_{Trade show exhibits offer various benefits for businesses. They are great for face-to-face meetings, networking, lead generation, and promoting products and services. When a company decides to participate in a trade show, there is a lot of planning to do beforehand to ensure that everything runs smoothly. One of the main tasks is to create a budget for the event. A strong budget estimate backed by extensive research and planning can guarantee an optimum return on investment (ROI). For a successful trade show, a business manager has to forecast the company’s spending on the event. Here are some ideas to get started with this task.}

_{Setting Goals and Objectives}

_{Identifying a company’s goals and objectives for participating in a trade show will help set a realistic budget. These objectives will guide space and setup needs, help allocate necessary resources, and identify promotions required.}

_{Pinpointing Trade Show Expenses}

_{Tracking anticipated expenses before attending a trade exhibit makes it easier to develop a budget estimate. Some of these expected costs include travel expenses, shipping, personnel, giveaways, promotions, trade show displays, and exhibit booth rental.}

_{Breaking Down Trade Show Costs}

_{Itemizing trade show expenses and funding them appropriately boils down to a specific business’s needs. EXHIBITOR Magazine highlights a simple rundown of major trade show budget expenses as a template for success. Here are the top three considerations for the largest portions of a trade show budget:}

• _{Exhibiting space: 30% of budget}
• _{Booth staffing and travel: 14% of budget}
• _{Exhibit design: 17% of budget}
• _{Other expenses: 39% of budget}

_{Using Budgeting Tools}

_{Simplifying the budgeting process is made easy through multiple online services. These include cloud-based budgeting tools that allow managers to create budgets on the go as well as save and share these ideas with members of their teams. Planning a realistic trade show budget can be overwhelming, but working with experienced trade show exhibit professionals can help. CX Exhibits offers a full range of trade show solutions for businesses across the major U.S. convention cities. From trade exhibit planning and design to booth rentals, we can do it all for you. Contact us today for a free quote and experience a new way to leverage trade shows for your business.}