Why Renting a Trade Show Exhibit May Be Your Best Option

If you are on the fence about committing to purchasing a trade show exhibit for your business, your thoughts may be very rational! It doesn’t make sense for every business to purchase and own an exhibit. If your business falls under a few of these listed reasons below, then renting may be the way to go!

YOUR BUSINESS ONLY EXHIBITS A FEW TIMES A YEAR.

There is a saying in the trade show world that if you rent the same exhibit three-plus times, you may as well have purchased it. This is a good rule of thumb to go by when you are deciding between renting or buying. Whether you are new to exhibiting or not, if you only exhibit one or two times a year, then renting will likely be the most cost-effective option for you. It’s most likely not worth the added expenses of storing, upkeep, repairs, etc. when you only use your exhibit twice a year (or less).

YOUR BUSINESS IS ON A TIGHT BUDGET, AND BUYING AN EXHIBIT MAY FORCE YOU TO CUT COSTS IN OTHER AREAS.

Renting is especially helpful if you are on a tight budget. Purchasing a completely custom exhibit may force you to cut costs in other important areas of your trade show marketing program. Renting will allow you to afford a higher-end exhibit (maybe even nicer than what you could afford to actually purchase), give you plenty of flexibility for pre-show marketing expenses, as well as leave room in your budget for creating giveaways and experiences in your booth that are memorable. It’s important to have a well-rounded trade show program, which means that it wouldn’t make sense to throw all of your eggs into one basket (aka spend more than you can afford on the trade show exhibit itself).

Purchasing an exhibit will be a good investment when the time is right.

YOU WANT TO TEST THE WATERS BEFORE COMMITTING TO A SPECIFIC TYPE OF EXHIBIT.

There are hundreds of possibilities when it comes to building and designing a trade show display. With so many different factors to be decided on, it makes sense if you’re not quite ready to commit to one specific design just yet! Perhaps your business is growing rapidly and you aren’t quite sure which size exhibit will make the most sense. Or there could be different layouts that you want to test out. Maybe there are different floor plans that you want to experiment with to see which creates the best flow of traffic. And there may be exhibit components like backlighting or hanging structures that you hope to try out and see which can improve your ROI the most before investing in them.

Renting is a great option if any of these things are still up in the air for you. Once you find out what consistently works best for your company and what helps you attract more attendees, then you will be in a better place when it comes time to purchase an exhibit. Renting, for the time being, will help you get to that point!

YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF RE-BRANDING OR SEEING BIG CHANGES IN YOUR BUSINESS.

If your business is currently or is planning on re-branding in the near future, this may not be a good time to purchase an exhibit. However, if you are still in full force with your exhibit marketing during your changes, then renting is a great option for the time being. Although you will still need to purchase graphics when renting the display elements of a booth, hold off investing in the other exhibit elements until your branding is set. If you don’t, it may require changes down the road, which could cost you – particularly when it comes to custom elements that revolve around your logo or brand colors.

If you’re seeing tremendous growth in your business, this is a good time to hold off on purchasing an exhibit. With the expansion, sometimes comes the unknown (which isn’t a bad thing!) but it can be hard to predict what aspects of your business will change as it’s currently happening. Consider renting if you are in this situation and have upcoming shows. You will be able to gauge if you need something bigger and more spacious, and you can be sure that when you do invest in an exhibit, that your branding will be on point for where your business is at.

Once you’re able to invest in an exhibit, you’ll be able to get your money’s worth at each show with your best foot forward.

YOU AREN’T READY TO COMMIT TO THE EXTRA EXPENSES THAT COME WITH OWNING AN EXHIBIT.

Once your exhibit is purchased, there are additional expenses to consider. Added expenses can include shipping your exhibit back and forth from trade show to storage between each show, storing your exhibit in a weather-controlled environment, making necessary repairs, investing in a program/software to keep track of your inventory, and more.

While many exhibit companies do their best to help tie all of these extra measures together and keep costs down for you when owning an exhibit (like offering storage options in your primary trade show host city to cut down on shipping), many of these extra expenses can potentially be avoided when renting.

If you plan on renting your trade show exhibit for the time being, there are many things to start taking into consideration to help your rental best align with your business. Skyline Exhibits can help you navigate and find the best rental solution that puts you on track toward success, and will help guide your decision on what