On September 6, 2001 we were formed and incorporated as the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™. So we are in our 10th year. It seems like only yesterday. So much has happened in these past 9 years. As we enter our 10th year of existence I took to pondering and planning. This is probably a good thing to do from both a business and personal perspective. As I sat down to write this I had a lot to say (surprise) so I have spread this commentary over this week and next.
I thought about when we first started out as a company. It was scary when I look back. Who starts up a company and has no clients to begin with? (That need for revenue is important.) Lesson one. Always have at least one client if not more when you start up your new business. Before starting up you need to determine who your are, what you want to provide as a service or product, who your target audience is for these services and how you differ from your competition. You need a value and mission statement. You probably need a plan and a brand identity as well. Lesson two; build a plan, a brand concept and have a value statement and mission.
By the end of our second year we had some of this (or most of it in place – clients, brand image, value and mission statement, differentiating elements from our competition, solid focus on our target audience and a very well defined suite of services focused on the sponsorship industry.
Over the next several years we introduced (because we felt the industry needed it) a national two-day conference for sponsorship professionals from both the property and brand side of the business. It is an amazing networking and professional development event (www.sponsorshipcongress.ca) that this year will host over 200 delegates and 30+ speakers. We also introduced a series of one day “hands on training” workshops that now are delivered in every province from Ontario through BC in seven different markets. Through all of this professional development with the Western Sponsorship Congress™ and the Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists™ One Day Workshop Series we have served over 1300 industry professionals with training and development.
We also created and brought to market a proprietary software system (SAVI™) to assist selling properties with inventory asset management, inventory asset valuation, data base management of prospects, partners, renewals and custom proposal development as well as a fulfilment management system.
And what about our core business? What have we accomplished over the past 9 years for our two client bases, the sponsorship selling properties and the brands / businesses and companies who invest in sponsorship? We have grown from serving annually two to three clients per year to annually providing sponsorship consulting services to over 30+ clients per year. We deliver this expertise and industry leading service through six of the best and most experienced industry professionals in Canada. We deliver to both the core target audiences of those that sell sponsorship and those that buy sponsorship. As well, we have stayed true to our focus of being a sponsorship consulting firm and not a brokerage or selling agency. We do not sell or buy sponsorships we support internal capacity development with our clients. We have strategic partners and recommend companies that sell, buy and broker, but we do not do it ourselves. We stay true to our core consulting business. (Stay tuned for the introduction of a new and innovative company entering the market in Canada that will match companies with sponsorship properties. It is a dynamic and partner based model that will truly make an impact in Canada. We hope to break this news in the coming months as this new organization enters the marketplace and changes the landscape forever in the sponsorship selling / brokering arena.)
These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well, so please comment below, thank you for reading.
Brent Barootes