Making any money working for someone?

[LavelleSign]

I have been working in the sign industry for 13 years now as an employee. I have a few of my own side projects. I was curious to if anyone has made any real money as an employee vs. Owning your own place.

Is there a possibility to make 70k or higher just as an employee.

 

[reQ]

I have been working in the sign industry for 13 years now as an employee. I have a few of my own side projects. I was curious to if anyone has made any real money as an employee vs. Owning your own place.

Is there a possibility to make 70k or higher just as an employee.

That could be very long topic to discuss...

70k as an employee in sign industry? I guess so... if u work for huge corporations such as Pattison for example, and you are working on one of lead management positions. As a fabricator (will call it like that, people who make signs on the floor) i don't think so.

If you will go self employed route, you will discover MANY issues that you would never think of. At the end of the day, thats your decision, do whatever feels right.

P.S. I did leave my employer who was paying me $11.00/hr for design/fabrication/installation + customer service 5 years ago... basically he was able to leave the shop for few weeks and everything would stay functional & profitable. One day i decided that i can't do that anymore, gave him 1 month notice and started my own shop... so far so good.

 

[James Burke]

Money isn't usually the reason people go into business for themselves. It can't be. And believe me, there will be times when no amount of money will make it seem worth it.

JB

 

[FireSprint.com]

$70k as just an employee? Not likely. As a leader, manager, innovator? Yes, but this applies to either your own business or while working for someone.

As one of the owners of FireSprint, I make a little more than $11 per hour (and a little is not an exaggeration), but I worked for 5 years before I truly made more. Don't start your own business only because you think you will make more money. That will never work. Start a business because you think you have a better way to give customers what they ask for, a way to change their lives for the better. Money is simply one way to measure how well you do that.

We started FireSprint when we had trouble finding a reliable contractor to print our signs for our customers. It was a way (we think) to do it better, not make more money.

-Gene

 

[Gene@mpls]

A good technician will usually make more than the owner in this kind of industry. This is not to say that the owner is not accumulating
wealth (given that they are thoughtful ) but that will be down the road... if they do it correctly.

 

[LeLuni]

Is there a possibility to make 70k or higher just as an employee.

At a straight 40 hour workweek, that is $33.65 an hour. So no, it isn't likely, especially as print continues to become more and more just a commodity.

Even if you hit that salary as a manager at a larger firm, you'll be the first on the chopping block when down times hit.

The key to making real money these days is to specialize. Find a hyper-focused niche in which you can be the best, and then get yourself online to tell the world. And yes, own it... buy other people's time instead of selling your own.

 

[eahicks]

Yeah, if you want $70K/year, this is the wrong industry. I'd bet more than half of sign makers/designers/fabricaters are lucky to make half that. Of course some of us lifers may be in the top half of that range, but doubt very many are near $70K.

 

[gnemmas]

As an employee, you got paid an agreed compensation, either owner makes money or not.

You also have the luxury of calling in sick, or any other excuses when you don't feel like working.

In my first 15 years as owner, I never got sick, no car problems, kids graduation, recitals, athletic practices, birth days.

Not during my business hours.

 

[Jester1167]

Some people do make that much money as employees in this industry, I doubt a lot do, but I did for 3 years.

To get that you have to have the right owner in a large market and be dedicated to your job. If you call in sic more than once every couple of years, frequently use all your vacation days or put your playtime first you will probably make 2/3 at best. If you care about the company as much as the owner, relieve a lot of stress, do things because they are right, not because your supposed to, and you have a wide range of skills. you can make that much.

You are going to add some stress to the owners life because you'll want to push the boundaries of what you and your company can do. The owner will learn to trust you and you will get compensated when you are consistently successful.

In my situation the fact that the owner never put me on salary helped because I made a lot of overtime. I also had several large jobs follow me from the previous company and I got commissions on those as well (we didn't pursue them. They called me as the other company stopped being responsive). At my new job I also got certified and started pulling large national account jobs and I got commissions on these too.

