Can I do it all? Signs, Screen Printing, Embroidery, Vehicle Graphics?

[Andy D]

Can you do it all is not the right question, What you should ask yourself is should you
try and do it all.

When you get and read E-myth you will see one of the main points he makes is every business is made up of three type
of people: Techs, Managers, and a entrepreneur...Techs are everyone that isn't a manager or the entrepreneur.
When we start a business we typically have to be all three, but our main goal should be to separate ourselves from
the day to day running of the business so that we can become a 100% entrepreneur, that guides and grows the business.

The problems are:
1. We tend to make our business so complicated and convoluted nothing runs right if we're not there.

2. Most of us are or were Techs for someone else, when we finally start our own shop we have a hard time separating ourselves
from the technical day to day running of the business, we're good at it, we like it, and it's our comfort zone.
Problem is, if no one is promoting your business and getting the large profitable jobs, you're stuck with the ones that walk through the door
or call you up. Most of the profitable clients are snatched up long before they have the chance to shop around....

Trying to be everything to everybody is a mistake IMHO.

 

[Gino]

If you are by yourself, you have no choice other than to do what you can to stay afloat. That however, takes a skill which not many possess or desire. The knowledge to delegate.

In the beginning, you must learn to delegate your time. So much time for this, that and whatnot. Some people say, rob Peter to pay Paul with time [and money sometimes], but unless you dedicate an allotted time for certain functions with a little leeway built in, you will be working round the clock and be married to your job. Not a good thing. You've got to learn how to discipline yourself. When you're young, starting out, it might be necessary here and there. That's how we all grow, but as you do grow, you will learn to hire someone or sub out certain things you used to do and delegate work to others. Letting go of certain areas will allow you to grow your business. Sure, you still oversee it all, but again as you grow, you'll find most of these things take care of themselves, if you surround yourself with good people.

All the books in the world are not going to teach you to design, grow your business or let go of the reins here and there. The books are generally something someone has put together to make themselves some money. They explain mostly common sense circumstances and give generalities for answers. The answers usually won't fit your specific needs, so you must delve deeper and work around what the authors are saying.

Being everything to everyone is tough to do, but it can be done on a small scale. The trick is how to grow and smartly use machinery, employees or subs to help you and stay ahead of the onslaught.

Good luck............​

 

[Johnny Best]

Thinking that there are three types of people to run a business as stated in another post, techs, managers and entrepreneurs, might not be good to run a muti faceted business.
To run a business that has other businesses involved might need a renaissance man or a good multitasker. To put yourself in a catogory as stated in that book that was quoted might be your first mistake in achieving your goal.

 

[schwarzmuller]

Thinking that there are three types of people to run a business as stated in another post, techs, managers and entrepreneurs, might not be good to run a muti faceted business.
To run a business that has other businesses involved might need a renaissance man or a good multitasker. To put yourself in a catogory as stated in that book that was quoted might be your first mistake in achieving your goal.

By reading your comment, I know that you didn't read the book. One person that starts a business has to be all three characters.

 

[Andy D]

Thinking that there are three types of people to run a business as stated in another post, techs, managers and entrepreneurs, might not be good to run a muti faceted business.
To run a business that has other businesses involved might need a renaissance man or a good multitasker. To put yourself in a catogory as stated in that book that was quoted might be your first mistake in achieving your goal.

Yeah, I think you misunderstood what I was saying, my fault, I didn't do a very good job.
HERE is a link to a site that may explain it better.

 

[Johnny Best]

By reading your comment, I know that you didn't read the book. One person that starts a business has to be all three characters.

Your right, I did not read the book, just quoting AndyD's second paragraph. That stated that techs are not managers and you want to end up just to be an entrepreneur.
The point I was trying to get across was not being those three catogories or pigeon holing yourself into just one. Think positive and work hard should get you through.
Please do not respond to this in a negative way an tell me to read the book.

 

[Andy D]

Think positive and work hard should get you through.

That's one of the main points of the book, most people that start out on their own think " I'm really
good at what I do, If I work real hard, produce a better product, and keep the customer happy, everything
else will take care of itself"
I wish that were the case, that should be how it works. The truth is that
if your competitor is a savvy entrepreneur, they can have an inferior product, higher prices, slower turnaround times
and still take away all of the best clients.

You have to put yourself in a position that you have enough time to get out and promote your business and get the clients
that will allow you to grow.

