Michael Wood on winning customers through search and kindness
Michael Wood is the owner of Ottawa Consultants, which provides government relations, marketing and media relations, business sale support, retail distribution and more. He discusses how his experience in event rentals led to consulting, how search visibility and kindness helped attract customers, and why planning and written partnership agreements matter.
Being easy to find can bring prospective customers in, while kindness shapes their first interaction. Clear goals and written partnership agreements can help protect the business behind the service.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
Back in 2009, I started what would become the largest event rental company in my city, servicing small weddings to larger events such as the FIFA Women’s World Soccer Championship, the NHL All-Star Game, large festivals, the JUNO Awards (the Canadian version of the Grammys), and so much more. With the pandemic starting in March of 2020, I started meeting with all elected officials at all levels of government to try and help small businesses that were considering going bankrupt through no fault of their own. My company lost over three million dollars in gross revenue and I had to lay off close to thirty people. This led me to opening up my consulting company to help everyone achieve their goals called Ottawa Consultants
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
Everything I have done to establish myself with my past and current businesses has been through understanding search engine optimization and kindness. People are not typically searching for you, they are searching for what you do, which is why I always started my businesses with a searchable domain name. Further to that, when your customers call in for the first time, kindness is key and will open every single door for you. Because of the amount of media I do in my city and across Canada, many people are aware of everything that I do and reach out from hearing about what I have on the go.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
I sold my event company during the pandemic due to the tremendous amount of losses, but at the same time I simply needed a change. The one mistake that I did make that taught me the most was that even if you go into business with a good friend, you should always make sure you still have a partnership agreement in place. I do feel I lost out on selling my 50% financially, but at the end of the day, it did bring a sense of mental relief, which is truly more important than financial gains.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
There have been more changes in my first career than in the present life I lead. Back in the day, in the music industry, Napster came out and created major challenges and changes in the music industry. My clients do expect me to have wonderful working relationships with all levels of government which led to me having 911 calls transferable in my city and working across the country to have the system updated. They all expect me simply with the relationships that I have to be in contact with the government, the media, retail stores and help launch their marketing.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
I always practice corporate social responsibility, which I think is important in any industry. If you support the community, the community will support you. I would also encourage people to make sure they are focused and have their goals all written out. Always build a plan. I know everyone has heard this before, but if you fail to plan, you should plan to fail. If someone sees goals as being obtainable I would tell them to ignore those around them saying, "it is impossible." From 20-30 I was touring guitar player who was fortunate to have Casey Kasem launch my career in the music industry that led to me attending the Grammys many times. Back in the day, I was told by many to focus on a "real job" however, I chose to ignore them, and I hit all of my goals in this life.
Thank you to Michael Wood and the team at Ottawa Consultants for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
Want to tell the story behind your business?
Leaders Perception publishes interviews with business owners and leaders every week. Five questions, about ten minutes, no calls. It is free and every completed interview gets published.