hello from colorado

Hi all, my name is tom ive been in the sign biz for about 30 years. im 42. I started in my dads small old school style lettering shop he started out of his home. he's 79 and he still gets jobs lettering signs and he does it with one eye! he lost one to gluacoma a year and a half ago.

ive been living out west for a long time now around 15 years. ive allways worked for other companies. im a pretty experienced crane operator (85' skyhooks mostly) channel letter installer, cabinets and raceways, painter, welder, vinyl plotter operator and I spent a couple years in a sign shop art dept doing layouts for the salesmen, for a large co.

in the last year ive started getting tired of a few things that I believed were wrong with the management of the shop I was at real bad things and started realizing I did not want to work for anyone else if I had to leave them. so I decided it was time to start thinking of my own shop. I came across a used aerial truck at a great price. the gentleman who owned it had had a terrible accident and was restricted to a desk. he sold me the truck and virtually gave me several thousand dollars worth of installation and service materials like ballasts, transformers lamps gto, flex.
instant sign shop. I worked on the side for several months trying to biuld my little co. and recently the shop I worked at imploded and all of us were left without a job. I had been preparing for this for 9 months because I saw the hand writting on the wall. with my latest contract, for new 8'x16' faces for a hotel and service work to get it all lit up and repainted, I used some of my profit to purchased a 48" plotter so now I can produce my own vinyl and install just about anything.

so theres more but here I am starting my own sign co. at 42. im pretty confident in my abilities to fab break metal, weld paint, install you name it.

my problem is ive not really been privy to alot of the hows and why's of pricing out your work. some I have like service work from a ladder truck or crane, and what to charge but fab work and vinyl I just did the work paying some attention but really needing to focus on my end of the job. so Im hoping to offer my experience here in the mechanics of sign work, (like installing channel letters) and gleen some knolledge on selling jobs for a competitive price but still making the profit I need to keep adding to and upgrading my shop.

tom

 

thankyou fred

 

beautiful up there, I did a UPS distribution center install of some illuminated cabinets up there.

D&T out of new york huh? im originally from the buffalo area.

 

dennis I grew up in the hamburg boston hills area, went to hamburg high, my old man was the Erie county fair sign painter for about 15 years he did all the signs there and all the straights carni signs. I was in that shop watchin my dad lettering signs at his easel. it was down near the indian village and the conservation building. when at about 11 years old I heard elvis had died over the radio. he also did charlaps ice cream, the general mills near where the skyway used to be. and the best pizza in the world is bocce pizza, my cousin christopher used to be part owner of bocce. I still get half baked pies airmailed out west on occasion.

bill I love it out in canyon city your so lucky it is beautiful out there to me. I did the install on some ups medalion shaped cabinets over at there facility near that jet. just outside of town. I will call you . no I didnt work for wendel. I will tell you some time, very long story.