4 Things to Try in 2025

The forecast looks bright for 2025, with many of my clients projecting revenue increases of 10–25% compared to 2024.

After experiencing some softness in the corporate events market during the latter half of this year, this projected growth presents opportunities — and a few hidden challenges.

Let’s explore four ways to capitalize on this growth while staying scalable and profitable.

1. Build Your Talent Bench

Fill show positions six to nine months in advance — but not in the way you might think. Instead of rushing to lock in your A-team for every show, focus on building a deep talent bench.

Identify promising freelancers and get them on shows now. You might have to send two people where only one is needed. That’s fine. Kiss those frogs early. Test recommended freelancers while you have the chance so you can confidently book them for future shows.

Here’s my recommended crewing strategy:

• Put one regular A-team member on each crew
• Add one well-vetted, but relatively new, freelancer
• Include one hard-to-book expert

Of course, building your bench isn’t just about filling key show positions. Upgrade your staffing agency relationships to ensure you get the right type of general technicians for your needs.

You know not to hire AV techs from an agency that crews concerts, but in a pinch, you’ll take any hands you can get. That’s how you end up in a corporate AV environment with a bunch of guys who look like they’re ready to build steel out in a field.

Talk to those staffing agencies early. Find out if they have AV technicians — people who will wear collared shirts and say “Thank you” and “Yes, ma’am.” That way, when you need experts, they’ll fit the environments you work in.

And speaking of expertise, don’t apologize for flying in better technicians than your local market can provide. Help customers understand that talent is expensive because you won’t compromise on quality.

Sometimes you need to eat that extra cost, but spread it across all customers.

2. Rethink Your Equipment Strategy

Remember the old days when we’d rush to buy new gear ahead of demand? Ten years ago, I probably would’ve given that exact advice.

In the 1990’s, I managed through nine straight years of double-digit growth — we’re talking 30%, 40%, and even 50% growth years. All we thought about was hiring people and buying gear to stay ahead of the curve.

But that approach isn’t scalable anymore. Since 2001, we’ve been hit hard at least four times when our industry suddenly turned south. The pandemic taught us the importance of scalability and keeping overhead down.

Recently, a client of mine needed 2,000 LED tiles for a major show. Their first instinct was to buy the tiles and become “an LED company.” Instead, I encouraged them to book with a trusted supplier.

Not only was the rental cost significantly lower than purchasing, but when the client unexpectedly cut their budget to just 500 tiles, the supplier easily accommodated the change — because B2B suppliers always expect orders to cancel. Imagine if they’d already ordered 2,000 tiles!

Be careful about what you subrent, though. Don’t subrent gack — cables, accessories, and tools. Keeping these staple items on hand will make it easier for you to subrent systems.

Don’t spend more money. Spend your money better.

3. Trim Your Processes

Want to increase capacity without adding overhead? Look for repeatable tasks you can centralize. If your project managers are all calling trucking companies individually, stop that madness. Centralize it.

You might need to increase your planning team’s capacity. If you have two project coordinators, make them interchangeable rather than specializing. Instead of one handling all labor and another handling logistics, assign them complete responsibility for specific shows.

Here’s an important point about fixing errors: If you’re hiring people to plug mistakes, you’re skipping two critical steps:

1. Determine if the error was process-driven.
2. If it was process-driven, fix the process; if it was human error, coach the human.

Too often, companies hire another person to double or triple-check work instead of addressing the root cause.

4. Understand True Labor Costs

Many companies discover too late that their internal labor rate is double what they thought.

They calculate the hourly cost plus insurance and extras, arriving at a seemingly reasonable $55–65 per hour. But they’re missing the carrying cost of unbilled time.

Look at annual compensation divided by actual billable days — not busy work or tasks someone making one-third the salary could handle. Often, we find employees cost $80 per hour when we could hire freelancers for $75 per hour per job.

Moving Forward Strategically

As you prepare for 2025, remember these principles:

• Book your core equipment needs with trusted suppliers
• Stay flexible with orders — B2B suppliers expect changes
• Centralize repeatable tasks
• Build your freelance bench systematically
• Focus on scalability over rapid expansion

Most importantly, make all these improvements without adding overhead. You can always add overhead later, but preemptively adding it prevents us from developing the scalable solutions needed to run more profitable businesses.

When making investment decisions, assume 2026 might be slower than 2025. This perspective will help you maintain the balance between growth and sustainability.

Make hay while the sun shines — but do it efficiently, scalably, and profitably. That’s how to prepare for whatever 2025 brings your way.