brentjosker
New Member
Agreed with all you said
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New Guy New to the business of wraps and more and need advice
- Thread starter Rudy101
- Start date
equippaint
Active Member
We all have to start somewhere and I wish you luck with it. Most everyone that I know thought my business would not be feasible and almost 9 years later were still here.
Many here say to outsource your printing until you can afford a printer. Honestly, if you cant afford a printer dont quit your day job. You need capital to start a business, about 5x more than you think. I dont care what you know or how good you are if you dont have it, chances are that you will fail. Not just in this industry, it goes for all businesses.
Many here say to outsource your printing until you can afford a printer. Honestly, if you cant afford a printer dont quit your day job. You need capital to start a business, about 5x more than you think. I dont care what you know or how good you are if you dont have it, chances are that you will fail. Not just in this industry, it goes for all businesses.
ams
New Member
Unless you are an expert and very experienced, wraps aren't worth it. Generally it can take you 2 or 3 full days to do a wrap depending on the vehicle, plus the cost in vinyl, laminate, screw ups, time, etc. The ending profit isn't worth it. If you make $600 - $700 after 16 hours of work, I can install an electrical sign in 3 hours and make $1,000 profit.
Jester1167
Premium Subscriber
+1
You can save yourself some of those expensive mistakes by getting some hands on training.
Justin Pate's Avery class is well worth the money. You get a couple of days worth of training and tools and a roll of vinyl for $800. You wont be an expert when your done, but at least you will know the right techniques. You will still need lots of practice.
It's always good to wrap your own vehicle because you can see how long it lasts and when it fails you will learn what techniques worked and which didn't.
In reality the best way to learn is by working with someone who knows what they are doing for 6 months before you go out on your own. But, I think your past that stage so don't stop at just one class, there is always more to learn. In the end, you will thank me because you will learn something in each class that will save you thousands of dollars a year by limiting mistakes and making your installations faster and higher quality.
Other training:
- Extraordinary Graphic Installation Training
- 3M Authorized Vehicle Wrap Training - Geek Wraps University
- Vehicle & Fleet Wrap Training & Tools - Lowen Certified
- Classes and Certification | Avery Dennison | Graphics
- https://www.lowencertified.com/
- https://www.elitewrappers.com/
- http://www.hexis-training.com/training-courses.html
- https://www.wrapixacademy.com/courses
- and more...
T_K
New Member
And don't forget about the designs that look good (if not great) and the client tells you to redo it in a way that looks like crap (e.g. "I wan't to put my entire brochure on the side of my van, even though you just told me that's not effective.")
T_K
New Member
Yep. I'm getting ready to start my own company. Starting it as a side gig and operating more as a broker at first since I don't have the capital for all the equipment. Not my ideal way to get going, but it's a way to start and see if I could even hack it in my local market. I'm in a position that I don't have to worry about competing with my current employer and earn too much to jump ship until I'm actually earning a good income from my side business. My guess is it will take a few years minimum for me to feel comfortable in jumping out on my own. I hate how slow it feels moving this forward, but "slow is smooth, smooth is fast." Also, I have a young child at home - can't risk the house on a gamble. As long get payment upfront enough to cover my costs and pay my taxes, this approach is about as low risk as I can think of.
Rick
Certified Enneadecagon Designer
Like I mentioned to another on this thread... I tend to agree except maybe the profit he gets for making wraps at a snails pace is probably more than he is making now and... like Virginia, you are required to hold an sign contractors license in Arizona, same as Virginia, you are required to have 3 years of experience prior to getting a license. If he tried to contract without a license, then that $1000 profit could be used for legal fees in case he gets busted...
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I have questions regarding your math here...
You say you use $500 in ink for 2 vehicle wraps? What type of printer are you using? What type of ink?
You also say that it takes 6 hours to print, another 3 hours of lam and trim? Again what laminator are you using/how are you laminating?
