Looking for input regarding going 100% mobile - no brick-and-mortar

[530signs]

Thanks for taking the time to click on this thread - any input is greatly appreciated.

Some background: Our shop has been in business for a quite a while now, about 30 years, and in that 30 years the ownership and physical location has changed roughly 4 or 5 times. In the last 7 or 8 years the number of competing sign shops in our area has doubled from 6 to 12 shops, several of which are major franchises. The combination of these two facts (constant moving and increased competition) has really decreased our sales and we are now considered one of the smallest shops in our area (we used to be the largest about 15 years ago).

To stay as competitive as possible we need to get our costs down, as well as increase our presence within the community. We are considering abandoning our physical location and going completely mobile, meaning all of our equipment would be stored and used out of a vehicle and we would drive directly to the customer's location and produce the order on the spot (if possible) or if it is a large order we would park the vehicle at our worksite and work there until the job is done and then deliver it to the customer. This would also allow us to be driving around town almost the entire workday, using any vehicle graphics as free advertising.

We estimate that we would save over $15,000 a year by doing this, but the fact that none of our competitors are doing this makes us very worried about taking the leap forward.

So my questions are as follows:

1. Does anyone have experience with this type of business plan? What are the pros and cons?
2. About how much space (minimum space) would a small 1 - 2 person shop need to be able to produce flat signs, banners, decals, and other vinyl based products?
3. What safety/electrical concerns would be present by having everything powered and ran inside the vehicle?
4. Generally, does this sound like a BS solution that will never work or maybe something we should continue to consider?

Also, if anyone has a suggestion on what vehicle may match these needs we would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks in advance for the input!

 

[530signs]

Welcome to Signs 101.

Sorry...but yes it does. Creative solution, but I personally think it's a step in the wrong direction.

I have no idea what your sales are to warrant dropping a physical plant for a savings of $15k a year, but I would be looking into how I can increase sales/profit rather than eliminating overhead costs.

Either way, good luck with your venture. There is lots of valuable information here about successfully running a sign shop.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!

 

[Gino]

• So, how do any walk-ins get service ??
• Where will your suppliers send your supplies ??
• Will you have any printing capabilities ??
• If so, Will you have laminating capabilities ??
• Will you have ample power to run all this inside a trailer..... Winnebago ??
• Will traffic hold you up getting to every job on time ??
• Do you have any niche idea on what you'll be doing or just hoping for the best ??

Your customers are gonna see how easy it is, when you just push a button and some machine really does all the work.



If you were gonna go to the race track for the week-end, then this makes sense.​

 

[eahicks]

We are considering abandoning our physical location and going completely mobile, meaning all of our equipment would be stored and used out of a vehicle and we would drive directly to the customer's location and produce the order on the spot (if possible) or if it is a large order we would park the vehicle at our worksite and work there until the job is done and then deliver it to the customer. This would also allow us to be driving around town almost the entire workday, using any vehicle graphics as free advertising.

Not to be harsh, but if you don't have enough business to keep equipment in a building and you have the time to drive around all day until there is a job to do, you need to sell everything and find another line of work.
This is the most absurd thing I think I've seen in a long time. I hope you figure out something that works for you, but I can tell you, this is not going to work. Logistics aside, regarding electrical, material storage, etc.....how can you fit ANY equipment in ANY vehicle for this? A Printer? Computer? Plotter? HUHHHHH?

 

[530signs]

• So, how do any walk-ins get service ??
• Where will your suppliers send your supplies ??
• Will you have any printing capabilities ??
• If so, Will you have laminating capabilities ??
• Will you have ample power to run all this inside a trailer..... Winnebago ??
• Will traffic hold you up getting to every job on time ??
• Do you have any niche idea on what you'll be doing or just hoping for the best ??

Your customers are gonna see how easy it is, when you just push a button and some machine really does all the work.



If you were gonna go to the race track for the week-end, then this makes sense.​

To be honest several of your thoughts we have not yet considered (like walk-ins), so thank you for pointing that out.
But, if we did plan on moving forward we would use a 'worksite' - probably out of the owner's garage - for large projects and also for mailing/receiving supplies from vendors etc... We would have both printing and laminating capabilities, which we would have to have inside the vehicle (which we realize may be difficult to fit in such a small space). Traffic in our area is essentially a non-existing issue (I can drive my personal car from one end of town to the other in roughly 15 minutes).

