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Good signage will generate new business and increase profits for small businesses

By 4th November 2015April 1st, 2022No Comments

Good signage is a critical component to running a successful small business. In this world where it seems that everything is moving online we can lose sight of the fact that the backbone of our economy is the small business and in their world, simple basic business tasks run the order of the day. And signage is one of them.

Can’t find your business premises, won’t be doing business with you.

Your sign should work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, creating the first impression of your business, telling people who you are, where you are and what you offer.

One of most famous sings in the world is the HOLLYWWOD sign in the hills above the city of Los Angeles. Interesting in that the sign was erected by a real estate developer who wanted to promote, what was at that time, a remote suburban outpost, Hollywoodland. I’m not suggesting that you run to the nearest hilltop and erect a sign for your business in 20 foot letters but this example serves to illustrate a key point- less can be most definitely more.

Here are some simple tips to good signage for your small business:

  1. Different signs for different objectives. Decide on what message you are trying to communicate? Is it brand awareness, a special sale, directions or a product launch.
  2. Please be clear and do not clutter the sign. Sounds obvious but take a look around and you’ll see far too much text and images squeezed onto so many signs.
  3. With less clutter in mind be sure that your business name is front and centre, and have one clear call to action.
  4. Where are you going to place the sign? Tread carefully and look for permission from your landlord or your local business authority. Erecting sings without permission will annoy people so it can be counter productive.
  5. If you’ve purchased signs before for your small business you’ll know that the prices vary and also the quality. A poor quality signs reflects poorly on your brand and will take away from the message you are trying to get across.

Good signage is the least expensive but most effective form of advertising.

Good signage is like a magnet – it will attract new customers.

Good signage will generate new business and increase profits for small businesses. Make sure you include signage as a core element of your branding efforts.

One of the our signage projects was to brand two Fiat 500s with messaging for our online accounting software and that has worked out quite well.

 

Marc O'Dwyer

Marc O'Dwyer

After completing a Graduate program in Marketing, Marc’s impressive sales career began at Allied Irish Banks, Pitney Bowes and Panasonic where he received numerous Irish and European sales performance awards and consistently exceeded targets and expectations. In 1992, Marc’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to set up his own business, Irish International Sales (IIS). Initially, this company was a reseller for Take 5 Accounts and Payroll software. Within four years, IIS became the largest reseller of Take 5 in Ireland, acquiring four other Take 5 resellers. He also found time to set up two mobile phone shops under the Cellular World brand and a web design company offering website design services for small businesses. In 2001, he bought the majority share in a small Irish software business, Big Red Book. At that time, the company was losing money. The company became profitable within two months, and Marc then acquired a payroll company to compliment Big Red Books Accounting products. In 2003, IIS were appointed as Channel Partners with SAP for their new SME product, SAP Business One. Marc sold his Take 5 business and concentrated on developing this new market for SAP As a result, by 2007, IIS was recognised as the largest Channel Partner for SAP in EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa). In 2008, the IIS Sales Manager bought the Company from Marc in an MBO. He launched Big red cloud in June 2012, the online version of big red book, to date the company successfully converts 59% of trials into sales and the number of customers is growing rapidly. Marc continues to run both Big Red Book and Big Red Cloud which now support 75,000 businesses. He is a very keen sportsman, having played rugby for 20 years, represented Leinster at under 16 and under 20 levels, and league squash with Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club for 10 years. Marc has competed in 11 Marathons, including the London and Boston Marathons, and has completed several Triathlons and Half Ironman races. He has also completed six Ironman Races in Austria(x2), Frankfurt (Germany), Nice (France) , Mallorca (Spain) and Copenhagen (Denmark)