Should You Go To The Next Event, Fair, or Meetup And How to Make the Most of It

As an entrepreneur in Ghana, there are events almost every day that you can attend to meet other entrepreneurs, get your product in front of potential customers, and learn new skills. The question is “Should you go?” and if you do go “How do you make the most of it?”

Your Time is Valuable

The cost of admission is an important factor to consider, but as an entrepreneur, your time is more precious than money. Before you decide to go, ask the organizers to confirm the speakers, the number of tickets sold, and to describe the type of participant they are targeting.

Will You Get Your Return on Investment (ROI) aka Will you make your money back and then some?

But money is important too! This is a question of ROI or Return on Investment. If there is a price to rent a booth, divide that price by your “profit per unit sold” to see how many items you’ll need to sell to break even. Divide that number by the hours of operation to see how many units you’ll need to sell an hour. Is that a realistic target?

Be Prepared

Now that you’ve decided to go, it’s time to do your homework. Gather the names of as many speakers and attendees as you can and then use social media to research them. Before you go, set a target of who you want to meet and what you want to learn or gain from meeting them.

Leverage Social Media

While you are there, make sure to take lots of good pictures. Post them on your Facebook page or Instagram. Tag the event organizer and use the event’s hashtag. It’s likely that they will have more followers than you and this will bring their audience to your brand.

Create a Memorable Leave Behind

Fairs can be very busy! Make sure to have a postcard or other giveaway with your contact information on it so that new customers can find you in the future. To motivate people to buy on the spot, consider some promotions such as 10% off for anyone who likes your page on Facebook.

Be Genuine, Just be You!

All of the tips this week showed you how to strategically use fairs, meetups, and other events to gain new customers and build your network. Our final tip though is to be genuine. Always make sure you are listening, asking questions, and building real relationships.

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