PE firms want event businesses with a clear roadmap for growth. Once they’ve found that, they’ll buy and exit within a reasonable period of time – usually five years.
These buyers want to know a few key pieces of information before they acquire your business. Namely – can the event grow? Can it be replicated (geo-adapted) to multiple locations?
Ideally, a buyer should believe that their resources will make the business more efficient and “unlock its full potential”.
Collect the right data for the industry you’re in
Collecting the right data as an event makes a big difference. With the right data, you can tell a story that ticks private equity’s boxes. As such, having a well thought-out data strategy is invaluable. You need it to build value and, eventually, sell your business.
Demographic and industry data play an incredibly important role. Even in the absence of data collection, most sponsor/exhibitor industries can be identified, given enough time. But having a process in place to categorise companies by industry type in your database early on can save you a huge amount of time.
Collect different data for different events
The data collected varies based on the type of event. A B2C event should know the age range and net worth of attendees, while a B2B event might benefit more from the industry type and company size/buying power of their visitors.
This kind of specific data helps buyers assess exactly what they are acquiring – what industry (and sectors) of sponsors, what exhibitors and what attendees. Not only does this help PE firms and large companies assess where their new business fits, it also offers insight into where future growth can come from. This could be increasing revenues in already established sectors or growing into adjacent markets.
Average spend on sponsorships or stand space might be higher for clients from certain sectors, indicating where the business should focus efforts going forward.
Buyers are looking for easy wins
The more clarity the seller has and can share with a buyer about exhibitors, sponsors and attendees, the greater the possibilities are for growing your event. Buyers are looking for easy wins (growth) immediately following a sale.
So, for example, educational tracks may be developed for under-represented groups to increase their participation. Equally, they might be added for adjacent sectors you plan to expand into post-sale. Holding sessions in other languages to help attract visitors from faraway locations, who have no industry events of their own, presents another opportunity to expand to new geographies.
The importance of clean data
Lastly, many buyers are looking for how prospective businesses safeguard their data. Be prepared to explain your company’s strategy. Remember, the cleaner and better the data, the higher the value of your business or event.
Source: www.exhibitionworld.co.uk
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