We recently spoke with Eric Rozenberg, CMM, CMP, president and CEO of Event Business Formula and instructor for MPI’s Event Business Fundamentals Certificate program, about treating your business like…a business.
Is there a specific example of “what we’ve always done” that often prevents business growth for meeting professionals?
We thrive on logistics and dealing with the unexpected and we too often forget that we are running our own business. Hence, even if we focus on sales and business development, at the first opportunity/emergency, we fall back in our comfort zone, deal with the issues and let the business development part down. It is a vicious circle that doesn’t leave room for growth.
How can a meeting professional avoid getting constantly bogged down in event logistics in order to focus on business fundamentals?
It’s a process and a mindset. The process is to reflect on where you want to be at some definite point in the future and work backwards, thinking about your vision, your business model, your sales and marketing, your finances, your mental health, your personal growth and your accountability. The mindset is to stay focused on what you do best and like the most, delegate all the rest and start acting as a business owner.
How has the pandemic created new challenges and opportunities?
If you look at the content of the CMP and CMM classes 10 years ago compared with today, the amount of topics we need to master has increased tremendously. Add today the need to be able to align online, hybrid and face-to-face meetings with your organization’s strategy and you realize that being a successful meeting professional requires a large variety of skills and a willingness to never stop learning. Accordingly, there are huge opportunities for meeting professionals open to adapting their structure, maintaining a customer-centric approach and understanding what it means to run your own business.
MPI ACADEMY INSIGHTS
When we think about the “why” in business strategy, it’s sometimes hard to pinpoint what that looks like in real time. A recent article in Inc. magazine articulates this concept well when talking about the startup business mindset. Why are startups so wildly popular or often successful? Because they harness the power of business fundamentals by focusing on their vision, their “why.” The article shares that “the startup culture moves fast, embraces change and encourages innovation. All companies, no matter the size, can benefit from a company culture that pushes employees to share ideas, innovate and create change.” In a world that is constantly innovating how we do things, is your business along for the ride or is it sitting on the sidelines? Find out more about how you can harness the power of Event Business Fundamentals and elevate your business strategy to keep up with today’s business demands. -NANCY SNOWDEN, MANAGER OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
