At the EN Indy Expo & Awards, Gabriella Rimmer took to the stage with Mike Seaman to discuss how business owners can steer themselves through the selling process.
Gabriella is a director at Plural Strategy. She shared the stage with Mike Seaman (Group CEO of Raccoon Media Group) in a panel discussion, Exit Stage Right? Navigating the Selling Process, moderated by John McGovern, CEO and owner of GMA. We caught up with her after the event to find out what she made of it.
1. For those that may not know. What does Plural Strategy do?
We support value creation for B2B media, events and information services businesses. This is done in a couple of ways within the events sector. The first is working for organisers in mergers and acquisitions by providing commercial due diligence and the second is a focus on growth strategies for events including launches, finding new sectors for organic growth and more.
2. What is your take on the current independent exhibition market in the UK?
While not on the same scale or size as the US market, it’s interesting to see this world of independent show organisers, who concentrate primarily on niche sectors and audiences. There is a perception that the UK exhibition market is only large companies, but there are a lot of smaller, professional organisers.
Additionally, we are seeing more demands for community, so specific, targeted, scaled events that may or may not be traditional trade shows are growing. Independents generally do a good job in serving their communities.
3. What’s one thing you learned from the Indy’s?
I was impressed by how the industry came together. It’s not necessarily an easy space to gather everyone – suppliers, vendors, organisers. It was great to see so many senior members of the industry participating in a community celebration.
4. What was an important piece of advice you shared during the panel?
Sellers should be aware that financial and other disclosures when selling your exhibition and/or business is a key part of the process. How much to disclose and when can be a complicated issue. There is a tricky balance in not oversharing at the beginning, but also in ensuring sufficient information is shared to build confidence in the process. Sellers and buyers are creating a relationship based on trust, so if a seller is not sufficiently forthcoming, the relationship may be irreparably damaged.
During the due diligence process, sometimes buyers wonder if we’re asking specific questions just to ask. The answer to that is no! All the questions we ask have a purpose.
5. One thing independent sellers struggle with is defining the TAM (Total Addressable Market – how big your audience truly is), which is something buyers want to understand. Would you speak to the importance of that and your process for getting to it?
We see people get fixated on the possibilities of TAM as it relates to a specific pound or dollar amount. In the end, events are people-driven. We look at TAM that way – how many exhibitors and visitors are out there – and how many will realistically come to your show? Who is the core audience and how big is it?
Our discussion with Gabriella underscored that event growth strategies and successful deals and are built on trust, clarity and a deep understanding of audiences. The conversations at the EN Indy Expo reaffirmed how collaboration between advisors, strategists and organisers drives the industry forward – a goal we at GMA are committed to advancing.
Grimes, McGovern & Associates is a leading lower middle-market Mergers & Acquisitions firm advising media, events and information services businesses globally.
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
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