How to build a $1,000,000 Sign Shop

[FireSprint.com]

I wanted to make it clear what some of our most successful customers do on the regular. We see their business come and go and come back again. They are very often around a $1 Million in revenue.

This is why and how:

1. Start by outsourcing a new product to FireSprint
2. Focus on what you do best and service the hell out of your customers.
3. Build up enough business and bring that production in-house, buy a printer
4. Build up that business until your printer is at capacity (This is maximum profitability for that printer)
5. Outsource the overrun work to FireSprint
6. Add another product line and let FireSprint deal with the rolls of new media and new printers (Until you can bring that in-house if you choose)
7. Rinse, repeat...

Focus on what you do best and service the hell out of your customers.

 

[SlikGRFX]

Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality.

 

[Emd2kick]

Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality.

My fortune cookie said that too!

 

[SlikGRFX]

A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food

 

[Emd2kick]

A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food

Is that Swedish humor....I like your meatballs

 

[joshGN]

If you can make money buy outsourcing it, why bring it in house?
Just focus on selling more of that product!

 

[Emd2kick]

If you can make money buy outsourcing it, why bring it in house?
Just focus on selling more of that product!

A few reasons to bring in house (as this is a stupid comment, and you need some help):
-Control
-Margins
-Growing a business (Your book of business is not sellable, it's worthless. My shop w/ my book an equipment is worth 1x multiple at worst).

You probably have not hit the delta where it makes sense, once you do it becomes quite obvious...

 

[ColoPrinthead]

I heard focusing on the race car market is a sure fire way to do it

 

[SlikGRFX]

A good way to stay healthy is to eat more Chinese food

Is that Swedish humor....I like your meatballs

That's what it said in my fortune cookie.

 

[joshGN]

A few reasons to bring in house (as this is a stupid comment, and you need some help):
-Control
-Margins
-Growing a business (Your book of business is not sellable, it's worthless. My shop w/ my book an equipment is worth 1x multiple at worst).

You probably have not hit the delta where it makes sense, once you do it becomes quite obvious...

Is this a stupid comment?
Bringing it in house brings forth several factors, more space needed, equipment cost/upkeep, employees etc...

Control, if you're successfully outsourcing that much work already, the control obviously isnt a problem.
Margins, will your margins be that much more w/ the added overhead incurred by bringing it in house?

Just b/c it doesnt fall in line with your thinking,doesnt mean its stupid...

 

[Emd2kick]

Is this a stupid comment?
Bringing it in house brings forth several factors, more space needed, equipment cost/upkeep, employees etc...

Control, if you're successfully outsourcing that much work already, the control obviously isnt a problem.
Margins, will your margins be that much more w/ the added overhead incurred by bringing it in house?

Just b/c it doesnt fall in line with your thinking,doesnt mean its stupid...

Yes the margins are significant, and the control becomes increasingly more important. Once you hit the proper volume, you'll realize the add'l overhead is insignificant. You'll also quickly realize that jump in margin, trust me we opened our new facility 11 months ago because we got to a size where it made sense. I still broker items as needed, but I promise you that if you're doing 5 million plus you'd see where my heads at.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

A few reasons to bring in house (as this is a stupid comment, and you need some help):
-Control
-Margins
-Growing a business (Your book of business is not sellable, it's worthless. My shop w/ my book an equipment is worth 1x multiple at worst).

You probably have not hit the delta where it makes sense, once you do it becomes quite obvious...

What's stupid is being so short sighted. Not everyone wants to grow in the direction you think is "right"... Not everyone wants to own a 5 mil $ business.

 

[mark galoob]

i say go after the real estate broker market...those guys are rollin in dough and have no problem shelling out loads of cash!!!

 

[Emd2kick]

What's stupid is being so short sighted. Not everyone wants to grow in the direction you think is "right"... Not everyone wants to own a 5 mil $ business.

“Not everyone wants to own a 5 mil $ business.” Hopefully they want to be even bigger.

Smaller companies that don’t want to be a 5 million dollar company (as you are implying), are like guys at the gym that “don’t want to get too big”. It’s because they are incapable.

 

[FireSprint.com]

I think most everyone would like to grow to a $5 million company and beyond I think... Few actually want to mess with the challenges of getting there, let alone running it.

I think the outsource vs bring it in-house debate has alot to do with what you enjoy doing the most of. If you enjoy selling, servicing customers, designing, etc, you are really probably better off outsourcing most of your work. I think in most cases you will make more money. But if you are like me, and you want to be on the manufacturing side, bring some in house.

At FireSprint, we really enjoy the production side, making something from raw materials. Honestly, though, it doesn't always mean the best profit margins. For example, we sell over 250,000 yard sign stands per year. We don't make them, and therefore, know exactly what our margins are on that product -- including the cost of the floor space they occupy. I couldn't give you such exact numbers on foamboard or coroplast.

The formula I mentioned in the OP is true though. Most of our best customers run some production in-house. High margin, quick jobs, or something specific they are very good at. They outsource the rest. A printer running in the back helps salespeople and gives companies an immediate boost in reputation. 3 of our top 10 customers run their own flatbeds, 5 more run their own roll printers or T-shirt screen printers.

Many of the biggest production shops in the country outsource certain products.

 

[Bobby H]

No "full service" sign company can manufacture every possible sign product in house. For example, we do a lot of digital printing in-house, but send art files to other service providers for niche products like billboard faces.

For some jobs, such as an individual yard sign, it's probably going to be better to make that in-house if it's just a one-off product. For a local candidate's campaign signs, it might be better to get those printed in volume through another provider. You just have to weigh the details of each job.

When it comes to selling more permanent signs, it is nice to be able to manufacture most product in-house. It's easier to be on top of quality control. Usually if a shop has in-house electrical sign manufacturing capability they'll also have sign service capability too. Even if you didn't build the product yourself, most customers are going to expect you to be able to fix it if it breaks. We sell a lot of LED signs; likewise we know how to service them (not to mention be able to produce content for them).

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

“Not everyone wants to own a 5 mil $ business.” Hopefully they want to be even bigger.

Smaller companies that don’t want to be a 5 million dollar company (as you are implying), are like guys at the gym that “don’t want to get too big”. It’s because they are incapable.

Says the guy who calls someone else out for a so-called 'stupid comment'. Not everyone wants the headache of a $5million business, trust me. To say that everyone who doesn't fit that bill is simply incapable is ridiculous, pretentious, and arrogant. I'll bet you're a blast at parties.

 

[Emd2kick]

Says the guy who calls someone else out for a so-called 'stupid comment'. Not everyone wants the headache of a $5million business, trust me. To say that everyone who doesn't fit that bill is simply incapable is ridiculous, pretentious, and arrogant. I'll bet you're a blast at parties.

You mad bro? Sounds like you fall into the category I mentioned.

 

[Johnny Best]

Emd2kick sounds like a keeper.

 

[Emd2kick]

Emd2kick sounds like a keeper.

Thanks Johnny