T_K
New Member
Wraps are a fad
Fads make money if you know when to get in and when to get out.
Wraps are a fad
The color change 'Bro I want to wrap my car in Carbon Fiber' wraps or the business 'I have a small fleet I want to wrap'? While I think that the personal vehicle wrap market is limited, as most people don't want to spend the money to get it done, the commercial/marketing side is not going away anytime soon unless there is some sort of new disruptive technology out there.
neato
New Member
While I mainly made that comment tongue in cheek, I do think we're already reaching a point were the public is getting burnt out on what most consider "wraps". They were a novelty in the beginning and commanded attention, but most markets are so overly saturated now, they all blend into one big giant bowl of carbon-fiber, flamed out, diamond plate jello. I see the trend heading back toward simpler, cleaner graphics. I'm not saying digital printing is a fad, far from it, but I think the days are numbered for full coverage, busy graphics.
I think anyone getting into this business would do well to outsource their printing, and spend their time and energy learning the principles of great design instead of dropping tens of thousands on printers. and learning how to calibrate, maintain and run them.
When you learn to design something clean and can make a vehicle look as great ad Dave Correll's or Jeff Devey's look in the new SignCraft with simple graphics, you won't care about covering a vehicle with a sheet of vinyl.
I think anyone getting into this business would do well to outsource their printing, and spend their time and energy learning the principles of great design instead of dropping tens of thousands on printers. and learning how to calibrate, maintain and run them.
When you learn to design something clean and can make a vehicle look as great ad Dave Correll's or Jeff Devey's look in the new SignCraft with simple graphics, you won't care about covering a vehicle with a sheet of vinyl.
equippaint
Active Member
I dont think theyre a fad but its a mature market i.e steady but not growing. Its saturated with suppliers and being priced as a commodity.
IIRC, wraps started coming around in the late 80s / early 90s as a marketing tool, youd see them mostly on buses. So its never been a fad, it is a legit industry segment. In memory of, calvin stickers etc are fads. Correct me if Im wrong
IIRC, wraps started coming around in the late 80s / early 90s as a marketing tool, youd see them mostly on buses. So its never been a fad, it is a legit industry segment. In memory of, calvin stickers etc are fads. Correct me if Im wrong
papabud
Lone Wolf
i dont know. i do loads of different lettering packages and wraps. the number of my wrapped vehicles is growing to the point i out source the installations. even with that if i was to release all my work into the market at once for installs. i could keep every installer in town busy for 2 months.
i might be exaggerating a little. but the struggle is real
mostly due to customers spending weeks in the design phase then want the wrap done the next day
i might be exaggerating a little. but the struggle is real
mostly due to customers spending weeks in the design phase then want the wrap done the next day
brentjosker
New Member
Im using a mutoh 1324x. I use flexi 12 for my rip and print. 220 cartidges are 64.99 each it is a 4 color printer. Each wrap kit is 675. Sq feet at 54" x 50 yrds. I print my wraps in 6 hours on average. I use a 54" seal laminator i dont use the pedal for speed control rather the manual controls ...much faster.
My math was on the fly as in not meant to be perfect rather a vague assumation of the work and rime that goes into a wrap.
Time can vary and depend on operators and machine... I have seen them shorter and see them run longer.
What was your point? Your not going to give me a math lesson are you? Your not gonna tell how great you are and you can do 4 hours of print with 1 hour of lam and trim are you? Like i said im talking averages here....
v0y4ger
New Member
It might be worth having a chat to your nearest vinyl supplier - some run wrap courses.
Wrapping isn’t something you’ll pick up overnight and you will certainly need plenty of practice and/or training before you charge anyone for it.
See if you can make it to some of the trade shows and actually see a demo.
This kind of information and skill is going to be something that many of us have paid a great deal of money for. You won’t get it for free and you tube will certainly miss out the important bits
GAC05
Quit buggin' me
Might be too busy post - trying to get his first vehicle wrap finished