One man shop growing pains

[Texas_Signmaker]

i did try wifi calling but my phone won't do speaker phone with it on which is a deal killer when you're on a call for 4 hours... i ordered a new phone to try if a different one will work better.

 

[Stacey K]

I'm not sure what variety of Spectrum internet I have at my shop but no lag with 6 PS4's playing Call of Duty at the same time.

 

[Scotchbrite]

Our problem is there are only 5 shops on our street and it's a couple blocks away from the nearest housing area. So there's no incentive for a provider to put in the infrastructure and we're stuck with internet thru the landlines. Unless we want to pay for the service to be put in. We get by fine on what we have so it's hard to justify paying for that.

I have been thinking maybe we should get on the waiting list for Starlink.

 

[victor bogdanov]

my building used to be comcast only and I was paying about $100 for 35mbit down / 5mbit up.

att layed down fiber and offered 1 gig up/down for $80 per month. Love it. Same thing at home

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

my building used to be comcast only and I was paying about $100 for 35mbit down / 5mbit up.

att layed down fiber and offered 1 gig up/down for $80 per month. Love it. Same thing at home


View attachment 158623

That's what I have, AT&T fiber and it's Amazing.

Verizon has 5g wide band in areas around here... I did a speed test and it was over 2Gbps. Go inside my house and it's barley 1Mbps.

 

[victor bogdanov]

That's what I have, AT&T fiber and it's Amazing.

Verizon has 5g wide band in areas around here... I did a speed test and it was over 2Gbps. Go inside my house and it's barley 1Mbps.

I'm tempted to upgrade to 2gbit at home and I think 5gigabit is coming soon. I just upgraded my home network to 10gigabit (do all my work off a NAS) but with 1 gig internet I rarely have to wait more than a few seconds for downloads

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I'm tempted to upgrade to 2gbit at home and I think 5gigabit is coming soon. I just upgraded my home network to 10gigabit (do all my work off a NAS) but with 1 gig internet I rarely have to wait more than a few seconds for downloads

I dont see any advantage. I was at 500mb before AT&T fiber and I can't tell the difference most of the time. The issue with the old provider is they were cable and in the evenings the speed and latency would deteriorate... don't have that issue with fiber at all.. I get the same speeds no matter what time of day... and this is fiber right to the modem.

 

[netsol]

You can still do that on our Cisco desk phones, like you could on the old Nortel BMS. Page to phone or zone, though I'm not sure that you can still make the paged handset become hands free.

I've always kept my office and production somewhat separate from the main office, and had ownership of anything with a cable or keypad.

There is a shortcode for that on avaya
Our largest client had a phone in a lobby for job interviews. People would let it ring 30 times and not pick up when the interviewer wanted to buzz them in. I was a hero when i showed them the shortcode. You said their name over speaker and could hear them respond

 

[Scotchbrite]

The have a steep upfront investment in hardware, but in theory with a backup generator, you could have internet in lots of worst case scenarios, from fire to storms and just regular blackouts... So you could still post from a pc while the wildfire melts your siding or whatever natural disasters CO has.

We live in the plains region, so this is the most likely form of demise. Picture take from our front door.

 

[JamesLam]

It's this old form of voice communication we call a landline.

Maybe an instructional video showing the young'uns how it works. You could also do a Zoom presentation or a TED talk, charging a subscription of course.

 

[gnubler]

I just reread my original post from last February. It was a sh!tty couple of months earlier this year and I finally had a complete breakdown. I ended up doing what Tex mentioned in the second post: all prices increased at least 25%, changed my hours to appointment only, and became more selective with jobs. First year in business I took anything and everything to get going, second year not so much. I'm generally out of the shop most afternoons either on installs or sales calls/surveys, or I use it as personal time. I've been getting bigger jobs that are way less hassle, no more walk ins, and things are getting better. My biggest challenge remains not being able to find a bigger shop space. Everything that comes on the market either won't work for my business or is beyond the budget.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I just reread my original post from last February. It was a sh!tty couple of months earlier this year and I finally had a complete breakdown. I ended up doing what Tex mentioned in the second post: all prices increased at least 25%, changed my hours to appointment only, and became more selective with jobs. First year in business I took anything and everything to get going, second year not so much. I'm generally out of the shop most afternoons either on installs or sales calls/surveys, or I use it as personal time. I've been getting bigger jobs that are way less hassle, no more walk ins, and things are getting better. My biggest challenge remains not being able to find a bigger shop space. Everything that comes on the market either won't work for my business or is beyond the budget.

That is pretty much everyone's story that started from nothing. Frustration and anger are very big motivators to change. Good for you, just keep plugging away, it all eventually falls in place.

 

[highrolling24]

I just heard this the other day

Its great to own your own business, I only work half days!
and it doesnt matter which 12 hours I put in at a time.

 

[Stacey K]

I just heard this the other day

Its great to own your own business, I only work half days!
and it doesnt matter which 12 hours I put in at a time.