How many times have you seen a business that is always busy, the customers all seem to be happy and next thing you know, they're closing up shop?
It happens all the time, because the owner was too busy putting product out the door and keeping everyone happy he/she ended up working 80 plus hours
just to keep up with it all... until they couldn't, and started pissing off customers, and were so burnt out they couldn't make themselves even get out of bed to spend
another day in the hell hole they created... It's about separating yourself from the business so you can be the entrepreneur your business requires.

 

[schwarzmuller]

Your right, I did not read the book, just quoting AndyD's second paragraph. That stated that techs are not managers and you want to end up just to be an entrepreneur.
The point I was trying to get across was not being those three catogories or pigeon holing yourself into just one. Think positive and work hard should get you through.
Please do not respond to this in a negative way an tell me to read the book.

I know you're a sarter too, but perhaps you have a look at it.
Working hard is sometimes not enough if you're missing one of the character skills. You don't need to be all, you should know your strenghts/weaknesses.

Not to hijack the topic:
I believe the TS should try it all, but after some months he should make an analyses of what suits him better, what brings more profit, which kind of jobs are asked the most and will not decrease in the future.

 

[Johnny Best]

I know you're a sarter too, but perhaps you have a look at it.
Working hard is sometimes not enough if you're missing one of the character skills. You don't need to be all, you should know your strenghts/weaknesses.

Not to hijack the topic:
I believe the TS should try it all, but after some months he should make an analyses of what suits him better, what brings more profit, which kind of jobs are asked the most and will not decrease in the future.

Thanks for suggesting that I read the book on business. On another post I started someone else suggested I should read some books to improve my skills.
They might help, but I know that reading the Bible does not make you a saint.

 

[visualtechmedia]

I believe the TS should try it all, but after some months he should make an analyses of what suits him better, what brings more profit, which kind of jobs are asked the most and will not decrease in the future.

This is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Gino]

I know you're a sarter too, but perhaps you have a look at it.
Working hard is sometimes not enough if you're missing one of the character skills. You don't need to be all, you should know your strenghts/weaknesses.

Not to hijack the topic:
I believe the TS should try it all, but after some months he should make an analyses of what suits him better, what brings more profit, which kind of jobs are asked the most and will not decrease in the future.

I don't know your background and based upon your profile, it's not been in the sign industry or maybe any business, if you're basing decisions on a book like this.

Do you really think someone such as the OP can determine his/her future on a few months of being in a startup business ?? They'd be lucky to have enough jobs to keep them in business, let alone make heavy business decisions of their possible future.

Working hard and keeping a focus on your business is the only thing that will help formulate a future in ANY business. As I said earlier, learning how, where and when to delegate is anyone's key ingredient. Growth is based on sales, not projections or reading some book. Ya wanna read a really good book ?? Go to the School of Hard Knocks and take out any real experience and try it.

 

[visualtechmedia]

Thanks for everyone's insight on this subject. It seems very possible to make it work, but only with the right strategy, marketing, and management.

 

[Andy D]

Thanks for suggesting that I read the book on business. On another post I started someone else suggested I should read some books to improve my skills.
They might help, but I know that reading the Bible does not make you a saint.

Yeah! What's all this nonsense about reading some dang ol' book written by some egg head?
Learning some dumb ol business perspectives that thousands of people say
helped them with their business is just a dang blasted waste of your time!
I say just keep you head down and keep doing what you're doing no matter how poorly it goes!

As my Grand Pappy used to say " I don't need no blasted cook book! Just mix everything together and
put heat to it, nothin' to it!"
course', he died of salmonella in 68.

 

[Johnny Best]

Yeah! What's all this nonsense about reading some dang ol' book written by some egg head?
Learning some dumb ol business perspectives that thousands of people say
helped them with their business is just a dang blasted waste of your time!
I say just keep you head down and keep doing what you're doing no matter how poorly it goes!

As my Grand Pappy used to say " I don't need no blasted cook book! Just mix everything together and
put heat to it, nothin' to it!"
course', he died of salmonella in 68.

Maybe this should be the next book you should read... "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
Sorry to hear about your grandfather, the apple does not fall very far from the tree.

 

[Andy D]

Maybe this should be the next book you should read... "How to Win Friends and Influence People"
Sorry to hear about your grandfather, the apple does not fall very far from the tree.

Good one, Touche'!

 

[visualtechmedia]

Well, I think I will not be offering services for signs and only focus on the screen printing and embroidery services with my business venture.