Are we a weakening industry? And is it our own fault?

[Fred Weiss]

Same reason, when you see a MacDonald's, you will also often see a Wendy's and a Burger King. Not only is the location good but more people will drive to there for their burgers because a choice is available.

 

[Joe Diaz]

I would. They opened that shop because they checked the demographics. All I have to do is open a shop that has great product service too. I'll get a cut.

That kind of reminds me of the time when I was working for a sign shop in a town saturated with other sign businesses. A Fast Signs was due to open. In fact it opened in the exact same store front that a Sign-A-Rama was in before they decided to move to a bigger location. I joked to my brother, that we should open a sign shop right next door and call ourselves “Faster Signs”. He told me that would never work because some shop might open up next to us called “Fastest Signs”. I think we ended up calling our hypothetical shop: “Fastest, Lowest Cost, Highest Quality Signs” Has a certain ring to it doesn’t it?

This comment is no offense to any people that work at a fast signs, just trying to make a point. And the point is:

Where as this might be the case with a fast-food chain or a coffee shop, I don’t think it’s quite the same for sign shops. The reason why I think this works for fast food is because when you are dealing with a product that you consume on a daily basis, the consumer tends to get board with consistency. In other words, I’m not going to eat at McDonalds every afternoon, even if there aren’t other restaurants near by. So, having a Taco bell, Wendi’s or Long John Silver’s next door doesn’t hurt Mc Donald’s that much, because the consumer wasn’t going to go there every day anyway. And clumping all these fast food shops next to each other is actually a good thing for every one, because it creates one easy to remember, easy to get to, hot spot, for all your greasy fast food needs.

Not to mention these types of business are set up to sell higher volume products (not so much services) at lower prices. And even though some sign shops view this industry in this way too, I believe a sign shop is a service industry. We create custom, unique products through a service that we provide. We still produce a product, but when almost every product is unique, the service aspect of our job becomes more important. We do a different job every day. There are no quick assembly lines that can be created, so our products become more complicated, more difficult to price, and thus we must look at our selves as service providers, not product distributors. If two sign shops opened up next to each other, this will seriously cripple both, especially if the demand is not there.

…And let’s face it; the demand is usually not there. Fast food is selling what? Food (if you can call it that :ROFLMAO. Food is a necessity of life, we have to consume food. The geniuses of the fast food model is that it allows consumers to get what the NEED quickly. It is a demand that will always be there. And the coffee example is even better. They are selling a product that is addictive.

Our products aren’t a necessity of life, or addictive, because our clients are mostly business owners, or people that want to buy an accessory, our client base is a fraction to that of fast food. And because our services aren’t bought as frequently by the same consumer, each sale has much more of an impact then a hamburger.

The sign business is a different type of business, it has to be. Whether some think that long time sign shop owners are “elitist” or not, the fact is that most that have been in the industry long enough know that our industry is different.

If youre losing business, its my opinion, youre not trying hard enought to find and keep the work. Your customer is smarter now. You have to get smarter as well.

That and the fact that some have to compete with hobbyist, that don't have to “pay the bills with this line of work”. People that give their work away for next to nothing and lower the market price of signs.

 

[hammered]

That and the fact that some have to compete with hobbyist, that don't have to “pay the bills with this line of work”. People that give their work away for next to nothing and lower the market price of signs.

Trust me, we dont compete. Nor do I compete with any full shops. None of you want the 1 offs for printed and cut sticker work I do. Thats my niche'. Now if I were printing at say $4 a sq ft. Id be a problem. Infact when looking to get into this line as a hobbyist, I looked for that lone area that had few to none working it. I make a nice chunk of change AND Im proud to tell people that I do stickers. Im not a sign maker/painter/designer. I do stickers. Now more to the fact that if a full sized production shop is competing with the "hobbyist" they arent doing their jobs. As a hobbyist, I can tell you without a doubt, I cant do the majority of the work any of the shops in my area can. Even outsoursing, its hard to keep up with a full sized shop. If your business is off, its only one persons fault, the shop owner and you dont have to be a sign person to know that. Ive owned my own welding business in the past. If I missed out on work, I couldnt blame anyone OR anything. Im the one not beating the streets looking for work. I did mailers, word of mouth, handed out business cards and cold called comapnies that my services may apply to as well as businesses in similar or same lines of work looking for their overflow. You cant just rely on phone book listing and some quick blurp on the local cable channel at 3am. You gotta hustle none stop.

 

[strycker]

New guy, thats me

Am I in this to make money? Yes-- Someday
Do I ask alot of stupid questions? Yes-- every day
Am I learning anything? yes-- I learn more every day
Do I need help? H___ yes -- alot of it
Am I glad you guys are here on this fantastic site with different opinions and answers? Yes

I have A day job that I hate.Sometimes it`s hard to get up in the morning.I`ve been in the same line of work for 20+ years.One day my wife tells me she wants to sell crafts at the rattlesnake round-up in georgia ( we live in south central Florida ). She tells me that i should sell dixie shirts ( I laughed ).Well before you can spit, I had A heatpress from e-bay,A Dowling Graphics account/with A crap load of redneck decals and going to Georgia. A little later on we were invited to an ISS show in Orlando where I bought my first plotter/cutter (Roland GX 24).Did I know how to use it---HECK NO .

Today I Have A Mutoh Outdoor 62, A Q-160 cutter, and an Enduralam 65. All of this started in September of last year. Do I know how to operate this stuff--- Well, I`m still learning.
I read read read and read some more along with alot of questions.

Whats my point in this little bio.
Mabe it`s just to say thankyou to Fred, Mac, Capital signs, and alot more of you who have been A big help to me. I look forward to comeing home to my little space and learning more. I hope to open a shop one day. It`s good feeling when you do something right and a customer says wow thats awsome. I realy enjoy that. The business I do Is all by word of mouth. I don`t advertise because I don`t feel I am ready yet.

Anyway What I getting at is if you lpve what you do, don`t sweat the small stuff, just enjoy that feeling every time someone says thankyou or good job or (A friend of mine gave me your number)


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