The first time I made over $70,000 I asked the owner how we did as a company, best ever, how he did personal, best ever, and my response was me too. Felt good and everyone was happy.

 

[Andy D]

There's only two ways I know of to make that kind of money in the sign business.

1. Own a sign shop that is doing reasonably well.
2. Be a good salesperson for a large shop that does very well.

 

[Rick]

You say 13 years but what kind of 13 years?

Vinyl/promotional? small electrical/monuments or architectural signs?
Have you built or managed complex wayfinding systems on office buildings, civic, hospitals, apartments, retail or business parks?

Kinda hard to answer without knowing your real skills.

if you want to see a project like that with details, google "wayfinding .pdf"

I think you can make that easily as a salesman or project manager... BUT, you should have experience dealing with larger projects, and the shop must be doing at minimum 2 million+ to support that kind of salary.

If you can design stuff like that, you might try the job board at SEGD.ORG. Pay usually gets close to 70k for a senior designer.

 

[Gino]

Okay, I'll bite. You are asking this as if you should go into business and become a business owner yourself or stay an employee after 13 years Yet, your profile says you are the owner/operator of the shop you have listed for over 6 years.

To me, none of this is consistent. So, what's your R E A L problem ??

 

[LeLuni]

Okay, I'll bite. You are asking this as if you should go into business and become a business owner yourself or stay an employee after 13 years Yet, your profile says you are the owner/operator of the shop you have listed for over 6 years.

To me, none of this is consistent. So, what's your R E A L problem ??

To me, there is nothing necessarily inconsistent with the OP's question. One may own a side business in addition to being an employee. At least, that is my present employment situation.

I imply from the question that the OP is thinking about making the jump, mainly in the hopes of increasing his income.

 

[BannerStandDeals]

Employee
Eat what you kill
Work it backwards. If you bring in $250K in business and went straight 30% commission, that is $75K right there. There is nothing unreasonable about any of these figures. The key is you will need to be in a Sales position. If you are in production as a fabricator, you are considered a production input (Cost of Goods Sold). Owners are always trying to figure out how to lower their COGS, so that makes it tough. If you are bringing in new business to a shop, then a lot of times that comes with a higher perceived value.

Owner
Eat what you kill and eat what others kill. This option is the long hard road, but ultimately you get to where you make money off your efforts and others. $75K+ should be attainable, but you have a lot of other variables that come with running your own business.

 

[Rick]

Just came across this...

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/esd/med/5227099286.html

 

[Andy D]

Employee
Eat what you kill
Work it backwards. If you bring in $250K in business and went straight 30% commission, that is $75K right there.

30% commission? Maybe you just threw a number out there but I don't know of any sales person that makes that
in any Industry...

At a large electrical sign shop in a large market it's more like a 5%-7% and the better sales people make a million plus of sales per year.

So yeah, if your a good sales person, that hustles, and place $1,500,000 of sales a year x .06% = $90,000 plus expenses.

 

[Rebel Graphics]

I dont get it, he says he's been working as an employee for 13 years.... did he make at least close to 70k last year? you asked a question and already knew the answer

 

[BannerStandDeals]

30% commission? Maybe you just threw a number out there but I don't know of any sales person that makes that
in any Industry...

At a large electrical sign shop in a large market it's more like a 5%-7% and the better sales people make a million plus of sales per year.

So yeah, if your a good sales person, that hustles, and place $1,500,000 of sales a year x .06% = $90,000 plus expenses.

Commission structures can vary.

Straight Commission is a higher commission rate (no base)

Small Base + Larger Percentage Commission

High Base + Small Percentage Commission

Also, companies routinely pay commission on gross profits and not sales amount. I was talking about 30% commission on gross profits which is not unreasonable.

 

[Jwalk]

half the time I'm always looking at an employee and saying gee wouldn't it be great to be an employee leave work and you leave it there. Working for yourself is a lifestyle choice.

 

[HDvinyl]

I have been working in the sign industry for 13 years now as an employee.
Is there a possibility to make 70k or higher just as an employee.

Ask your boss.