Things I learnt running an art show (7)

As I mentioned last week, I recently managed perhaps the largest charity art show in Australia.

It was a great success with profit up 84% from the previous year. Here are some of the things I learnt along the way.

Lesson 6: Control costs.

Once you have the team happily and productively doing the jobs they're great at the final piece of the puzzle is to control costs. That is the "magic" ingredient that sent the art show profits through the roof.

Early on at the art show I identified a supplier who felt it was his right to spend the full budget we had allocated to his area, whether it gave us value or not.

He is now an ex-supplier and we got the work done for a third of his quote.I also eliminated expensive, ineffective mail-outs for advertising and replaced them with social media — saving thousands of dollars.

In your practice how long since you've had a good, hard look at your suppliers?In many practices I see dentists paying premium prices for pretty ordinary lab work. I see them spending a small fortune for a standard website. I see them buying ultra-expensive chairs that break down frequently and cost a bomb to repair.

But, I must stress, I'm not saying you spend hours chasing the cheapest deal on cotton roles. That's a waste of time.

So, there you have it — Six thing I learnt running an art show. Hope you enjoyed the series.