Starting to sound like we either need to scrap this idea entirely or find a way to include niche markets, walk-in customers, and appropriate amount of space.

Thanks, Gino, for the input!

 

[Solventinkjet]

One thing to keep in mind is that you are going to need to build a jig for your printers and cutters if you have them. The reason is, most people just strap the machines down when they are traveling. This puts torsion on the Y axis bar of most cutters and printers which will cause you to have permanent quality and accuracy issues. What you want to do is build a jig that the machines sit in snugly and then the jig is strapped to or permanently attached to the trailer.

I have one customer who goes between mobile and stationary every other year it seems. He can't make up his mind which is better! Being mobile is a big hassle logistically and the small working space gets old fast. He can pull up to any festival or event though and make decals on demand etc. As soon as your rent bill comes in when stationary however, the hassle can seem like it's worth it, until you do it again and remember that it is not fun at all.

 

[CanuckSigns]

Aside from all the other issues that others have brought up, have you considered how this would effect your reputation as a sign shop? It seems to me it would give off a "fly by night" vibe and potential clients might not feel comfortable spending money with you if they feel you won't be around in a month if something goes wrong, someone looking for a decal for their race car might not care, but I can guarantee you a business looking for a sign would have second thoughts.

I would also imagine towing around a trailer large enough to run a sign shop put of would cost a ton in fuel, possibly even close to what you would save by dropping the shop.

Honest opinion, it sounds like a silly idea.

 

[player]

Something like this might work:

 

[2B]

One thing to keep in mind is that you are going to need to build a jig for your printers and cutters if you have them. The reason is, most people just strap the machines down when they are traveling. This puts torsion on the Y axis bar of most cutters and printers which will cause you to have permanent quality and accuracy issues. What you want to do is build a jig that the machines sit in snugly and then the jig is strapped to or permanently attached to the trailer.

I have one customer who goes between mobile and stationary every other year it seems. He can't make up his mind which is better! Being mobile is a big hassle logistically and the small working space gets old fast. He can pull up to any festival or event though and make decals on demand etc. As soon as your rent bill comes in when stationary however, the hassle can seem like it's worth it, until you do it again and remember that it is not fun at all.

this

this covers all of the points I have

There are numerous posters here who are based out of their home and do all of the interactions via E-mail, phone and or at the customer's location. but all production is done away from the customer.
and the finished goods are delivered / shipped to them

Yes, this approach does hamper walk in customers but if you have a good enough web presence and good points of contact (phone, email) that actively monitored you can get away with no storefront.

 

[hcardwell93]

Once you give up a physical location you would need to spend more than $15,000 per year in advertising to let customers know you didn't close down.

A mechanic friend of mine did this in the opposite direction. He was a mobile mechanic, carried his tools with him and did oil changes and whatever other maintenance in your parking lot while you are at work. He has grown enough to add a brick and mortar repair facility to his business model.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

30 years doing business in your community and a couple shops moving in is ruining you? You need to start doing some more things right and some less things wrong.
Word spreads fast among business owners. If you are the best at what you do (you should be after 30 years there) and you stand behind your quality, you should not lose sales, you should only gain them.

My guess is you are either not offering what they want, are too slow, aren't good quality, or a combination of those. I don't see how an established shop of 30 years doesn't have a stronger influence in your area.

I'm just a skeptic though. Maybe I'm way off.

 

[530signs]

30 years doing business in your community and a couple shops moving in is ruining you? You need to start doing some more things right and some less things wrong.
Word spreads fast among business owners. If you are the best at what you do (you should be after 30 years there) and you stand behind your quality, you should not lose sales, you should only gain them.

My guess is you are either not offering what they want, are too slow, aren't good quality, or a combination of those. I don't see how an established shop of 30 years doesn't have a stronger influence in your area.

I'm just a skeptic though. Maybe I'm way off.

Well I'm thankful for the response, and not trying to be rude towards your response but I would say that some of your points don't seem to apply to this scenario.

The biggest reason I think we've been losing business is because every time a new owner came into the picture over the last 7 years they made decisions that made our shop harder to find, i.e. changing the name as well as the location at the same time. I've been employed at this shop for less than a year and I've been tasked with reviewing the books and previous invoices to help find where we've gone wrong. It seems that whenever the business took new ownership we lost roughly 30% of our customer base, who then went to one of our many competitors instead. Obviously something isn't right, no doubt, but in terms of quality, speed of service, price, and product offerings we aren't really all that far behind (at all).

