Stacey K
I like making signs
I've done a lot of thinking the last couple years and have wanted to transition from having a storefront to working from home and cutting way back on the products I offer. I'm 50, female and single and I own the building my shop is in. There is an attached 2 family home and storage shed which I rent out. Over the last couple years it's been getting difficult for me to work so many hours, maintain my home and maintain the rental/shop/shed. My knees now need cortisone shots so I can climb ladders and kneel down. I recently injured my leg and had to cancel a number of installations. Anyway - I have a private buyer for my shop and if that doesn't work out - which I think it will - then I will list the property. I will move my equipment to my 3 car garage - of course I'll need to make adjustments to my garage for heat/cooling/humidity etc. I've had the property 8 years and should get more than double what I paid for it, so not too bad. I didn't stick a terrible amount of money into it, mostly cosmetic. And of course the take breaks of having a rental property....I'll leave it at that LOL
I think one of the things that has become a huge point of frustration for me having a storefront is I'm in a heavy traffic area. I get many people per day stopping in looking for 1 sticker or 1 shirt and wasting a great deal of my time. Can I lock the door? Yes, and I do lock the door sometimes. With my recent injury, I've been doing everything from my couch and only going in for a couple hours a day to print, or do production work. It was a real wake up call as to how much time I have been wasting over the years having this storefront. I'm almost getting my job done in half the time. I understand there's downsides to not having a storefront but I do have a large enough client base where I'm not too worried. I also ended up by accident gaining a crap load of higher end race cars because my son started racing and the local car lettering guy is retiring this year. He was doing 100+ cars a year. I started 18 years ago lettering race cars so yes, I know how these people operate. And- I'm financially at a point where I don't need to work 80 hours a week anymore and I can turn down jobs I don't want to do and focus on the jobs that make money and the customers who are nice to work with.
So anyway - a combo of age, health and general frustration with walk ins have led me this decision and I'm excited about it! I guess it's called downsizing LOL
I think one of the things that has become a huge point of frustration for me having a storefront is I'm in a heavy traffic area. I get many people per day stopping in looking for 1 sticker or 1 shirt and wasting a great deal of my time. Can I lock the door? Yes, and I do lock the door sometimes. With my recent injury, I've been doing everything from my couch and only going in for a couple hours a day to print, or do production work. It was a real wake up call as to how much time I have been wasting over the years having this storefront. I'm almost getting my job done in half the time. I understand there's downsides to not having a storefront but I do have a large enough client base where I'm not too worried. I also ended up by accident gaining a crap load of higher end race cars because my son started racing and the local car lettering guy is retiring this year. He was doing 100+ cars a year. I started 18 years ago lettering race cars so yes, I know how these people operate. And- I'm financially at a point where I don't need to work 80 hours a week anymore and I can turn down jobs I don't want to do and focus on the jobs that make money and the customers who are nice to work with.
So anyway - a combo of age, health and general frustration with walk ins have led me this decision and I'm excited about it! I guess it's called downsizing LOL
