It's no secret that attending trade shows and conferences oftentimes consumes large portions of your budget, if not the entire thing. So if your company only plans to attend a few shows a year, regardless of whether it's ‘the show’ or smaller regional shows, why not maximize your budget by renting exhibits as opposed to purchasing them (which comes with additional costs that could be spent elsewhere)?
Purchasing exhibits makes a lot of sense for some companies, but not for all companies. For the companies that attend three to five shows a year, the economies of scale for purchasing an exhibit are in their favor. But for those companies that only want to attend a few shows a year, the cost of owning an exhibit can start sucking unnecessary dollars out of their already limited budgets (let's face it, as sales and marketing practitioners, budgets are always too small). If one were to break down the associated costs of owning an exhibit, you could begin to see a big difference. For those only attending a handful of shows a year, there's no need to pay for storage, maintenance and warehouse handling (costs that can add up quickly). Use that additional money to rent a larger exhibit or to truly ‘wine and dine’ those prospects.
Some exhibit companies will even offer rental programs for those that plan to attend multiple shows throughout the year but don’t want to invest in purchasing an exhibit or the associated hardware. These programs can be a viable option due to the cost savings and convenience. As the number of shows increase for your company, the cost to rent per show begins to decrease. There is also the added level of convenience to your company when engaging in such a program by not having to worry about installing and dismantling the exhibit at each show. Many rental programs will offer to set up and dismantle your exhibit for you and your company at each show, keeping you from having to lift a finger. This allows you to concentrate on executing the perfect show—not on the logistics of your exhibit.