With the exception of full vehicle wraps, there isn't a single product that our largest competitor offers that we do not offer. Our prices are usually around 75% what they charge, and we always receive positive comments regarding our turn-around times. In the time I've been working here, we have seen about a 10% increase in sales from the month before I started but it doesn't seem like that's enough.

Definately appreciate your input though, and your comments seem to be in line with other comments in this thread - "scrap this idea, focus on growing the business at the current location and regain customers instead."

So the nays have it. Thanks everyone for the input, probably going to scrap this idea completely and think of something else.

Thanks again!

 

[JR's]

Our prices are usually around 75% what they charge,

 

[Gino]

Well I'm thankful for the response, and not trying to be rude towards your response but I would say that some of your points don't seem to apply to this scenario.

The biggest reason I think we've been losing business is because every time a new owner came into the picture over the last 7 years they made decisions that made our shop harder to find, i.e. changing the name as well as the location at the same time. I've been employed at this shop for less than a year and I've been tasked with reviewing the books and previous invoices to help find where we've gone wrong. It seems that whenever the business took new ownership we lost roughly 30% of our customer base, who then went to one of our many competitors instead. Obviously something isn't right, no doubt, but in terms of quality, speed of service, price, and product offerings we aren't really all that far behind (at all).

With the exception of full vehicle wraps, there isn't a single product that our largest competitor offers that we do not offer. Our prices are usually around 75% what they charge, and we always receive positive comments regarding our turn-around times. In the time I've been working here, we have seen about a 10% increase in sales from the month before I started but it doesn't seem like that's enough.

Definately appreciate your input though, and your comments seem to be in line with other comments in this thread - "scrap this idea, focus on growing the business at the current location and regain customers instead."

So the nays have it. Thanks everyone for the input, probably going to scrap this idea completely and think of something else.

Thanks again!

All this adds to your story is..... first of all, you're going on what you've been told by someone. You really don't know anything, for sure. The only real fact here is....., that the new owners didn't have a clue as to what they were doing and lost business. No one took it away, you guys blew it. Business walked away..... and evidently, not because of price, so if you have service also, then your end-products must not be up to par. Taking this show on the road is not gonna save it. Take a good long look at your capabilities and be brutally honest. What are we doing wrong ??

It seems to me, that if a new owner loses that much business, he/she probably started cutting corners in all areas and sold crap to recoup some costs. Bad idea. People don't want crap, even for 25% less. Sure they want cheap, but the best thing they can get for cheap.

 

[myront]

Our operating hours are 8:30 - 5:00 M-F. If business got tight I would consider shifting some people around and try adding Saturdays. Many people, myself included, will not leave work to get other business done. Give me a Saturday option and I'd be there in a heartbeat. Just saying.

 

[reQ]

Bad idea like others said already. I am 1 man operation & i have 4000 sqft of space, with 2 bays with over head doors in the back. Seems like to much space for 1 guy, but i use it all, i spend over 40k per year just in rent but would never move out to be mobile or work from garage.

P.S. 2 weeks ago i got another 13k order signed, after owners of gaming stores (they have 3 stores in city that is 150KM away) visited me & i showed them my shop, production capabilities etc. They told me its very nice & they were not expecting that. Right before they left they gave me the cheque even before i even started making their signs.

Physical location is a MUST.

 

[Kentucky Wraps]

Well I'm thankful for the response, and not trying to be rude towards your response but I would say that some of your points don't seem to apply to this scenario.

The biggest reason I think we've been losing business is because every time a new owner came into the picture over the last 7 years they made decisions that made our shop harder to find, i.e. changing the name as well as the location at the same time. I've been employed at this shop for less than a year and I've been tasked with reviewing the books and previous invoices to help find where we've gone wrong. It seems that whenever the business took new ownership we lost roughly 30% of our customer base, who then went to one of our many competitors instead. Obviously something isn't right, no doubt, but in terms of quality, speed of service, price, and product offerings we aren't really all that far behind (at all).

With the exception of full vehicle wraps, there isn't a single product that our largest competitor offers that we do not offer. Our prices are usually around 75% what they charge, and we always receive positive comments regarding our turn-around times. In the time I've been working here, we have seen about a 10% increase in sales from the month before I started but it doesn't seem like that's enough.

Definately appreciate your input though, and your comments seem to be in line with other comments in this thread - "scrap this idea, focus on growing the business at the current location and regain customers instead."

