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Darryl Lovegrove entertains a tune of resilience
By Leon Gettler >>
ENTERTAINMENT entrepreneur and renowned public speaker Darryl Lovegrove says the big lesson for the pandemic for all businesses is resilience.
No one knows exactly what’s ahead, and how the recovery will pan out. All businesses can know is that things will pick up eventually, they just have to stay focused.
An award-winning performer and producer of some of the biggest corporate entertainment shows in Australasia, Mr Lovegrove is also a performer, starring in shows such as Les Miserables and Jesus Christ Superstar. Mr Lovegrove has also created and staged shows around the world.
At this point, however, he believes the industry for performers and artists has shut down.
He said in this climate, it is impossible to run an entertainment business. 
“All you can do is just cut your costs absolutely to just the barest bones and just use all those weeks and months to gently remind people of your existence,” Mr Lovegrove told Talking Business.
“That’s all you can do. Because when that market out there just doesn’t exist, there’s no point in putting marketing dollars into saying ‘Hey, remember us when it all comes back?’ because the world has just changed enormously.
“Even now, when there are green shoots in Australia and we’re coming back, it is so slow. It is breathtaking. You really need to massively lower your expectations and your costs.”
NO SPEAKING GIGS
Mr Lovegrove said there had been no speaking gigs for the last year. He has only recently reluctantly accepted to do a virtual presentation in a few months’ time for a Hong Kong client at an Asian conference.
He said people in the industry needed to be adaptable in this climate.
He cannot make any firm predictions for how the industry will be post-COVID,
He compares the experience now with what his business went through post-9/11 and the global financial crisis. All one can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst, he said.
“I look at it as my third crisis that I’ve faced over the years. Making predictions is fun but you’re probably going to get them wrong,” Mr Lovegrove said.
“I think it’s going to continue to be very, very slow. I don’t see any momentum building up until July and August and hopefully some kind of Christmas season will come back,” he said.
PATIENCE UNTIL ‘NORMALITY’
Mr Lovegrove agreed that “stuff eventually gets back to normal and what businesses need to do is just have some patience and see it through.
“That’s all I can do. That’s what I’ve done in the past. It is to keep your state of mind as positive as possible, be prepared for very long recovery and persevere with it,” he said.
“Resilience is a massively important component of anyone who is running their business.
“The fact of the matter is that in this world, the new norm is constant change. It’s going to always change the goal posts. Your market’s going to change, the tastes are going to change, the infrastructure of which you do everything is continually changing and you have to adapt.
“You have to work out where are your customer’s eyes, where are they looking now this month, what kind of interface are they looking at for the moment,” Mr Lovegrove said.
“It is always changing and in this period of history, be patient, see where it’s going but stay in there. Try not to overspend too much and be prepared for the slings and arrows that are going to come your way.
“If you can do that, you’re giving yourself half a chance to hopefully succeed in the next era of buoyancy.”
www.darryllovegrove.com
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.
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