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One man shop growing pains

Gino

Premium Subscriber
If that heater is forced air, you're gonna have some problems..... unless it shoots outta several places. We had that at a 4,000 Sq ft shop and it took a lotta baffles and figuring out how to work with it. That was 5 years of disaster heat. Take the 3 year contract and read the fine print about leaving early....... just in case.
 

Precision

New Member
Thanks for the tips. I outsource a lot, all printing goes to S365 or Firesprint, I don't print in-house. Yes, I like making signs, but am spending way too much time on admin duties (estimating, ordering materials, permits, bookkeeping) and graphic design. It's just too much for one person and I need to streamline.
My first hire was a production, designer, installer employee. He did the basic design layout (he was a very decent designer and knew Adobe and Photoshop pretty well. He also knew the machines.

He would do all the design, printing and sign making, with my help when I had time. I in the meantime hustled business everywhere I could hand out a business card and a verbal quote.

Lost my ass, but was plenty busy. Then I got busy and only way I knew to slow it down was to raise the pricing. It hasn't slowed down.

Hire somebody to help you do the physical work, so you can keep selling. Google ad words is another area worth looking into.

Good luck!
 

robert griffith

BIG BOB'S SIGNS & GRAPHIC'S
I'm a one man shop, I know there's a few more of you on the forum. Just over one year in business and there is more work than I can handle. Small rural resort town undergoing a rapid population boom post-Covid. I'm running 60 hours a week minimum, reality is kicking in and I need to make changes or abandon ship. General labor and installs is a growing challenge, subs and anyone in the trades are immersed in building houses, no interest in contract labor sign installs. Have gotten by hiring a retired friend for one-off installs, does good work but I need a more reliable and professional solution. Would love to have a wide list of subs to seek out for different jobs, but it just doesn't exist. I have outgrown my shop space-wise and there are no commercial spaces available. I recently replied to a 3-day old ad for two commercial spaces with a drive in bay and they were already snapped up. Guys around here are doing shop work out of their storage rental units, I've seen it. I feel like I cannot compete with other employers and am pretty much exhausted. The other sign shops here don't return calls, and one keeps the front door locked.

The funds are there to grow the business, but I can't do it alone anymore. I think of options daily: Hire a manager. Bring in a business partner. Downsize services. Try to sell the business. Close the business outright and move on. How are other small shops coping? Have you cut out certain services? If you have been in my position, what was the breakthrough?
I am a one man shop just get new printer A Roland socket pro4 xr640 and need more work seen some my way.
 

John Miller

New Member
The first thing you need to do if you haven't done it already is to have a minimum price for anything you produce. I don't care if it's a 12'x12' sticker or something more involved. There are no loser/PIA jobs if you sell them at your minimum.
Think about the time it takes to: Have the initial meeting with the client, quote the job, acquire materials, produce the job, spend the time with the client when he picks up the job. finish the paperwork and input into your bookkeeping software.
On a minimum job your materials cost will probably be small but estimate the hours you'll spend from start to finish. If you can do all that for, say, $100 worth of shop time, then that's your minimum job cost. A client that can't understand this
isn't one you want to give you return business. You'll lose some jobs but probably your gross will be about the same with fewer hours worked and less stress.
 

Scotchbrite

No comment
We make a lot of panels for those signs, I had no idea people have to pay the landlord to have signage for their business. That seems ridiculous. Is that common?
I know a couple around here do. Especially when they have more tenants than spaces on the sign.
 

bcxprint420

Sign & Banner Xpress
I'm a one man shop, I know there's a few more of you on the forum. Just over one year in business and there is more work than I can handle. Small rural resort town undergoing a rapid population boom post-Covid. I'm running 60 hours a week minimum, reality is kicking in and I need to make changes or abandon ship. General labor and installs is a growing challenge, subs and anyone in the trades are immersed in building houses, no interest in contract labor sign installs. Have gotten by hiring a retired friend for one-off installs, does good work but I need a more reliable and professional solution. Would love to have a wide list of subs to seek out for different jobs, but it just doesn't exist. I have outgrown my shop space-wise and there are no commercial spaces available. I recently replied to a 3-day old ad for two commercial spaces with a drive in bay and they were already snapped up. Guys around here are doing shop work out of their storage rental units, I've seen it. I feel like I cannot compete with other employers and am pretty much exhausted. The other sign shops here don't return calls, and one keeps the front door locked.

The funds are there to grow the business, but I can't do it alone anymore. I think of options daily: Hire a manager. Bring in a business partner. Downsize services. Try to sell the business. Close the business outright and move on. How are other small shops coping? Have you cut out certain services? If you have been in my position, what was the breakthrough?
Welcome to the world of small business ownership. I run a one man shop in a big city but never run out of customers who prefer dealing with the owner rather then an employee. Raising prices will have a large effect because you have some people who could install themselves but dont because you do it so cheAp. Might look for just an outside installer that you can send customers to to remive the job after you get it made. For me i have worked in the past right after my father past away for 4 straight years every single day just to prove i could do it but would never recommend it. You cannot work these kinds of hours and expect to have any kind of fulfilling personal life at all that is for sure. If you expect that then hire two employees and stop counting on any profit. A decision should be made if price increses dont work. I am in business now a total of 36 years and about 11 of those as a one man deal and it doesnt get any easier as the time ticks on.
 

gnubler

Active Member
what about AC?
What type of electricity? 110 / 220 single phase or 3 phase?
if you build, you will need to drill into the wall / flooring
early termination?
if you build / improve, does that stay when you move?
what maintenance / repairs are covered?
internet
phone
are there any "rules" like an HOA? can you cut lumber outside, use paint, etc...?
Thanks for these. I'm going to ask about the electricity, didn't think to check when I looked at the unit.
 

kcollinsdesign

Old member
If you are offering a unique product, you might be able to raise your prices. If you are in an underserved market, you might be able to raise your prices. If you are offering the same services as everyone else, you will need to be aware of market prices and figure out other ways to increase profits.

