Have You Stopped Crying Yet? – Dave Jaques, Digital Signs

On topics like mental health and discrimination, we at Digital Signs advocate for speaking out when things go wrong. However, we’re also great believers in saving positive energy, not wasting it trying to change the negative things around us. We prefer to focus on making the best of what we have and improving it for the future. We’ve stopped our crying and have stepped up, becoming a GOLD sponsor of NZSDA.

In future E-News we will speak about motorway digital billboard resource consents, fine pitch indoor retail Posters, Cylinders and Globes (full 360 LED displays!), but in this edition we want to speak about “crying”.

In 2017 Digital Signs was a new entrant into the LED display market. The market mainly featured ‘word only’ (dot matrix) LED displays, primarily used for Car Parking and Petrol Station pricing. We saw the opportunity to promote “full matrix” colour displays, and we’ve never looked back.

By 2019, our revenue had surged into the millions, we had an excellent team of staff, and the future was looking bright. However, the onset of COVID brought setbacks when a customer cancelled a confirmed order worth $1.8 million plus GST. This cancellation raised uncertainties about how we would navigate through the pandemic.

We stayed positive and tried to secure a loan so we could keep our staff and use the downtime to increase research and development efforts. The bank approved the request, subject only to the peer review of a senior accountant within the accounting firm we were already using. This process should have been straightforward, right? Well, not quite. The designated accountant had an extensive background in liquidations and did not understand the advertising industry. We never know why things happen, and even bad things can happen for a reason.  The loan was not approved, and we had to change tack quite a bit.

We finally started to return to profit in a modest way in 2021, grew further in 2022, and now we are ‘full speed ahead’ and busier than ever. This year, we’ve upgraded our NZSDA sponsorship from Silver to Gold and will resuming our monthly E-News articles that we know you all enjoy.

For those unfamiliar, our products are only available wholesale through sign writers and resellers. If you’re not listed on our website as a reseller, contact Dave@DigitalSigns.co.nz or (0274) 715 734.

Wishing you a positive and profitable 2024. To those affected by COVID, remember you’re not alone, and there are many within the industry willing to provide support.