Has busy melowed out and if so, does spring time bring sales back up?

[Sidney]

I know for me January can be a little slower, but business is still in the black. Spring time is difinitely an upward boost due to "Spring Fever", new construction, housing sales and outdoor events. What do you experience?

 

[Boudica]

It fluctuates for us. We got really slow about mid November through December. January was pretty busy, but this week it kinda dropped off a bit. Last year we got slammed in early spring and it was non-stop busy through the summer.

 

[BigNate]

picking up now... we get slammed toward end of summer, slowly decreases toward Halloween, then almost dead through mid-January. it will increase steadily for us until June when we have a slight dip before the cycle starts again.

 

[Gino]

I think it really depends on what kinda shop ya have. If you have many repeat customers, that's one thing, but if you have customers who need signs all year long, that will keep you busy indefinitely. Restaurants, grocery stores, sports complexes, transportation companies, police departments and lotsa municipalities can keep you going all year long.

Right now, we're up to our bunghole in governmental jobs with all the turnovers and new people in office.

This past fall was up & down, but it's been almost too busy starting in December in my opinion with it looking crazy up ahead.

 

[ddarlak]

These tariffs gonna make America great again, I'm guessing we'll be so busy we won't know what to do.

Gonna get tired of winning!

 

[Sidney]

It fluctuates for us. We got really slow about mid November through December. January was pretty busy, but this week it kinda dropped off a bit. Last year we got slammed in early spring and it was non-stop busy through the summer.

Ok. Yeah, this industry definitely can have waves of business. I hope you have another great spring!!!

 

[Sidney]

These tariffs gonna make America great again, I'm guessing we'll be so busy we won't know what to do.

Gonna get tired of winning!

Never Get Tired of Winning

 

[Sidney]

picking up now... we get slammed toward end of summer, slowly decreases toward Halloween, then almost dead through mid-January. it will increase steadily for us until June when we have a slight dip before the cycle starts again.

Yeah, mid-January is pretty common. I always used January to create new new designs for my shops advertising promos etc. Ex:Create new 4x6 high gloss, card stock postcards to hand out when i'm on a job etc.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Business always pretty steady for me. January usually a little busier..

 

[Precision]

January was a record month for us. People are spending money. I think it may have something to do with the new Sheriff. Not sure, but hope seems to have returned.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Sprint and Fall are our busiest times. Summer is steady. Winter is slower.

 

[Sidney]

January was a record month for us. People are spending money. I think it may have something to do with the new Sheriff. Not sure, but hope seems to have returned.

There is a lot of enthusiasm out there

 

[MarkSnelling]

The vast majority of the customers I visited in January were DEAD. Sitting on their hands dead. Spent more time reorganizing and cleaning than they did printing.

Someone told me years ago, and I believe it, that our industry does well when the economy is good and when the economy is bad (big brands fighting for every dollar)....but when the economy doesn't know what to expect is when we get killed. December was slow...January was really slow. We'll see how the rest of the year comes together.

 

[Sidney]

I really hope it picks up for you. Have you done any "Door to Door" approaches? Sometimes you just have to go old school

 

[White Haus]

January was insane for us, and Feb is shaping up to be more of the same. Not sure what's happening, and I'm definitely grateful for all the work, but it's been nuts. December-February are traditionally quiet for us, but this year is very different.

Added a laser cutter a week ago, which of course caused no less than 3 other machines to break down on us. Flatbed printer, Gerber plotter, and now our Epson printer. Machines get jealous too I guess.

Added a new employee last week and it's been a huge help. Maybe a couple more weeks of 14 hour days and we'll be able to catch our breath.

Glad to hear some of y'all are busy, and hope that those who aren't pick up soon. It's only a matter of time.

 

[Stacey K]

Was a little slower Nov and Dec than usual, I think due to the election. January 1 thru today seemed slow but as I look at my numbers, I had less quantity of jobs but higher paying jobs. So, I guess that's good? It does seem slower than usual but every year I get scared about this time then March hits and BAM!

 

[TopFliteGraphics]

January was up over 70% year versus year for us. And that was after a 33% annual increase last year. Finally learning to say "no" to jobs I used to think were critical to my business but after analyzing the numbers it was a giant illusion. Those jobs ended up costing me way more than it was worth. That has freed up valuable time for me and I think it will pay off big time this year

 

[Stacey K]

January was up over 70% year versus year for us. And that was after a 33% annual increase last year. Finally learning to say "no" to jobs I used to think were critical to my business but after analyzing the numbers it was a giant illusion. Those jobs ended up costing me way more than it was worth. That has freed up valuable time for me and I think it will pay off big time this year

I've done the same thing and it's helped tremendously!!! I wish I had done it from day one. This week we have snow all week so it's going to be slow...