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44

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.