2023 wrapup

[Texas_Signmaker]

Girls that have a hard time saying no are more fun

 

[njkreger]

One thing I definitely want to improve for 2024 is my job ticket/work order system. Half the time I don't even fill in all the info and I want them to be more complete for future reference.

Ha, probably the #1 thing I see. Sales rushing to get to the next client give half the info, leaving PMs, Design, Print, Fab, Install all going WTF?!?!? Get in the habit now and it'll save you $$$ down the road, especially if you begin to scale.

 

[gnubler]

^^I'm a one person shop so it's only up to me to decipher my sh!tty job tickets, but that's no excuse. If I ever hire help or want to sell the business I can foresee the horror of other people trying to figure out past job specs that only exist in my head.

 

[Stacey K]

I've trying to think of a way to incorporate QR codes and this sounds like a great way to use them!



I'm in the same boat. What little processes/systems are documented, are sprinkled all over the place. Google Docs, paper prints, word files, PDF's etc etc.

Time to pick one central location and make sure it's known/accessible to everyone.

I have a few QR codes that I made for customers. -my website, -cash & carry vinyl installation, -apparel laundering instructions.

I put them on stickers to close the bags up when customers buy apparel or vinyl decals.

I use OneNote for my processes, but I also have lots of stuff sprinkled around like you do. Now that I hired a gal to help here and there - I should probably clean up my act LOL

 

[njkreger]

I have a few QR codes that I made for customers. -my website, -cash & carry vinyl installation, -apparel laundering instructions.

I put them on stickers to close the bags up when customers buy apparel or vinyl decals.

I use OneNote for my processes, but I also have lots of stuff sprinkled around like you do. Now that I hired a gal to help here and there - I should probably clean up my act LOL

Yeah, having a "single source of truth" is important, especially when you hire and scale. Hiring tends to be a good motivator to get your stuff together!

 

[ColorCrest]

Yeah, having a "single source of truth" is important, especially when you hire and scale. Hiring tends to be a good motivator to get your stuff together!

Exactly what I was thinking when, in an other thread found here, you might do yourself a favor and download a trial copy of Claris FileMaker to wrangle your business "stuff" into a hub application. You might be well completed by the time you say "Happy New Year."

Let me know if you're interested.

ColorCrest
All around shop helper and merchant member at Signs 101

 

[Geneva Olson]

My biggest change was that I am branching out into a new endeavor and bought a website that will go nationwide. scary and exciting all at the same time. I'm still building it so I have no idea how it will do. Everyone who I have told about it likes the idea!

 

[JBurton]

Now that I hired a gal to help here and there

That was quick?!

 

[Stacey K]

That was quick?!

LOL! I had her coming in to press some larger apparel jobs for me the last couple months, once a week or so. I asked her last week if she would be interested in doing more for 2024. She said yes!

Maybe "hired" isn't the word as she isn't interested in working full-time and is reliable but she wants to work her own hours - which is fine! For the apparel, she stopped in the afternoon and I showed her what to do. I gave her a key and she would come back at night and work until like 11pm after I had left. She found it "relaxing" because it gave her time to listen to books on her airpods. So, most of what she will do will be randomly at night when I'm not around. Banner trimming and grommets. apparel, weeding, stuff that I don't really need to be around for. She's my sons friends mom. Never had a real job as her husband makes a good living so it's kinda "her terms" but she does an excellent job so I can work with it.

 

[Boudica]

LOL! I had her coming in to press some larger apparel jobs for me the last couple months, once a week or so. I asked her last week if she would be interested in doing more for 2024. She said yes!

Maybe "hired" isn't the word as she isn't interested in working full-time and is reliable but she wants to work her own hours - which is fine! For the apparel, she stopped in the afternoon and I showed her what to do. I gave her a key and she would come back at night and work until like 11pm after I had left. She found it "relaxing" because it gave her time to listen to books on her airpods. So, most of what she will do will be randomly at night when I'm not around. Banner trimming and grommets. apparel, weeding, stuff that I don't really need to be around for. She's my sons friends mom. Never had a real job as her husband makes a good living so it's kinda "her terms" but she does an excellent job so I can work with it.

like a little elf that comes in at night, and all these projects are done and ready to go the next morning. Nice!

 

[Stacey K]

like a little elf that comes in at night, and all these projects are done and ready to go the next morning. Nice!

Exactly!

 

[Humble PM]

Just make sure she doesn't blow a gasket and chop all them heavy rolls of material into manageable chunks.

Best to avoid Elven safety goin mad.

 

[Warmoth]

On the subject of QR codes, I have setup various QR codes and placed them near inventory storage (inks, roll media, Coroplast sheets, etc.)
When scanned they open your email app with a pre-written message, addressed to our inventory handler.

ie:

Subject: "Inventory Alert - TR2 Cyan Ink"
Message: "TR2 Cyan ink cartridges remaining -"

When we're loading up a new ink or roll and see we're low, we scan it, tap a number, and hit send. It's pretty handy!

 

[Warmoth]

Feels like a lot of changes this year.

New equipment:
64" Roland - Mostly to offer larger printed banners, but also have set it up with the (not that impressive) wider color gamut. Might swap to double CMYK for the speed because IT"S VERY SLOW.
54" Graphtec - Mostly to use as a dedicated plotter for media that comes off our 54" printers.
SawTrax Panel Saw - To cut back on the amount of pre-cut aluminum we buy. Before hand it was a tablesaw (cumbersome) or the SteelTrak KeenCut (bent pieces every time).
Stomp Shear - Additional aluminum cutting options. No blade kerf, no material loss, fun to use.
150w Laser - Mostly a toy, still figuring out it's optimum use for making money.

New employee, my wife's brother. A little slow start, but he's turned out to be very valuable.

I ramped up development on our Order/Workflow system. It uses a series of Google Sheets combined with HTML, and Google Script to read and write order files from a shared Google Drive folder, and to communicate order status to an external Kanban board. It's become so comprehensive, I really enjoy working on it. And I can't imagine taking orders any other way.

We were very very close to buying a flatbed printer, but ultimately decided it was not the right time. One day, maybe, hopefully.