Event Management

Are Small Business Events The Raging Trend In The B2B Industry?

Eventually Learning Team

03 October 2022

Read time 6 minutes 15 seconds

Small businesses are a tough deal! Until you grow them and they become bigger businesses generating a turnover in millions of dollars – wait, to make that dream a reality – many small business owners have to put in about 15-17 hours of work a day! A significant number and almost 2/3rds of the day!

Are you a small business owner? Or the thought of owning something of your own has always struck you as an idea for breaking free from the rut – then this article is for you. I once knew a person, Jack, who owned a small scale handloom business. Jack invested his entire life savings and decided to grow it into a multi-million-dollar company. But there is something that stopped Jack’s growth and made his revenue stagnant. While he invested in technology, increased the man force – he never forged any new business connections.

How can you not repeat Jack’s mistake?
With hosting, participating in and engaging with the small business events!

43% Small Business Owners Prefer Networking With Prospects or Partners At Events!

Small business events are growing by the day and rightfully so! According to a Forrester survey, 43% of the small business owners across healthcare, ed-tech, legal, finance and more sectors are on the lookout for leads, talent and collaboration. All these three elements can be obtained by networking at an event.

Large-scale events like the The World Business Forum and the New York Business Expo & Conference boost networking through intimate business set-ups, fun Q&A sessions and on-on-one meetings. Whereas the Startup Grind Global Conference hosts small business owners and helps them obtain data for accumulating qualitative leads.

Do Your Prospects Recognize Your Brand?

Starting a business is just 3% of progress towards success – 54% of it is converting prospects and 43% is retaining the consumers. Imagine starting your business and then achieving 97% of the progress through one platform – the Events? Yes! Your brand recognition and recall value can be maximized by hosting events.

74% of event attendees say that they have a more positive opinion about the company, brand, product or service being promoted after an event attendance, with 87% of consumers purchasing the brand’s product or service after an event at a later date. To cite a well-known example, the SXSW brings together technology leaders and provides them a platform to showcase their products and services in order to nurture leads and enhance brand awareness.

Learn, Grow And Influence With Your Small Business Event!

There are two types of events that can benefit you as a small business owner – either the third party events being hosted by someone else or the self-staged events. In the prior ones – you learn, in the later ones – you influence!

Jack never attended any business event, so he missed out on all the latest textile industry trends and developments. He had no peer connections and his business suffered. This is why you must not follow in his footsteps and attend relevant industry events! A good example of a few small-business marketing events can be - The Small Business Expo, The International Manufacturing Technology Show and The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and Business Fair.

Whereas, at self-hosted events you have the power to consider sponsorships and collaborations, network with though-leaders and other business owners as you go ahead and take ownership of creating a self-curated list of prospects for your sales team!

Upon Reflection

Small Business owners and professionals can grow their businesses exponentially with the power of event marketing. Leverage business events to create clout and brand authority for your business and step back to see the magic work its way by amplifying your revenue!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular types of business events?

There are different types of business events divided according to their objectives, size of the audience and other impactful factors. Some of these types are listed below.

Business Dinners
Networking Events
Product Launches
Holiday Parties
Seminars
Charity Events
Trade Shows

What is the biggest small business conference that is hosted annually in the US?

Small Business Expo -As a unique national B2B trade show, the Small Business Expo at US offers an unparalleled opportunity to promote your company. You can reach more than 1.2 million business owners with decision-making power, providing an opportunity to generate leads, make sales and grow your revenue.