I quit a year ago, but now I'm back to Signmaking, questions..

[poloys3]

Why did I come back?

-Tried selling sign supplies but the market took a bit of time to kickstart..

-Friends and random people kept asking me to make signs for them with great cash.

Why did I quit?

-Stress from non-collection , even if I got 50% downpayment, some clients disappeared upon installation or instantly closing shop.

-Stress from production work with incompetent employees before.

-Stress from unseasonable clients even if we got the sign 100% correct.


Now I just accepted 5 signs from good paying clients..

Question is, should I do the 5 signs then quit again? or should I go on..

I love fabrication and sign making, I just hate the part where the client turns weirdo non paying person after (around 3 out of 10 clients)

Is this business going to feed my family? My father in law bought 20 properties with this business ..
confusing me is the sign supply business ( materials sales ) is going smoothly albeit slow.

 

[legacyborn]

-Stress from unseasonable clients even if we got the sign 100% correct.

Have you tried Paprika?

 

[GypsyGraphics]

i think if you love it... stay... and accept that even good clients sometimes turn weirdo on you. happened with a client i like, just yesterday. it bugged me at the time (ok still does a little) but i figure there's stuff going on that i'm not privy to. when things don't go the way i hope, i make a conscious choice to either... cut them some slack or cut them loose.

"Is this business going to feed my family?"
if you only take jobs that go smoothly..... your family might go hungry. but that's true in any line of work.

 

[Rick]

i think if you love it... stay... and accept that even good clients sometimes turn weirdo on you. happened with a client i like, just yesterday. it bugged me at the time (ok still does a little) but i figure there's stuff going on that i'm not privy to. when things don't go the way i hope, i make a conscious choice to either... cut them some slack or cut them loose.

"Is this business going to feed my family?"
if you only take jobs that go smoothly..... your family might go hungry. but that's true in any line of work.

Speaking of weirdo clients... hurry, check UPS!

By the way, name any of our clients who are not a little off their rocker...

 

[GypsyGraphics]

Speaking of weirdo clients... hurry, check UPS!

"A UPS shipping label has been created. Once the shipment arrives at our facility,
the tracking status--including the scheduled delivery date--will be updated."

"Label Created" pffffff
translation.... don't hold your breath!

 

[Rick]

"A UPS shipping label has been created. Once the shipment arrives at our facility,
the tracking status--including the scheduled delivery date--will be updated."

"Label Created" pffffff
translation.... don't hold your breath!

NEWS ALERT: UPS TRUCK IN FLAMES ON INTERSTATE 5....

(Do I still get paid?)

 

[heyskull]

Getting back to the question asked.....-

In answer to your issues...

100% payment either up font or on day of completion, whichever one you feel comfortable with.
I normally find if the client can't afford the whole bill before the job proceeds, I am 100% certain they will not be at the end of the job!

Don't employ anyone then their is no stress with employees, maybe use temp staff to help on large orders or installs.
I find employees get comfortable and expect far too much from their employer and end up not realising they are taking the p**s!
A temp staff is normally always trying to impress the employer for a full time job and realise if they don't do the job correctly, they will not be coming back again!

It is very difficult to please all clients totally!
We have had clients through the door who we literally bent over backwards for and when picking their job up don't make so much as a Thank You.
Then others where you have plastered their vehicle in 12" Black Helvetica praise you to the hills and think the job you have done is "Awesome"!

I would rather be the Sign maker than the material supplier, as competition in the sign making material has become cut throat....
I mean who would change their everyday standard sign vinyl to a different brand to save a couple of pence. And yes that is the difference in some vinyl suppliers materials. I would rather stick with what I know works than swap suppliers to save peanuts.

And lastly you just are maybe not cut out for this business.... Yes it is stressful (read very stressful!) but I cannot think of any other job that, every day is different and fulfilling as sign making, especially in a small sign shop as you have to diversify to survive and supply more than one product.

It seems strange that you have 5 signs to do, meaning you must still have all the equipment.
But are you getting this work because you are "good" or you are the "cheapest". If it is the later I would rather be the most expensive and be the best than cutting corners to save the customer costs. As this will ONLY benefit the customer!

SC

 

[Techman]

you never really quit. You just went inactive for a while. So keep going set jobs under your terms and have fun.
Get the "Square" for billing and get paid in advance.

I am doing what I want under my terms and make as much as I like. Almost no stress any more. As soon as a potential client starts with the ball busting haggling for a discount I hang up.
I do not deal with anything less than 100 bux in an order. Or if I make something for another sign maker.
You can do the same and have fun. Modify the game a little and have lots of fun.

 

[poloys3]

Thank you so much for the replies.

For the 5 signs, I usually get them because we are the ones considered "reliable" in the business, we live in a third world country where sign "hacks" are everywhere, so our old clients come to us if they have a high end project using stainless and acrylics, the hacks usually get the panaflex signs.

As for being cut out for the job, I'm strong in sales and fabrication, I love to tinker a lot and meet a lot of people, but it was really disappointing to meet horror clients one after another hence the move to transform the business to a supply one.

Yes we still have the equipment, some Roland printers and china made laser machines.

The topic on feeding the family, would it be a wise move to filter clients and move to a better paying market? Top end clients usually pay cash upfront in our country.

One of may planned events for this month is our focus on high end home applications:

We used acrylic laser cuts to make safety barriers on stairways and a lot of other people ordered them from us (this was the time that I rejected each and every sign offer made to us.)

Another thing was home signs, the simple stainless numbers fed us for 2 months, apparently, high end customers don't want mall or depot bought home signs so they had us fabricate unique models for them..

Home clients: better money, less time.. compared to commercial clients who compare prices everyday.

 

[skylinegraphics]

I'm 19, started a small decal business in high school. By the time I knew it my school was asking me to make them signs. Then my father who owns a business all of his friends wanted me to make there signs. And by the time I knew it I had 50 good clients and was making roughly 1500 bucks profit on a normal month. This summer after my spring semester ended I applied to work at a another sign shop for steady work as my orders declined substantially. I was being paid 15/hr. and thats great money for a freshmen in college. But I didn't find it fulfilling enough. I was only doing production with no contact with the customer and no more BSing and having fun with my clients. I quit after my second week. And I'm back calling around and loving the hustle for money.

In turn I guess I'm saying like everyone else. If you love it and have fun, keep doing. But you do need to consider your family.

 

[Jwalk]

I love hand painting signs. I find it still turns into work but after the work is over its rewarding.
I'm considering starting to go into the decal side but that would require a much bigger investment than I could afford now.