoughts

I've given you a lot to think about in this short article. It's important to remember: the best events for your business aren't always the biggest or the busiest, or the ones with the most sales.

The best events for your business are those that align with your products, your goals, and your overall business strategy.

Thoughts, comments, or questions you'd like to share with me? Get In Touch