There’s a reason so many live production companies hit a ceiling they can’t break through. They do great work. They have skilled people. They’re busy. And still, at the end of the year, the profit doesn’t match the effort. The answer is almost always the same: they’re running a service company like a rental company. Rental companies have a fatal
Most AV company owners treat equipment purchases as growth investments. Buy the LED wall, take on bigger jobs, grow the business. It’s a logical assumption. It’s also how a lot of companies get stuck. The gear doesn’t scale the business. The right gear, at the right time, acquired the right way, can. The distinction matters more than most people think.
The big production companies have one structural advantage above everything else: they can hand a planner a single contract and a single point of accountability for any market, any size, any scope. That’s what planners are actually buying when they go big. Not better gear. Not better crews. Certainty. Small companies lose that pitch every single time they walk in
Your “Competition” Might Be Your Greatest Asset There’s a common instinct in small business: keep your head down, guard your strategies, and never let the shop down the street see how the sausage is made. It makes a certain kind of sense. You worked hard to build what you have: your clientele, your vendor relationships, your systems, your voice. Why
Salespeople who don’t sell. Department heads who walk out with your clients. Young techs who treat a flawless show like just another shift. These aren’t bad luck — they’re solvable. Here’s how. I’ve talked to a lot of AV company owners over the years. At some point in almost every conversation, one of three stories comes out. The salesperson story:
The real reason meeting planners choose in-house AV over you has nothing to do with your equipment, your price, or your portfolio. Here’s what’s actually happening — and how to win. You’ve been in this situation before. You know your company offers better equipment, more creative production, and a lower price point than the in-house AV company at almost any
Are telling you to change your priorities The world around us keeps changing. Buyers seem perpetually confused about how to source the best suppliers. Once they latch on to someone that “gets it”, they stick with them. Are you that person? Are you that company? Successful companies never compromise on these eight transactional priorities: Define Outcomes Whoever controls the narrative
Published 3/28/26 There’s a gap that shows up in production companies more often than anyone likes to admit. In person, the owner is sharp, credible, and clearly knows the craft. They read a room. They earn trust fast. Online, that same person is quiet, generic, or invisible. It’s a costly disconnect, and it has nothing to do with budget. The
Published 3/18/26 How Mastering AI Turns AV Stress into Creative Dominance Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia and arguably the most influential voice in tech right now, did not mince words: mastering AI prompting is a superpower. His audience was Silicon Valley, but his message belongs to every AV company owner staring down a 72-hour load-in, a last-minute client revision,
