Buying A Sign Business

[Texas_Signmaker]

My project management business is in the sign industry serving a handful of national clients. I keep it separate because it's really not the same as a local sign shop business.

 

[Stacey K]

Those numbers seem low to me too. Excluding my project management business which is the primary money maker... my regular "sign shop" is just under $500k. That's me spending about 15-20 hours a week on it with some part time help. The second business at $500k seems more in line with what one person could max out with before needing to add employees. $500k means you should be bringing home $150-200k working by yourself.

I started my sign business while working full time and had a newborn as well. It's hard the first few years but after the third year I quit my day job, and by the 5th year I was living comfortably. Takes some serious grinding and money discipline. The baby years are overrated...they aint going to remember anyway.

There's no way I could get to 500k just by myself and my one helper. That would be awesome if I did! LOL

 

[DPD]

Hey everyone, my names Matt, I'm new to the forum. I've joined this site as the owner of a sign business that I have been doing CNC contracting work for has asked me if I wanted to buy his business. He was been in business for over 50 years, is well established in the area and surrounding areas and does not have kids of his own who are interested in buying his business. He figured he would just run this business until he retired but then I came along and he would rather see the business continue on rather than close up once he leaves.

I started a very small CNC sign business in 2020 just before covid as a source of side income. My business grew to the point of buying a larger and more professional CNC and quickly replaced my main income. I've been constantly looking for ways to expand my business and that's when I reached out to larger sign shops in my area to see if they needed any contract work done. I am very interested in buying his business. He does vinyl, large business signs and a little bit of everything in between. He has clients such as Ryder where he installs the vinyl decals on their new box trucks. I would be looking to grow the business to the point where I can hire a manager to run the shop and employees to do the work. Right now he basically outsources all of his sign making but I would be interested in bringing back in house manufacturing.

I'm posting this thread to get some input from the more experiences business owners in this industry as to what types of questions I should be asking this owner. Anything will be helpful especially from those who have experience buying a sign making business. I'm looking to learn as much as I possibly can and exhaust every resource available for learning what I can about this industry. My little business has served me well but I just got married last July, the wife and I are looking to buy our first home and have kids and a major growth like this is exactly what we need. Plus I'm really excited about the opportunity. Thanks in advance for your inpu,,,t

Hey everyone, my names Matt, I'm new to the forum. I've joined this site as the owner of a sign business that I have been doing CNC contracting work for has asked me if I wanted to buy his business. He was been in business for over 50 years, is well established in the area and surrounding areas and does not have kids of his own who are interested in buying his business. He figured he would just run this business until he retired but then I came along and he would rather see the business continue on rather than close up once he leaves.

I started a very small CNC sign business in 2020 just before covid as a source of side income. My business grew to the point of buying a larger and more professional CNC and quickly replaced my main income. I've been constantly looking for ways to expand my business and that's when I reached out to larger sign shops in my area to see if they needed any contract work done. I am very interested in buying his business. He does vinyl, large business signs and a little bit of everything in between. He has clients such as Ryder where he installs the vinyl decals on their new box trucks. I would be looking to grow the business to the point where I can hire a manager to run the shop and employees to do the work. Right now he basically outsources all of his sign making but I would be interested in bringing back in house manufacturing.

I'm posting this thread to get some input from the more experiences business owners in this industry as to what types of questions I should be asking this owner. Anything will be helpful especially from those who have experience buying a sign making business. I'm looking to learn as much as I possibly can and exhaust every resource available for learning what I can about this industry. My little business has served me well but I just got married last July, the wife and I are looking to buy our first home and have kids and a major growth like this is exactly what we need. Plus I'm really excited about the opportunity. Thanks in advance for your input!

Does the sellers business add product offerings to what you already produce else your buying his customer list and possibly duplicating equipment. That's one consideration.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

There's no way I could get to 500k just by myself and my one helper. That would be awesome if I did! LOL

You can... but I think the key for me was doing larger sign jobs that required a bucket truck. $45k a month isn't hard to hit if you're taking on $5k-$10k-ish jobs at a time... which is easy for a new business opening up to spend. A channel letter set and some tenant panels gets you to $10k easy. I can do one of those a week to hit those numbers. Outsource the channel letters and make the faces in house and it's a one day job. It took several years of learning installs and electrical (depending on your state) and getting a bucket, but once you're in that game all the small yard sign crap gets kicked to the curb. After that then it's $100k pylon signs.