That's the best part! I can work at night or during the day or Sunday and take off Tuesday...the flexibility of being a business owner is great

 

[Humble PM]

I don't want $this_job, quacks like a nightmare. Quote silly high, they'll go elsewhere, or rethink plans.
$this_job's originator - files coming over to you now, send over invoice, and we'll settle in advance.
Check calendar, check suppliers, check star alignment, $this_job sets 04:00 alarm clock for the next three days, with option for Saturday and Sunday alarms (no need to change alarm time)...

WTF.

Client artwork - print ready, files prepped to spec.
Stars don't look right - locations too precise.
Supplier's warehouse - no sickness (football season is over), warehouse supervisor, despatch manager all there with their A-Games on.

Drive in, crack of dawn, professional trade traffic, light summer rain. Big purple wagon blocking my access to service yard.
No worries, have a big mug of cofee with me, as does supplier's big purple wagon driver. Good to go.

Media loads good, substrates pristine, RH60%, temp 18C, printer gods are smiling, but phone system on the blink, only ddi calls coming through to my mobile. Happy times. Print, and mount for a few hours, no interuptions, no silly calls, no emails. Few colleagues wander in, recognise calm music and leave me to my devices.

Only slightly over a half day.

Tail end of the day, colleague pokes their head into my space. Are phones working? Look over to handset, and no, there is no warm comforting red glow. It has been pleasantly quiet. Flick pdu switch for cisco back on...

Three budgeted days, plus potential run-over completed (still had packaging to do) in just over 14 hours straight production (coffee and sanity breaks, included)

$this_job client delighted with early delivery, promises to tell all their friends...

And the odds of the stars ever aligning in quite such a pleasant fashion are unlikely to remain in my favour.

 

[gnubler]

I just reread my original post from last February. It was a sh!tty couple of months earlier this year and I finally had a complete breakdown. I ended up doing what Tex mentioned in the second post: all prices increased at least 25%, changed my hours to appointment only, and became more selective with jobs. First year in business I took anything and everything to get going, second year not so much. I'm generally out of the shop most afternoons either on installs or sales calls/surveys, or I use it as personal time. I've been getting bigger jobs that are way less hassle, no more walk ins, and things are getting better. My biggest challenge remains not being able to find a bigger shop space. Everything that comes on the market either won't work for my business or is beyond the budget.

I just reread my posts and this entire thread from start to finish and wanted to post an update and ask for some advice. After a disastrous job last summer that nearly took down my entire business I've been at a crossroads of trying to decide where to go from here. Did a massive purge of clutter around the shop and terminating my shop helper, both were dead weight that needed to go. Changed my hours. Took more time off, and next week will be closed for a long overdue vacation. Now's the time as things have slowed down a bit. Some local businesses around here have limited winter hours and I plan on doing the same.

My biggest challenge still remains: I need a real shop. It's a struggle trying to do business where I am, located in an office building where I can't run tools during the day. Sometimes I take work out into the parking lot, it's so unprofessional and a huge hassle. There's constantly people around. Tenant next door is a pig, between the smoking parties, the noise, and ghetto appearance. His brother owns the building so I don't have much recourse there. I try to avoid having my customers come here, I go to them. I've looked at a few places that come up for rent, they are few and far between, but they just wouldn't work for me. One didn't even have a toilet or running water, no thanks. I've been on a waiting list for another space, and the call came in yesterday that there's an opening. I'm going to check it out today. 1200 sf with tall ceilings and an overhead door, so I can bring vehicles inside. Big enough to have two work tables, get a table saw, maybe set up a paint booth. Location isn't my first choice, but I can't have it all. The move would increase my monthly overhead by around $1000. I'm not a big risk taker and don't want to take on any debt or get in over my head, but my gut feeling is to just go for it and hope for the best. With my current lease ending soon, the timing is ideal.

To those who are small or sole proprietors, any advice? What questions should I be asking myself? Would you take the risk of adding $1000 to the monthly nut if it gave you the opportunity to take your business to the next level? I feel stagnant as things are, and that's not where I want to be.

 

[Boudica]

Welcome Back Gnubler! Sorry I don't have any good advice for you. But what comes to mind is maybe your spreading out too much. Maybe you just need to focus on one aspect that will make you money, then you can spread your wings more once you have figured out a sustainable business that has room for growth, just not all at once.

 

[Precision]

I would jump all over that. How much are you losing working in the space you are currently at. It sounds nightmarish.

Get yourself into the right space. If there aren't any available, then the one that is available is the right one for you. If you blink it could be gone, and before you know it you will be in the same position all over again.

Sometimes you just have to take the leap. What does your gut tell you, it won't lie to you. If it feels like the right thing to do, then do it. If not, then don't.

Sounds like your current space wasn't set up for your success in the first place?

 

[Gino]

If you're gonna take on more expense for this other place, make sure you have at least 6 months to one year worth of rent already in your account that isn't assigned for anything else. It can take a while til things pick up.

As for the other stuff, situations are different everywhere and for me, and maybe others, I have NO clue as to what you can and cannot do. Therefore, any real advice is just throwing it up in the air and hoping it sticks to the fan and not go crazy all over the place.


Good luck.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Yes, $1k isn't that much compared to how much you lose through inefficiency by trying to work in an unsuitable place.
Been there, done that. Made lots of mistakes along the way (still do) and not strategically spending money on necessities out of fear was one thing that really held me back.