Nobody goes to business school dreaming of owning an AV company. Most of us are accidental entrepreneurs.

Many of us started as freelance technicians who enjoyed making money without a “real job” or a boss. Then came the equipment purchase trap: “I love running cameras, so I bought my own camera rig. I figured I’d get more gigs that way.”

This is how it starts.

www.trstimson.com/stop-renting-gear-start-making-money

The other day, I wanted a breakfast taco but ended up in a Salvadoran restaurant where nobody spoke English. That’s how your clients feel when you throw operational jargon at them.

Most AV companies translate in the wrong direction, forcing customers to learn their language instead of the other way around. Your clients don’t care about rigging points. They care about their event going smoothly.

Listen to this week’s episode and learn why the best salespeople translate FROM client speak TO operational language.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

Follow Tom on LinkedIn

Everyone’s definition of a “big show” is different.

To you, it might mean high revenue. For others, it’s about profile, complexity, multiple rooms, or being hard-won. But what’s a “small show,” then?

Here’s my take: There are no small shows. There are just small budgets.

https://www.trstimson.com/what-makes-a-show-big/

“We’ve got 7,000 contacts but only want to email 800 of them.” Stop right there. You’re throwing away 6,200 potential evangelists.

Marketing is about movement, not perfection. Every contact could share that one post or make that one referral that changes everything.

Listen to this week’s episode and learn why culling your email list is killing your growth and why those 7,000 contacts you’re ignoring might be your fastest path to profit.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

Follow Tom on LinkedIn

If you hire the right people — people who either don’t need to fix themselves or are motivated to fix themselves — keeping them becomes easier.

I’ll explain how.

https://www.trstimson.com/90-day-hiring-plan-that-works/

A young owner called me recently, driving back from covering a sick call on his own show. After reading my books, he realized his job isn’t to do shows. His job is to get shows done.

Doing shows means throwing equipment and bodies at problems. Getting shows done means you’re the expert, you own the right gear, and you focus on ideal clients.

Listen to this week’s episode and learn why companies that get shows done make real profit while companies doing shows just make noise.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

Follow Tom on LinkedIn

The term “discovery call” keeps appearing in sales processes across our industry. This is good progress. But many of you use discovery calls improperly or at the wrong time.

Let’s fix that.

https://www.trstimson.com/discovery-calls-in-your-sales-process/

I can learn 75% of what I need to know about any business in under two hours. The secret is ignoring the wrong metrics, like revenue per employee and sub-rental percentages.

Most companies’ books aren’t set up to track what matters. Learn which financial metrics actually predict success and why that phone that never rings might tell you everything you need to know.

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

Follow Tom on LinkedIn

What’s the one thing I think most of my audience struggles with? It’s not revenue, profitability, or costs, but it’s something that affects all of that.

Before all else, define your ideal customer.

https://www.trstimson.com/choose-your-ideal-customer/

How did a company book $11 million in a month... and lose $3.5 million doing it?

In this episode, I explain why your accountants are asking the wrong questions and the three critical money questions every AV business must answer. Learn why data without direction fails and how looking forward (not backward) drives profitability.

Plus: details on my upcoming Management Accounting Master Class!

Visit trstimson.com for more resources.

Follow Tom on LinkedIn