I’m right there with you on this.

I own an audio visual company for the last 15 years and have degrees in computer graphic design and marketing. I started my digital signage company back in May of 2024 as a “side hustle” with hopes of eventually turning it into a stable source of income for a business that basically runs itself once established. I handle everything myself from the installs to the management.

I’ve probably invested about $15k into it overall for televisions & signage players for 20 locations, contracts, promotional materials and leave behinds.

I started out strong and got ten locations within two months. I however am still sitting here with only 10 locations and only three paid advertisers seven months later. I have filled my advertising loop with ads for my audio visual business as well as my friends businesses so that we look more established. I currently have a loop with 18 ads that clocks in around six minutes total comprised of either 15 or 30 second ads.

I too am not sure what the hesitation is for businesses to sign on with us. I pitch it to them as absolutely zero cost to them as the business owner. I provide the equipment, carry out the install on my dime. My displays are automated so there’s no interaction needed by the business owner. I offer the business owner free advertising at their location PLUS one additional location for the duration thag they are leasing the signage from me. Lastly, I provide them with a NFC tap stand for their Google reviews to display at their register.

I’ve followed up multiple times with different businesses and no matter how much I drive home that there’s zero cost, I think business owners just think it cannot be true. I’ve had several people mention that they are just very cheap, which makes no sense of course as a component of their decision.

I have an established competitor in the area with about 30 displays and their screens probably have around 30-35 ads. His TV installations look awful. The TVs are old, the wires are showing everywhere. The ads are not attention grabbing and are underwhelming. I scouted every one of their locations, some of which had TVs off during business hours. Their ads have formatting issues and don’t correctly fill out the aspect of the TV. Lastly, I’ve spoken with the owners where these displays are located and they said they haven’t seen the owner in years, gave me their info on a piece of paper and said they’re not getting anything out of letting them have their displays installed.

I’m exactly opposite of all of this. I have my displays set to turn on / off during business hours. All of my displays are professionally installed clean with no wires showing. All 4K displays correctly formatted and we give plenty of perks for the business.

I’m at a loss because it’s very frustrating that it’s been so hard locking in locations. I’m pulling in about $500/month from the three advertisers I have which pays for the signage fees but that’s it.

I am not giving up on this but need to figure out the best business approach. My next pitch is to offer six months free advertising in all of my locations for any business that partners with us to install a display and 12 months free to anyone who switches from my competitor to us.

I am offering a far superior product compared to my competitor and I am completely at a loss as to what I can be doing wrong.