Gauging Interest

[Circleville Signs]

As some of you are aware, I've been delving into a few different arenas, as the signage business in my area has been drying up a bit. A good friend of mine (who also owns a local shop) and I have started up a new entity doing nothing but graphic installation. Interior/Exterior, wraps, etc. The target is wholesale work for other shops and large procurement companies (brokers).

We are thinking about a MM here, but wanted to see what you guys and gals think of the concept.

Benefits to the shop owner:

1. Straight square foot pricing
2. 24 hour installation availability
3. You keep designing, printing, and selling - we install

I am not putting our website on here or in any threads, because we are not yet merchant members.

We are able to travel really, anywhere if the job is big enough (we have a couple of jobs lined up in Florida and Vegas this spring).

So, my question to you all - do you see value in this as our potential customers? Would this be a service that you would use consistently?

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[anotherdog]

I wish there was one in my area.

You could also consult on the design/layout. Even if they print. That would open up even shops that would never touch a wrap.

I never do more than partial wraps myself and get a lot of feelers for full wraps. I have to send them away. If I had a good installer I would probably do them myself.

Actually to tell the truth I would watch you like a hawk until I could do it myself.

 

[dhamlett15]

If someone offered this in my area I would use the service.

I am a one man shop and do not need a full time employee but something like this would be great to let me stay in the shop and keep working while other jobs are being installed.

 

[tsgstl]

There are few guys that do this in our area and do fairly well. They moonlight after hours so it is kind of hush hush. But if you are able to market this service I would think you could do well.

Good luck you always need to reinvent yourself. My business model changes almost daily.

 

[Circleville Signs]

Yes, we will definitely be marketing the service. Hopefully I continue to see good responses here and I will pull the trigger on a MM so I can share all the good stuff with you guys

 

[Caitlin]

I think this would be a good thing to offer especially to smaller shops without the work force to do large installs or even the experience to feel comfortable with it on their own.

Good thinking and good luck moving forward!

 

[HulkSmash]

The only issue with that is, no one is going to pay for lodging, and travel...when they can just hire someone local.

 

[Circleville Signs]

The only issue with that is, no one is going to pay for lodging, and travel...when they can just hire someone local.

No one needs to pay for lodging and travel Like i said - we don't travel for small jobs - however, if someone has a large store opening (like the jobs we are doing in Florida and Vegas [for the same customer]) where each one has roughly 10,000 sf of interior graphics - we will cover those costs ourselves...lol.

More importantly though - what I'm trying to gauge is whether or not you would have interest in this type of service if it were reasonably local to you?

 

[J&R Sign Company]

I have a guy local to my area that only does installs. We use him quite a bit when we get backed up with wraps or other large installs. I like it because I don't have to hire another full time employee. I like that you would use a set sq. ft. price for installs, it makes it easier for us to quote a job.

 

[appstro]

Being a one man shop and having limited experience I would like to have your services at my disposal. You might consider doing classes too!

 

[MikePro]

pretty tight here in wisco/illinois.
+1 to not expecting people to want to pay for trip expenses when hiring local is much more economical (and the money stays local)

i, myself, have toy'd with the idea of doing the roaming graphic installation gig.
...mainly for the sake of paying my bills while trying to ski-bum for a season out west in the mtns.

 

[Gino]

I think you have good potential to pull it off. It's certainly an area well needed in our profession.

I would wholeheartedly use you if you were closer, as most of our jobs don't take days to complete. However, if I knew I could count on you and scheduling wouldn't be a problem, I could go after things, I'm not capable of doing now, due to time crunches as you indicated.

If I were you, for the cost of it, I'd try a Merchant Membership here to test the waters. It's not all that expensive and is most helpful for one's business.

• I would make sure if some local/yocal hires you that they don't waste your time by turning your installation into a learning class, unless they want to pay dearly for that added feature.

If I was younger and no family, I'd love to go on the road, again.