Off The Wall Creative (OTWC) is a signage and branding company, steered by 12 passionate staff members.
The OTWC journey began with our small team providing design and installation for print only. However, with a focus on a bright future and 13 years of dedicated service, we have grown to work in 15 countries, have successfully completed over 7,000 projects and had the honour of working with many impressive high profile clients such as Danske Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Allstate, ASOS, The Prince鈥檚 Trust, EOS, Ulster University, Collins Aerospace, Seagate, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Russell & Bromley to name but a few.
For us, we believe a small team can deliver a mighty impact. Our team offers signage and branding solutions for hospitality, retail, pharmaceutical/healthcare, manufacturing and corporate offices. With many years of experience and a multi-skilled team that have decades of experience under their belts, we pride ourselves on being able to offer clients support from the beginning of their projects when brainstorming and designing, to the manufacturing of their signage and branding, and finally the installation.
We are currently the only signage company on the island of Ireland that can provide manufacturing in-house, which gives us the opportunity to support other sign makers with our 10,000 sq ft of production space, dedicated onsite installers and up-to-date machinery. For us, this has been a huge factor in sustaining consistent growth over the last 13 years. We鈥檙e firm believers that quality reigns supreme over quantity, and when you have a solid team of highly skilled creatives working together, great things are possible in business.
Certainly it helped us win two awards at The Sign Awards in Birmingham. Team member Dillon Hollinger won Young Signmaker of the Year and the company won a 鈥淗ighly Commended鈥 award for Signage Company of the Year.
A huge part of our growth is due to the fact that we highly value investing in our business. Not only do we understand the need for investment in our staff, their skills and their training but we also continue to invest, year upon year, in our machinery, technology and the processes that ensure every client of ours is receiving up to the minute, high quality results that can stand tall beside global competitors. In recent years we have upgraded and invested in CNC machining, laser cutting and welding, automatic CNC profile forming and other advanced manufacturing equipment to drive efficiency, improve quality and maintain an impeccable standard of health and safety for both staff and clients.
As well as this, we believe that there鈥檚 nothing more important than investing in your staff. Over the years, we have learned that an empowered staff member is an efficient, skilful, and dependable staff member. We highly value providing monthly training for staff members, investing in the personal growth of our team and ensuring that every OTWC creative feels supported to grow and advance in their chosen field. This year alone, we have provided opportunities for staff to avail of joinery, electrics, health and safety and advanced management training. It鈥檚 crucial that our team play an active role in their career advancement, and we鈥檙e devoted to making this accessible for each and every one of them.
Like any business, our team has had to remain solutions-focused when overcoming problems and issues, in order to remain profitable. Firstly, as we grow and the needs of our clients progress, we have to be quick in establishing where there are gaps in our skills as a team. We combat these skill gaps by not only investing heavily in training for our current members of staff, but also recognising when we need to recruit new talent and delegate tasks to experts. By keeping an open mind and understanding the need for a diverse team, we have been able to increase our product offering and diversify our services immensely. As with any production line, it鈥檚 crucial that we鈥檙e focused on reducing snag rates and always working towards better quality and efficiency with our projects.
We have re-structured our business within recent years, to include departmental managers that are focused on improving communication between departments and overseeing the daily management of key components of our projects. We also have seen the fantastic benefit of employing a sales manager to drive sales and profitability, which led to a much needed and useful change in the business with regards to our efficiency with design and production. This year, we鈥檝e introduced a production workflow system and project management system, which has sped up our design time immensely, as well as updating our production machinery and equipment to considerably improve output and quality. These kind of investments have led to considerable growth for us.
We have learned so much as a growing small business, however, one of the most useful pieces of advice we could give is, invest in a team of people that are actively excited about what you鈥檙e trying to achieve. When there鈥檚 an energy of ambition, mutual passion and an undeniable creative buzz in the room every day, it鈥檚 difficult to go wrong. It鈥檚 important to be aware of your competition, but we have found that it鈥檚 crucial you aren鈥檛 distracted by them. Regardless of your field, there鈥檚 space for everyone and if you focus on being the best you can be and developing your own approaches, you鈥檒l thrive.
We would also say, it鈥檚 important to crunch down on what leads to more efficiency, better quality and the best use of your skills and time as early on as possible. We have quarterly meetings to discuss the price of materials and our energy consumption as a company. This allows us to always stay ahead of the game and remain profitable. It鈥檚 so important to move with the times and shape your business around the world you鈥檙e working in. Lastly, regardless of how busy you are, tell people about what you鈥檙e doing. Promote yourself, market your work and don鈥檛 be afraid to get on social media and show the world what you鈥檙e made of. If you鈥檙e in business, you鈥檙e already someone with courage and bravery, take the leap and don鈥檛 be afraid.
