When we set up the Signs 330 business at the beginning of 2020 we knew there would be lots of challenges (that most overworked of adjectives!). But whilst predicting the course of the first 12 months involved a lot of guesswork, quite a bit of planning and a great deal of learning we most certainly could not have anticipated Covid-19 and all that followed and still follows on from this pandemic. They say “fortune favors the brave” and I guess, with hindsight, setting up a business at any time is a bold decision. So, how has fortune treated us over the past 12 months?
We bought a commercial property in Munroe Falls which had been empty for at least six years and had been in need of some love and care for quite a while before that. Our “signs home” has been completely remodeled and the interior layout has been changed to suit our business needs: for example, we installed a vehicle door so that we could bring trucks and trailers inside to apply graphics. Design is a large part of what we do for our customers, so we invested significant capital into making the whole building both stylish and ‘arty’ and functional—we want our place of work to be an attractive and eye-catching place both for our customers and our employees.
Our IT infrastructure and equipment was installed in May, our main pieces of manufacturing equipment were delivered in June, and we trained ourselves to use the equipment and familiarize ourselves with the software very quickly. Our first orders (banners, yard signs, safety signs, window decals etc.) were delivered in July and our first vehicle graphics were applied in August. We’ve also taken on a lot of major sign projects: channel letter jobs, illuminated cabinets on shop fronts, and large post and panel signs. There is no sign job that we can’t make ourselves or project manage for our customers.
We missed the first wave of Covid-related business in the spring but are well-positioned to respond to replacement floor decals etc. and are looking forward to supporting our customers in the coming months as the Covid vaccines are rolled out and the economy gets kick-started into a much a higher gear.