Adapting in the Face of Adversity

Adapting in the Face of Adversity w/Monument Promotions

We caught up with Matt Nicholson from Monument Promotions to see how things have been developing since he opened up his second office. Matt and the team have now expanded into two cities - Swindon and Manchester - and have been busy adapting to the new strand of the business, working with energy-saving client, ‘Don’t Waste Money’.

So what are your plans for expansion post-lockdown when things start moving again?

Over the next quarter, we’re going to be focussing on establishing the energy-residential side of the business, so developing our relationship with ‘Don’t Waste Money’. We’re also looking forward to re-establishing our relationship with our charity partners once again and once all our team have returned from being furloughed, we will be looking at opening up two new offices in Cheltenham. Rather than opening up in lots of new different locations, we will instead be focusing on opening up new divisions of the business in the cities we’re currently based in. The divisions will be: Charity Events, Energy Residential, Events Residential in both Cheltenham and Swindon.

Are there any changes you’ve made to the business during this period of re-evaluation that you will carry forward?

Absolutely. It’s been great in the sense that it’s given us the opportunity to expand into a new area of sales and we’ve now split the business into two parts: Charity and Energy. I will be running one strand of the organisation and will appoint somebody else to run the other, and each location from now on will split off into these two divisions. I think that the last quarter has provided us with the opportunity to really consider the type of business we want to run. It certainly gets you thinking about the bigger picture and your position within the industry as a whole; that shift in perspective has been really beneficial for me, personally. It’s funny, as the world has slowed down, things have really picked up for us; we’ve been going at 100mph, learning a new product and adapting to a brand new way of working.

Do you think that you will change the way that you engage with your Charity Partners once they return to the industry?

I think there will be a huge demand for Charities to catch up on missed income, and we will absolutely be ready to jump on board as soon as the opportunity arises. Obviously the first thing to think about is PPE and reformatting the way in which we engage with the public, but I also think that the conversations we have on the doorstep will need to change as well. For example, I think we will be openly discussing the impact of the pandemic on the Charity sector with our customers; the context within which we are working will definitely become part of the proposition and that’s really important to us. It’s about being honest and responding to each member of the public in a subjective way; the pandemic will have affected everybody individually, so it’s important to acknowledge that.

In terms of recruitment, have you found that there has been a wider pool of people looking for work?

Totally! The recruitment pool has opened up in a huge way for us. There are going to be a lot of highly skilled people from a wide variety of backgrounds that will be looking for new avenues of work. I’m really looking forward to working with these people and the fresh energy this will bring. Over the coming months, I will be looking to scout individuals in the organisation who might be capable of heading the Energy side of the business once I move back into Charity work, so there’s definitely an opportunity for rapid progression over the next few months. A big part of my role is searching for those people who will replace me as I expand the organisation, so I’m always on the lookout for new talent.

On a personal level, what have you taken away from this time? Has your interpretation of what it means to be an ‘Entrepreneur’ changed at all?

I think I’ve come to realise that a lot of it comes down to adaptability. That’s certainly something that we will be instilling in our teams from now on. I’ve learned that, however stable the economy feels, it’s about being ready for anything and not afraid of change. The skills that we teach our guys aren’t set in stone; we very much encourage them to integrate these skills into a way of life, an attitude towards the industry as opposed to trying to follow an exact formula for success. I’ve realised the importance of building strength into my team; by this I mean instilling in them a belief that success isn’t just about context, it’s about self-belief and mindset.

'Over the next quarter, we’re going to be focussing on establishing the energy-residential side of the business, so developing our relationship with ‘Don’t Waste Money’.