Here's the thing, everyone. With a few exceptions, I come here saying "I WANT TO DO THIS, AND IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, HOW?" and you all say "DON'T". It's like you didn't read the question.
I have personally bad credit. A divorce, a move across country, many other factors have lead to this. Is it the end of the world? No. It's going to take some time to rebuild, personally, and that's all fine. That's on me.
I have done market research (lots of questions to local businesses, competition, etc.), found a part-time job in the interim, and may have even found some financial backing/partnership. I've RUN sign shops in the past, done it very well, managed and delegated, met deadlines, all that. I'm not scared of the work. I've been working since I was 12 throwing newspapers from my bike. I'm not asking you all for your blessing. I couldn't care less about how you all FEEL about me starting my shop. I'm going to do it. It's a good decision. The market is excellent. The competition is "complimentary" (the local graphic shops are specialized in certain things, all having a need for what I can do and do well). Life is good. I'm asking for advice and help. Tips. What you did right or wrong when you started your business. What works, what doesn't. I didn't ask for speculation, judgement, or unprofessional criticism based in your realities and not mine.
Anyway, to answer the honest questions:
player: I have access to a small "shed", this computer, which I'm currently running Adobe cs3 on, a 1984 Suburban, and a full set of power tools. I may be picking up an old Roland Printer from a former employer, so in a very rudimentary and rough sense, I do have the basics. I'm not really interested in remotely shipping, that may be more trouble than it's worth.
TimToad: This county, the area within a 30 mile radius, has less than 10,000 people. Expand it to a 60 mile radius, and that number triples in the summer, and includes ski resorts and summer recreation, all of which are serviced currently by Denver, which is over 150 miles away. The three other sign shops in the area, one is an arts co-op, one specializes in national drop shipping, and the third is a hobby project for someone who has it open only by appointment, maybe twice a month. None do metal signs, coroplast, or vinyl signage. The niche is here. I've also gone through sba.gov's website, and I've sketched/written up a rough draft for a business plan per their guidelines, and you're right, that was a tremendous resource, as I discovered weeks ago.
phototec: To respond to your one actual nugget of wisdom, yes, I've found a job in the interim to help make ends meet until I get established. I've even crafted it to be a job that could potentially feed my business, too. And not to be obvious, but you are telling me that I need to do my homework when in actuality, your response was a direct result of me doing my homework.
Craig Sjoquist: I actually have done a little bit of hand-lettering, and this market has a wonderful historic district, so I do plan to incorporate that into my business goal early on. That stuff, at least as far as production goes, is relatively low-overhead. As far as the future goes, I also have an idea that should help me compete with some of the bigger shops in the state. Of course, that's 10, maybe 20 years down the road. You're absolutely right though, signs101 and other resources like this are excellent, and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to pick so many intelligent brains!
bomaboat: One thing that's really got me excited here was that, before this was even a concept, people were asking me if I could make them a sign. I'm not saying it's taking all of the advertising and promoting off my plate, but I feel like I'm already sort of establishing a clientele, and I'm in the very infancy of this whole project. It's all about how you treat customers, and I've found in my experience running businesses that honesty and quality are the two things you can't go without.
Jillbeans: I've found a job to help me through this beginning patch. Sorry to hear about that person in your area that bought a franchise. I've worked for a few, and that's always a bad idea. The advantage I have over that person is actual experience and desire for making signs. I'm not saying I'm going to be the next Dan Sawatzky or anything, but I'm certain I can create a good thing here.
OldPaint: First off, I love your name. Second, as I told Craig Sjoquist, I do plan on incorporating paint and hand-lettering into my business plan. You saying I should just do that to start with? It's a great idea, low overhead, but I'd have to do more. This market is too small to rely on just that as a niche. Still, I like where your head is, and I appreciate the note.
HDvinyl: Part of my long term plan is to buy sign shops in other markets. I can't tell you what I'll do with them, I'm with you there. It's amazing how many sign shops are all over craigslist.
Gino: If you've made it this far into the thread, you can probably get a feel for where my head is. I've been through a bunch of difficult things in my life. I've lived out of a van to pay for rock climbing adventures. I moved to Alaska with my old family after our oldest son died. Then my ex took my only other son and moved here to Colorado. I didn't see my son for a whole year. Then I met someone else, we had a baby together, and moved to Bozeman, Montana (because travelling between Colorado and Alaska frequently is not cheap). Bozeman has **** for sign shops. I won't name names, but it ran the gamut from a franchise owned by a lady who illegally kept two sets of books to the son of an old hand-painter/wood-carver who didn't realize before I got there that you have to clean the printer at least once a week, to, finally, a former franchise turned "local" sign shop who cranked out really crappy quality signs in order to undercut the competition. I wound up taking a night job for $11.50/hour. We moved to Colorado to be closer to family, and because this town where we ended up, gives us a chance. All of that being said, I UNDERSTAND, COMPLETELY, that opening my own sign shop will be, at times, and probably frequently, MORE DIFFICULT THAN ALL OF THAT. All I can say is that if I made it this far, I'm damn sure not going to stop, no matter how hard it gets. So thank you, sir, for your encouragement. You are a scholar, and a gentleman. A man among men.
Billct2: See above and thank you!
