signage

A little neighbourly competition

I’m tSignwriters Melbournehe owner of a small business in what I guess you could call a little shopping strip in Melbourne. I’ve been here for, oh I don’t know, about maybe two years now, and I’m fiercely competitive. I have a tendency to take things pretty personally, and when it comes to my business, that applies almost doubly so. What that means in practice is that I’m always eyeing off the competition, sussing it out and trying to work out who’s winning the race, so to speak. So when our next-door neighbours got a brand new sign that looks, I’ll be honest here, absolutely incredible, I was seeing red.

On some kind of flimsy pretext, I wandered over to inquire where they got their signs, sending the owner into a bit of a speal about the makers of ‘the best business signs Melbourne has to offer’. After a moment or two of, I have to say, almost over the top praise, I began to realise that he just wasn’t going to stop, so I made my excuses and left to begin plotting my own, now needed, signage overhaul.

The business I’m referring to specialises in signage laser cutting. Melbourne apparently has a pretty big market for that kind of thing, and all their marketing, including that darned sign, reflects the cutting edge nature of their product. Get it? Cutting edge? I’m sorry I couldn’t help myself. I digress, the point is that I’m not really sure giving off that particular vibe would be a good idea for my business. As a salon owner, we don’t really need something that flashy or related to technology. I’d want something that reflects the essence of my business. At the same time, if the sign company is as good as my neighbour implied, I’m sure they could do something for us too. All I know is, now that they’ve upgraded, we need to too. It’s all about winning the race.