So the nays have it. Thanks everyone for the input, probably going to scrap this idea completely and think of something else.

Thanks again!

A couple thoughts.
Put most of your marketing funds into optimizing your web presence. People aren't thumbing through the yellow pages these days.
Wrap one or more of your vehicles and use them as mobile billboard.
Connect with businesses that do business with a lot of other businesses.
Make a few affordable donations (banners) to places around town that are iconic. Do a few charitable things as these days a lot is about who you know.
Web, Web, WEB!

 

[TheSnowman]

I'd thought about doing something like this in the summers, but mainly on a Fri/Sat/Sun setup. I could care less if I have walk-ins or not, because that's not my business model, but most of our work comes in the form of an email from customers we've had for 10-15 years. I think there's a time and place for a mobile shop, but I don't see it ever replacing some kind of work area.

It doesn't have to be "retail" but I'd think you'd want some kind of home base shop that had room for stuff. My thought was more getting someone with me on a weekend that likes to design and work with people, and go to a local marina, or some place like that where people camp and hang out all weekend and see if it's worth my time on the other end. Sometimes that stuff is worth it, sometimes it's not, but I wouldn't think unless you have a giant order that you were there several months, going mobile would be worth it.

 

[StarSign]

How many owners have there been over the last 7 years?

 

[T_K]

To be honest several of your thoughts we have not yet considered (like walk-ins), so thank you for pointing that out.
But, if we did plan on moving forward we would use a 'worksite' - probably out of the owner's garage - for large projects and also for mailing/receiving supplies from vendors etc... We would have both printing and laminating capabilities, which we would have to have inside the vehicle (which we realize may be difficult to fit in such a small space). Traffic in our area is essentially a non-existing issue (I can drive my personal car from one end of town to the other in roughly 15 minutes).

Starting to sound like we either need to scrap this idea entirely or find a way to include niche markets, walk-in customers, and appropriate amount of space.

Thanks, Gino, for the input!

Why not just run the business out of the owner's garage? You can manage without walk-ins, depending on your business model, and if you've got a sales guy who doesn't mind driving around everywhere. I'd be really worried about the equipment getting damaged in transit - and would the car insurance really cover it in the event of a wreck?

I like the idea of losing some of the overhead, but this idea seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[GAC05]

Old Paint needs to chime in on this.

 

[brycesteiner]

I think the idea of a traveling facility would be bad and not just because equipment will constantly need calibration and adjustments. So excluding the obvious:

The old adage, "Location, Location, Location" is very much true. Whether that is in your town or on the web. People need to have a consistent, recognizable location/artwork/website. If your design sucks you will not attract new clients.

The next thing is that I haven't seen mentioned in the thread, how pleasant are the workers, especially those who greet and work with customers? This makes a huge difference. If the workers don't realize who they are working for they might not even know what they are selling and if they don't know act knowledgeable and pleasant, people will go elsewhere.
This is one reason we have picked up so much business in printing and signage. The other printer in the county is just not personable and it's a top down issue. The other employees are not all that friendly.
If people see our work is good, giving great ideas, and are pleasant to work with, you can charge full price and they will still come back because they know they are appreciated and their stuff matters.

I know people who won't invest a penny in advertising/marketing and their place looks like and they constantly complain that nobody shops there. I try to tell them what works and when they hear it will cost money they turn off immediately. Don't be like that.

It might be time to start spending a little more. I know it's hard to think about that when you are thinking of cutting back. Build a great website. Not necessarily with online sales but where people can see your work. Don't make it look like it's from 1990 either. I would start building up the Facebook page (even though I despise I think It's important to have). You use to promote the business/organization you just helped. At the same time it will promote you.

So with spending more this might include joining the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development, Rotary, etc. and various business meet & greets. Get in the clubs. Join the Athletic Boosters at the schools and advertise in their sports booklets. It's not expensive and it's a donation.

Do you have a sales person? I find they can be great or a burden, so make sure there is a good plan and you will get your business back. Even though I don't go out on sales much I am in the community a lot. When I do go out on sales I usually have no problem getting so much work that I cannot keep up. Go to the schools and talk with their Athletic Directors. They always need things like banners. It took me about 8 years to finally get work from our local school. Don't give up. Be their friend who can give advice--even if it doesn't give you sales. The lines of communication are important.

Can this decline be turned around? Certainly. It starts with investing in a good plan for the future.