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HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS •
EVENTS in FOCUS
• FEBRUARY 2017
EVENTS in FOCUS
Rewind the Never Ending Story
president's
message
Video shops were part of our lives
and they were big business. Movies
made over half of their take from video
sales and rentals. Economic migrants
to Australia had to invest $500k in a
business and the video store fitted the bill
nicely. At one stage a video store a week
was opening somewhere across Australia.
There was the Australian Video Rental
Retailers Association (AVRRA) and each
year there was also a conference, this
was a vibrant industry that confidently
predicted it would drive cinemas out of
business within a short period of time.
However as with all things times change,
"The NeverEnding Story" did end.
The internet, Foxtel and then Netflix
combined with piracy all made impacts
into the video stores and the way we
enjoyed weekend family entertainment.
The video industry first countered the
threats with a lower cost offer, then a
multi deal offer. In the end most stores
were offering the product at around
30% of the price they started with, this
had little to no effect on the market. The
market place had changed and for one
reason or another, they did not see it
coming.
On the 25th of October last year the
AVRRA closed its doors for the last time,
signalling the end of the video rental
industry. In this is a lesson for us all, no
industry is immune to change.
We don’t have to look far to see the
changes in our lives and the way
business is done. The taxi industry is
under pressure from the ride sharing
services like Uber. In turn Uber itself is
now under pressure from drivers who
wish to be classed as employees and
not contractors, see the same issue for
Deliveroo. Test cases are being run at the
moment in the UK and USA. Restaurants
and takeaway food outlets are under
pressure from services like Homecook
and there are plenty more examples.
It seems like every service you can think
of will be offered by private citizens, who
will theoretically have lower overheads
than conventional bricks and mortar
establishments. The model will vary in
each case, however generally a company
will offer the service online and the
fulfilment of service will be by private
individuals, registered with the online
provider.
This challenge is already in our industry
but is set to grow over the next short
period, the business model is simple; who
has the thing I need, at the best price,
closest to me?
In event hire we have seen the back yard
market diminish dramatically as people
move into smaller size lots and venues
offer free room hire. The market place as
with entertainment, has not necessarily
disappeared but has changed shape and
direction. Major events are very budget
driven, there is constant pressure to drive
down the prices and find a more efficient
way of doing the job.
Most of the events businesses I have
visited run a pretty lean ship and have
already squeezed out the most efficient
way of doing the job. Cutting prices is
therefore not the answer to the problem;
the shortfall can’t be made up by simply
pretending that we will do it smarter. The
cost of compliance will continue to rise
and this should also be considered as a
major part of your budget.
Costs should not be absorbed in silence;
they must be passed on if we are to take
advantage of the fact we are meeting
all regulations. Who would you rather
deal with; a company with insurance,
service history, maintenance plans and
solid OH&S practices, or just get a cheap
price? It will be our compliance, stock
When the kids were little our Saturday night treat was to go to the
video store and pick out a video, this would become the evening’s
entertainment. We were not unique, we were doing what most families did; a movie and
a big shared bowl of microwave popcorn was the norm. We must have watched "The
NeverEnding Story" 20 times.