 

[Stacey K]

You can... but I think the key for me was doing larger sign jobs that required a bucket truck. $45k a month isn't hard to hit if you're taking on $5k-$10k-ish jobs at a time... which is easy for a new business opening up to spend. A channel letter set and some tenant panels gets you to $10k easy. I can do one of those a week to hit those numbers. Outsource the channel letters and make the faces in house and it's a one day job. It took several years of learning installs and electrical (depending on your state) and getting a bucket, but once you're in that game all the small yard sign crap gets kicked to the curb. After that then it's $100k pylon signs.

OK, well, that makes sense. I was starting to feel like a loser LOL

Most of my jobs are around 1k. I think my town only have 2-3 signs that are even on a pole. Small businesses I do the logo, letter a van and a trailer, do about 24-50 shirts. Medium businesses I might do 100-200 shirts, maybe 4k in signage and maybe a fleet of 5-7 vehicles. I've got some jobs for the school but nothing typically over 4-5k. I think 300k would be my max level with the things I'm doing and a helper that worked 20 hrs a week. I do get a lot of large apparel orders which my helper does and I make very good money on them.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

There's no way I could get to 500k just by myself and my one helper. That would be awesome if I did! LOL

I thought the same way a few years ago. Had myself and two full time helpers. Reassessed things at the end of last year. Let one guy leave and did not rehire someone else. One of the best things I ever did (besides starting to implement the "Profit First" strategy). I am already at 500K for this year with just the two of us. My helper is happy as he is making more money than he ever has. My wife is happy as I am too now

 

[Stacey K]

I thought the same way a few years ago. Had myself and two full time helpers. Reassessed things at the end of last year. Let one guy leave and did not rehire someone else. One of the best things I ever did (besides starting to implement the "Profit First" strategy). I am already at 500K for this year with just the two of us. My helper is happy as he is making more money than he ever has. My wife is happy as I am too now

I have that book but I didn't read it yet. Perhaps I should!

 

[Notarealsignguy]

There's no way I could get to 500k just by myself and my one helper. That would be awesome if I did! LOL

Installation, big signs or big machines if you're a 1 man show. IMO, 500k is a lot of work for 1 person in an average retail sign shop

 

[Johnny Best]

By the time he decides, he will be ready to retire.

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

I have that book but I didn't read it yet. Perhaps I should!

Read it now! And then when he says to do something, do it immediately. This book has really changed my life. Now I don't feel as if I am just "working" at a sign shop. I feel like I really own it and am building a future! It's really very simple but can absolutely change your life. Good luck Stacey!

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Read it now! And then when he says to do something, do it immediately. This book has really changed my life. Now I don't feel as if I am just "working" at a sign shop. I feel like I really own it and am building a future! It's really very simple but can absolutely change your life. Good luck Stacey!

Are there any big standout points in there that you'd be able to elaborate on?

 

[Westbound31]

I was in a similar spot a few years ago when I had the chance to expand my own small business. One thing I learned was to dig into the financials—check out revenue trends, any outstanding debts, and even client contracts. You’ll also want to ask about his process for outsourcing and if there are any long-term vendor relationships you’ll need to keep. If you're planning to bring production in-house, make sure the equipment and space are up to the task. Oh, and if you’re looking for some more tips on the business side, sneak a peek here. It helped me get a better idea of how to plan for growth.

Thank you very much for the advice. I'm really hoping to get to the point soon of being able to dig into the financials and ask all of these questions. The rapport has been built, we're working on a project together, he has told me he's ready to turn the page and retire so now it's just the waiting it out part. I haven't put my current business on hold at all though in the meantime and won't do that because these things may not work out. I pray that they do but I'm preparing as if it won't.