Newbie deciding when to take a leap

[MOXYGRL37]

I’m new in the signage space and have been running a side hustle designing &photography for a while now. Most of my vinyl designs are just cut solids using a graphtec. I’m definitely limited by not being able to print (the laser and inkjet materials definitely just don’t cut it for what I’m looking for.)

I visited Mimaki last week and trying to decide when is a good time to take a leap and invest in a printer. I’m torn with making a big investment to grow my signage business into my full time gig while still working my full time job. I can afford to manage the payments, but it’s a scary leap to invest in a printer that’s basically the price of a new car lol.

At what point have you all made the big step to grow your side businesses into your full time business?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

It doesnt have to be all or nothing. Using a company like Signs365 can be the step between buying a printer. I'm doing 300k a year from home and STILL outsource

 

[Reidyroo]

It doesnt have to be all or nothing. Using a company like Signs365 can be the step between buying a printer. I'm doing 300k a year from home and STILL outsource

So you design and use them for print?

 

[kcollinsdesign]

You will know when it is time to make the leap when you are selling $10k plus/month of printing. Out source until then. It is quite likely you will continue to out source even then.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

So you design and use them for print?

Yup, they do prints, print with contour cut, banners even hard signs WITH contour cut. Makes it easy, I just design and upload to them and in two days its at my doorstep.

 

[Nanci]

I’m new in the signage space and have been running a side hustle designing &photography for a while now. Most of my vinyl designs are just cut solids using a graphtec. I’m definitely limited by not being able to print (the laser and inkjet materials definitely just don’t cut it for what I’m looking for.)

I visited Mimaki last week and trying to decide when is a good time to take a leap and invest in a printer. I’m torn with making a big investment to grow my signage business into my full time gig while still working my full time job. I can afford to manage the payments, but it’s a scary leap to invest in a printer that’s basically the price of a new car lol.

At what point have you all made the big step to grow your side businesses into your full time business?

When you buy your own printer , it really opens up your design options. I can be a lot more creative when I can do a quick print to see what it looks like first. I used to sub out everything. I wasn’t always happy with the result.
I also feel that I am spending so much less time working with layers of solid vinyl and dealing with making clip art into vectors that can be cut in layers. If you are busy enough, buy a printer. If you only do a few jobs here and there and do not have any large customers who give you steady work then sub it out. But you said you can afford the payments ? I think you would really enjoy your own printer. After 35 years in business I am having fun again after buying a Mutoh 1624. And my customers are happier too.

 

[ProPDF]

I’m new in the signage space and have been running a side hustle designing &photography for a while now. Most of my vinyl designs are just cut solids using a graphtec. I’m definitely limited by not being able to print (the laser and inkjet materials definitely just don’t cut it for what I’m looking for.)

I visited Mimaki last week and trying to decide when is a good time to take a leap and invest in a printer. I’m torn with making a big investment to grow my signage business into my full time gig while still working my full time job. I can afford to manage the payments, but it’s a scary leap to invest in a printer that’s basically the price of a new car lol.

At what point have you all made the big step to grow your side businesses into your full time business?

Buy a used Roland SP540I that is in working condition for about $5k. It only has 2- $500 print heads so it's not expensive to maintain. It is also a printer cutter in one. If you are tight on money but have good credit look for a 12-18 month no interest credit card and buy it with that. If it's not working out in 12-18 months just sell it for $5k provided it still works and you will either be taught you are not ready yet or you need to upgrade for growth. Whatever you do don't get sucked into an OEM rip like versaworks cause if Mimaki or Mutoh come out with a really nice printer or you want to run multiple brands down the road it will be a new learning curve. So I would look at driving the machines with Flexi, Onyx, or Caldera. Flexi will be your cheapest intro price on the subscription level. I would also suggest getting wholesale relationships established too like others have mentioned here.

 

[Reidyroo]

Buy a used Roland SP540I that is in working condition for about $5k. It only has 2- $500 print heads so it's not expensive to maintain. It is also a printer cutter in one. If you are tight on money but have good credit look for a 12-18 month no interest credit card and buy it with that. If it's not working out in 12-18 months just sell it for $5k provided it still works and you will either be taught you are not ready yet or you need to upgrade for growth. Whatever you do don't get sucked into an OEM rip like versaworks cause if Mimaki or Mutoh come out with a really nice printer or you want to run multiple brands down the road it will be a new learning curve. So I would look at driving the machines with Flexi, Onyx, or Caldera. Flexi will be your cheapest intro price on the subscription level. I would also suggest getting wholesale relationships established too like others have mentioned here.

Where can you find them priced at 5k? Thanks in advance

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Besides the printer I think you are missing a few other things

Laminator
Cutter (if current cutter is not big enough)
RIP software
Color spectrometer
Work tables of appropriate size (if needed)
Increase in inventory (cost associated)
Maintenance and repairs (as needed)
Waste ink (depending on printer)


Just a few things off the top of my head


You need to to look at your ROI and see if it is a fit for you