Sick of custom work

[mjkjr]

Title says it all, I'm sick of dealing with custom work, it's such a PITA. Every job is different and I've tried reigning in the options and putting them on the website but every communication starts with "can you do something like.." and I feel like I'm re-inventing the wheel every day.

I wish I had a single product or two that I could just make a bunch of over & over and take and fulfill orders. Even if I still had to do *some* custom job work it would be great to do a lot less of it, or at least be able to be more picky about what I have to take on.

Anybody do any products like that? Any suggestions or guidance?

I have a couple of products on my website that have basic customizations, so still custom but the parameters are well defined and easier to handle, but I get literally zero sales there for whatever reason.

Maybe I just need better/fewer templates, IDK. Just a little rant I guess, probably won't change anything...

 

[rjssigns]

Industrial labeling. I have one solid client that provides a good revenue stream. Next is printing for a local shop. Files are usually ready to go and I never deal directly with the client. Other bit is working on yachts. Names on transoms, boot stripes and hull stripes. Love that stuff and so does my installer. You should see some of the cool places we get to work.

All sidelined at the moment save for stuff I can do from home. Not traveling and limiting time away form home to just walking the dog around the neighborhood.

 

[CanuckSigns]

What kind of signs do you make? The nature of this business is that it's completely custom and every day is different, some people enjoy that about it.

It sounds like you are experiencing burnout, everyone gets it at some point! There are times when I get so fed up with answering the same questions over email over and over again.

Sometimes you need to lead the client a little, if they come to you with a custom request, reply with something like " we can quote this for you, but we also offer a similar product for $xx which will offer you a significant savings over a custom designed product."

 

[unclebun]

I love custom work because I love working on different kinds of things and creating new things. I suspect the reason you aren't enjoying it is first, because you are trying to sell it online, and second, you are trying to price custom work like factory work.

If you want to sell from a website at commodity pricing, you have to sell commodities.

 

[Dan360]

I much prefer custom jobs because they're more interesting, especially when it's something we've never done before and there's stuff to figure out. Pumping out golf signs and banners is easy but it's almost mindless and the days drag on. But I guess to an owner they might seem like easy money.

 

[Billct2]

Maybe you shouldn't advertise everything on your site as "Custom". Seriously isn't that the business you are in? If you don't want to do custom work make up a bunch of stock designs and set up a site selling them.

 

[myront]

I agree about "burnout". Our company handles anything from custom signs to 3rd party graphics. People buy a "stripe kit" online and just want installed etc. Or we get an out of state company send us crap files for us to create and install a wrap. Like the OP, I too, get tired of some clients. "Can you move it a little to the left", "can you try a different font", "I don't know. What do you think?", "is that blue, looks a little purple", "can you use this faxed logo?" grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Sometimes I like to just do the "bread and butter" stuff. Helps to have more than one designer though. When one gets burn out the other can sense it and take those problem jobs for a bit then switch again.
p.s. we factor in any art time if over 15min. Yes, trying to find your stupid font takes time.

 

[mjkjr]

Thanks for the insight guys. I'm probably just a bit down due to being a bit burned out and everything going on right now. Hired a new designer a few weeks ago and now we're all but shut down here which is a bummer. I'm sure I just need to reset my perspective. I did get into this because I liked that each job was different. Though I do want to find a bread-and-butter revenue stream to compliment what we do now and make the monthly bills a little easier to handle.

 

[Johnny Best]

Why don't you start making one style of a kite.

 

[Billct2]

J Burton, reminds me of the old time neon guy talking about working on beer signs..." Every day, all day I made the "Bud" and Fred made "wei" and Joe made the "ser:"

 

[Zendavor Signs]

Title says it all, I'm sick of dealing with custom work, it's such a PITA. Every job is different and I've tried reigning in the options and putting them on the website but every communication starts with "can you do something like.." and I feel like I'm re-inventing the wheel every day.

I wish I had a single product or two that I could just make a bunch of over & over and take and fulfill orders. Even if I still had to do *some* custom job work it would be great to do a lot less of it, or at least be able to be more picky about what I have to take on.

Anybody do any products like that? Any suggestions or guidance?

I have a couple of products on my website that have basic customizations, so still custom but the parameters are well defined and easier to handle, but I get literally zero sales there for whatever reason.

Maybe I just need better/fewer templates, IDK. Just a little rant I guess, probably won't change anything...

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "reigning in the options" - if you are referring to material options or design options. If material options, sometimes you just have to offer less options to the customer. Ask a few questions and quote was you think is best. Don't offer a cheapy option just to try to get the job. If it is design options, that is a trickier question. Maybe be more firm about art charges, revisions, etc. Show lots of examples of your design work to justify the art charges. It is hard to lose any prospect, even if it is "low-end", but you will find that you can serve the good customers much better then. Work on your quality and reputation, and you will start to earn the trust of better customers. Mom and pop shops are not going to give you "bread-and-butter" work.