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Golly! Seeing as though I am obviously much smarter and hipper than all y'all, I think I'll quit my $999,999.00 a year job and muck around with a messed up logo for a week or two. Blessings to everybody from the happiest person on the planet!

Ikarasu - sorry buddy but that just ain't so. People new in the business charge by the sq.ft. because they have no idea what they are doing. Once you have some experience under your belt it becomes much easier to estimate time on a job and prepare an appropriate estimate. Who the hell...

After reading Stacy K's and Johnny Best's responses, I have to add that I carry a pocket notebook wherever I go (I feel lost without it). Nobody wants to see me walk up with a loaded briefcase, and absolutely nobody wants to see me whip out my ipad. Between the pocket notbook and my iphone I...

I know that Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw allow you to convert type to outlines when importing pdf files. There may be some kind of setting one must use that controls whether or not the font outline data is sent, but the default setting that most everybody uses seems to work fine (I have...

Files organized that way "tickle" my memory and keep me on schedule. Some people call them "tickler" files. Thanks for your words of wisdom, I would not like it if people perceived me in a negative light because of an unfortunate choice of words!

I start a manilla folder for every new job. I write down the job specifics either on the folder or on a piece of paper. All pertinant info goes in the folder. The folder goes into a day-by-day tickle file that sits next to my desk (see photo). Estimates are created in Quickbooks, which...

The worst thing CDTFA can do is order a tax audit. You will need to give them access to the information they need, but you do not need to talk to them. A better approach would be to be their friend and support their activities. Use their publically available resources to do business in...

You should be capitalizing on your core capabilities. You are wasting your time if you are trying to do things that don't make you money. You make money by subcontracting not only by marking up the service or collecting a project management fee (remember, they don't need to pay a salesperson...

The only quantitative variable in this situation is the time it takes to do the work. The size of the project may give an indication of the scope of the job, but ultimately it is the time it takes that should determine the price. If you are new at this and cannot guage the time for an accurate...

Either Stacy1203 is incredibly naive or this is a put-on. Didn't bother reading rest of thread but thought I would chime in. I recommend not being baited by this type of nonsense.

You could use $3 - $5 sq. ft. for estimating, but you have to figure in everything to give an accurate quote. A better way would be to figure out how many hours it will likely take, total up your burdened labor rate, and mark everything up to cover your operating cost, overhead, and profits...

The formulas are useless as an absolute color reference. The only thing that matters in this case is the actual local color of the swatch (in this case Pantone). Point with your finger to the physical swatch and have the client look at it with his/her eyeball (under whatever viewing conditions...

Or (#3) sub-contract services that are not in your core capability and make more money than the people who choose options #1 or #2.

My neighborhood has a covenent in place that prevents overnight parking of commercial vehicles on the street. A commercial vehicle, in this case, is defined as any vehicle that advertises the owner's or driver's business. This was put in place to prevent over crowded street parking in a...

For local college and ice rinks, we use flatbed printing on styrene placed under .177 polycarbonate. The pc will get pretty scratched up, depending on where that dasher board is. The pros do new boards with no protection for every game; their advertisers do not want glare or scratches over...

I used a cutawl for years, but now I just order fabricated letters from the likes of Gemini. Way, way cheaper than the labor involved using a cutawl (or any kind of scroll saw). Nice trip down nostalgia lane, however!

Painting is your easiest option. If you don't want to do it (or don't have the equpment and the facility) you can likely get an autobody shop to do it for you. The price won't be so bad if you do a whole bunch at once. You will also be able to record the finish in order to duplicate the...

It's easy. Direct costs (everything that goes into a project), plus "indeterminate costs" such as nuts, bolts, rags, thinner, etc., usually around 7% of direct costs, plus burdened labor (what it costs to pay employee plus insurance, benefits, payroll tax, workmans comp, etc.). Don't forget to...

McMaster Carr is indispensible for me. I order all my hardware from them in just the amounts I need. No stocking. No going to the hardware store and sifting through their bins. And they have engineer drawings and specs on most of their items. Amazing company, and have been for years (no...

There's no fixing that installation. I'm guessing the problem is an unpainted wall, uncured paint (less than 30 days), dirt or grease, or humidity of some sort. Also these types of problems can occur if there was any "re-positioning" done during the install. It doesn't look like it, but if...