NR Signs: Adapting and thriving amid COVID-19

The pandemic has significantly impacted many businesses around the world as the demand for goods and services have had long term effects on staff and cash flow. In Australia we’ve had more than our fair share of difficulties as COVID cases climbed, and lockdowns and border closures were put in place. Tweed Heads-based NR Signs went through many setbacks this year - one of the most challenging has been the location of their premises, situated right on the New South Wales/Queensland border. However, in true Aussie spirit, owners Tony and Sue Worrad (above) and the NR Signs team fought back and found lucrative and inspiring solutions for their business to thrive.

Tony Worrad has been in the sign industry for 42 years. After completing his apprenticeship in Narrabri back in the day when sign writing was handprinted signs, he moved to Sydney and worked at Allcraft Signs before moving to Tamworth and starting TW Signs. He then sold the business to move to Murwillumbah and established NR Signs in 1997, initially working out of a small factory there and then relocated the business to a larger factory at Tweed Heads South, due to business growth.

“When COVID hit we certainly had our challenges like a lot of other businesses,” admits Tony, “but my wife and I agreed that shutting the doors and losing staff was not an option”.

After losing a significant amount of their current jobs, the couple were determined to overcome the challenges and keep the  business running as normal as possible.

Rather than becoming debilitated by the effects of the pandemic on their business, NR Signs looked for ways in which they could add new tools to their toolkit:

•            They stocked up on 4.5mm acrylic and with the use of their router, started making sneeze screens and other COVID-safe signage

•            They adopted the approach of going out to see customers instead of waiting for customers to come to them

•            They became very active in door knocking, cold calling and getting leads to generate more business

•            Realising that building companies were still active, they became proactive in approaching them for work.

Since the majority of their work comes from Queensland, the New South Wales/Queensland border restrictions provided an additional challenge to the business.

“All our material suppliers are in the Gold Coast/Brisbane area, so getting materials freighted to us was a problem. Some suppliers refused to come over the border (and even to this day will not), leaving us to have to organise an alternative drop off point in Queensland . We then had to wait in lengthy queues to get across the border,” explains Tony.

Another way in which NR Signs was able to thrive (and not allow the border closures to impact the business too much) was for Tony to utilise his team as best as possible to keep things functioning as normal as possible.

“Two members of our team live in Lismore which was outside the border bubble until recently, so we were able to utilise them for jobs outside the bubble in New South Wales which worked in our favour. However, they were not able to complete jobs in Queensland. Similarly so, two of our main installers live in Queensland and could not go outside the bubble in New South Wales,” he says. 

Tony is happy to report that NR Signs has seen the benefits of its hard labour .

“Our business has come back very strongly and we’ve forged new business relationships during this time which we may never have forged if the pandemic had  not occurred.

“We invested a lot of hard work and effort into the business and endured a lot of character building along the way … and we are still here now and stronger than ever,” Tony concludes.

This article was first published in the December issue of Digital Image Magazine. Read more here.....