diary of an entrepreneur

Nick Turnbull

Managing Director, Indigo Splash

March 2020 : Picture a busy audiovisual company, the managing director, Nick Turnbull, creating CAD drawings across three screens in a warm office, technicians rumbling flight cases across the warehouse to a half-filled truck parked at the loading doors. The Indigo Splash team is busily preparing for a large conference. April 2020 : Picture a dark empty office, chairs filled only with the memory of people. The warehouse is cold, quiet and still. Doors are locked.

Pushed into COVID lockdown, Indigo Splash shuts down. There is no work on the horizon but with the support of furlough and a hope for quick release from lockdown, Indigo can ride this adversity in temporary hibernation.

May 2020 : Picture the managing director’s temporary office at home. There is no work and the company is totally out of action.

Time has creaked by since March. Lockdown is easing but COVID persists. Meeting in large groups is still prohibited. No conferences, no exhibitions, no charity fundraisers, now or in the immediate future.

Nonetheless, Indigo still has overheads and furlough will come to an end in October. Entrepreneurship is required

June 2020 : During hibernation, Nick continually researches to unearth alternative income sources for Indigo.

Nick talks regularly with his staff to identify skills development and training for future work, giving them permission to train in work related passions of their own.

He also talks to business peers and suppliers in the industry about what is happening outside the events bubble. It becomes clear that most businesses will need a new line of equipment to operate in a COVID ‘back to work’ environment. Indigo Splash’s suppliers now sell a range of products for temperature sensing, people movement tracking and social distancing.

July/August 2020 : Picture an entrepreneurial evolution into COVID safety equipment, and disappointment.

Always passionate about technical innovation and creativity, Nick gets to work with a quick social marketing campaign, employing freelance operatives to try to tap the potentially enormous COVID safety equipment market. Though the campaign generated a lot of interest, most potential clients wanted less techy, cheaper systems.

Possessing a strong work ethic, Nick is determined to learn from the experience and to generate new avenues of work. One significant find from all the COVID safety solutions research was a great range of CCTV equipment.

Broadening the work base expands Indigo’s resilience. Management strongly believed Indigo will survive through to 1st October when the government are due to re-open the audio-visual industry.

Mid September 2020 : Picture the government saying the audio-visual industry cannot re-open until April 2021. Even entrepreneurs take a pause when the rug is pulled from under their feet. Evolving to get a company through from April to October is one thing, surviving an extra six months is a significant ask of any SME.

Strong people skills are vital in evolving a company and Nick is still talking to the company’s traditional clients. Before midSeptember they are willing to postpone their usual face-to-face events until after the October deadline, but a post April 2021 date is unsustainable. Very quickly discussion turns to webinars and virtual events.

Webinars are a new area of work for Indigo. The entrepreneurial team research new products and train intensively, push personal boundaries and carefully invest.

October 2020 : Picture a rapidly evolving company with new skills, software platforms and technical equipment to manage the new virtual environment. Indigo is preparing for several significant future events. Then comes the second lockdown announcement

Several jobs jostle in the pipeline: a hybrid face-to-face/virtual event in the UK, a virtual customer update broadcast to Paris, an international virtual conference across three time zones and a CCTV install. All projects comply strictly with COVID regulations.

Then in late October, the government declares a gut-wrenching second national lockdown. Distress is immediate and palpable.

On disclosure of further detail, lockdown allows for virtual events conducted along COVID regulations, so here at Indigo we will live up to our strapline ‘Technically Creative’ and take on the virtual challenge of the 21st century.