I would be wary of using other people's commercial property, and even driving client's vehicles, without the proper insurance. You will need garage keepers insurance, and seperate endorsements to use properties other than those covered by your current general liability policy. Ditto for hiring subcontractors, they will need their own general liability coverage, and you will need certificates of insurance in good standing. In addition, review the laws concerning how the government determines who is a contractor and who is an employee (insurance companies know, and will go where they smell money – you need to be protected and all jobs fully doocumented to prove contractor status). The costs and liabilities of working this way are high and you may find it is not worth the hassle or the risk.

I would also be concerned if you are working more than 40 hours per week. Studies too numerous to count have proven that anything over 40 hours/week makes people less productive. An occasional 50 hour week may be acceptable, but anything over that will likely have a negative effect on your business (to say nothing of your family life and mental health). If you (or your employees) are working more than fifty hours a week you are on a collision course with disaster.

If you offer unique fabrication skills or have recognized and marketable design skills (and the portfolio, awards, and industry record to prove it), you might be able to name your price and grow your business slowly and sustainably. You will be making money based on the value of your unique skills. If you are a commercial printer, then volume, scale, and good business management skills will be what drives your profits (the competition is tough in this space – the entry level cost of opening a digital print shop is relatively low). Check wholesale pricing for the products you sell, and if you can't beat those prices, you are facing an uphill battle. Look around; you can see small shops getting gobbled up by bigger, well funded companies, and those bigger companies being bought up by investment firms who can provide the funding to build large scale printing and fabrication facilities with economies of scale (maximizing the ROI on equipment, the ability to offer good paying jobs and retain employees with benefits and sustainable working conditions, better raw materials pricing, and huge advantages on shipping and logistics).

One of the best ways for a small shop to make money is to offer comprehensive installation, service, and maintenance services. Rather than investing in fabrication and printing (products that can be bought wholesale and shipped to your door with little or no liability), you might consider buying reliable service vehicles and equipment and building a staff of quaified service technicians. Local service companies will attract national accounts and local businesses who can buy or supply signs and printing, but absolutely depend on local service companies for installation, service, and maintenance. Finding and retaining field service employees is easier these days than finding $20/hr - $25/hr general shop employees. You will be paying them closer to $35/hr base rate and can afford to offer them comprehensive benefits in addition to their salaries. Once you have established a reliable, profitable service company, you can slowly venture into fabrication and expanding in-house printing capability and grow a healthy full-service company.
 

gnubler

Active Member
Thanks for the post, kcollins. Good points, and I feel like I still have so much to learn about running a business.

I put a deposit down on the aforementioned commercial space and am currently reviewing the lease. I think I've covered all bases and everything checks out. This is a HUGE step up for my business.

The landlord wants to charge $250/month for a slot on the multi-tenant directory out on the main road. I offered to make & install other tenant signs in exchange for a free slot for myself and they said no. Not only are they charging $250/mo but that doesn't include the actual sign or install, the costs of which are on the tenant. Which is why the directory remains 90% empty.

Would any of you suck it up and pay the $250 a month for a directory sign? I'm having a hard time justifying it and will start with a sign on the building for the time being. I don't get many walk-ins and don't particularly want them anyway.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Tell him to 'stick it'. You don't need no stinkin' sign. For the first 25 years of being in business, we were always hidden away. I didn't want tire kickers and long-winded customers who wanted their mailbox lettered. If they found me, they were really interested. All other existing customers knew where we were.
 

gnubler

Active Member
I'll tell them to stick it by not paying for the sign "rental". It's a nice stone monument backlit directory that probably wasn't cheap to build, but he's not going to recoup any of the cost with a lame deal like that. It's not so much that I want to advertise, but more like what kind of sign shop DOESN'T have a sign out? If people ask why I don't have a sign, what should I say?
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
The truth. The only sign you can have will be supplied by the landlord and you don't wanna pay rent for a sign, let alone not have control over its outcome.

Can't you put one above your entrance door or garage door ?? You are renting it, so as long as you don't destroy anything in the process, you should be allowed, especially in an enclosed area. It's not public/municipality domain
 

gnubler

Active Member
Can't you put one above your entrance door or garage door ?? You are renting it, so as long as you don't destroy anything in the process, you should be allowed, especially in an enclosed area. It's not public/municipality domain
Yes, I asked about that. Above the awning over the front entrance, plus door lettering.
 

gnubler

Active Member
This is 1/4 of your rent, right? All so folks know that you are in that shopping center? So you could, ya know, have plenty of business? Business that roundabout will pay him? It's stupid as fk.
Ya, pretty much, which is why I'm giving it a hard pass. There's only one panel in use right now by a well known national corporation and my new shop is right beside their building, so that will lead the way.

I stopped putting my sidewalk sign out at my current shop months ago and my sales are basically the same, minus all the riff raff that used to wander in wanting to talk about ordering one sticker. So actually business got BETTER without a sign.
 

Moze

Active Member
Monthly fees for multi-tenant panels are common but his price is what an anchor tenant would pay in a large shopping center in a large metropolitan area.
 

gnubler

Active Member
^^Agreed, and I do. Also prepay or deposit for most new customers on jobs over $250. Nobody has ever complained or questioned it.
 
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