Stacey K
I like making signs
Sometimes they can be! There are days that I crank out a crap load of smaller orders, letter some truck doors, do a pin stripe...that was last Wednesday. Was a profitable day with easy work LOL
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Small shop getting into wraps?
- Thread starter gnubler
- Start date
rydods
Member for quite some time.
Wraps are profitable if you price them right but they are time consuming and tedious. If you're 1 person, a full wrap could be 16 to 20 hours and a lot of that time is detailed cutting so taking a break is a good idea. It really should be something you enjoy doing not just for the money and training for properly installing should really be considered.
It's great in the winter but they always seem to come in when it's spring and you have a half a dozen large sign installs to do and/or your garage space is tied up with another job.
We just wrapped this 40 foot speed boat, sides and top deck. It took me and my other 2 installers 4 days to finish which means I had no other installers for anything else for 4 days. The shop workload is a cluster now and it's going to be hard to catch up. Oh and that's not my shop but I really wish it was, I can't fit this thing in there.
My problem is that wrapping is my favorite part of this job.
It's great in the winter but they always seem to come in when it's spring and you have a half a dozen large sign installs to do and/or your garage space is tied up with another job.
We just wrapped this 40 foot speed boat, sides and top deck. It took me and my other 2 installers 4 days to finish which means I had no other installers for anything else for 4 days. The shop workload is a cluster now and it's going to be hard to catch up. Oh and that's not my shop but I really wish it was, I can't fit this thing in there.
My problem is that wrapping is my favorite part of this job.
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JBurton
Signtologist
I was gonna say you're living the dream working in that place! Is that an RV shop or what? (please don't tell me it's some rich dude's toy garage)
Some very valid points in the comments, thought I would throw in my 2 cents too...
A one man shop can handle full wraps but you need to be realistic with time scales and actually allow yourself enough time to complete the job to a high standard. The more wraps you do, the faster you will get but you need to manage your own and your customers expectations.
With regards to outsourcing your prints, to me that puts you in a very tricky position if something goes wrong (it probably will of you are still learning). Generally printed wraps need to outgas for at least 24 hours before lamination, meaning any mistakes can be time consuming even before taking into account you can't print it yourself.
In my area of the UK there aren't actually many wrap trainers, a lot of the big names use the same few guys to run their training courses. When we were learning, we found it beneficial to contact one of them direct & have them come to us to provide us with training. Yes it cost more but made the teaching group smaller and more specific to our needs. It also meant the trainer could talk about and teach using a wider range of materials, rather than going on a dedicated 3m course and solely focusing on 3m's media etc.
A one man shop can handle full wraps but you need to be realistic with time scales and actually allow yourself enough time to complete the job to a high standard. The more wraps you do, the faster you will get but you need to manage your own and your customers expectations.
With regards to outsourcing your prints, to me that puts you in a very tricky position if something goes wrong (it probably will of you are still learning). Generally printed wraps need to outgas for at least 24 hours before lamination, meaning any mistakes can be time consuming even before taking into account you can't print it yourself.
In my area of the UK there aren't actually many wrap trainers, a lot of the big names use the same few guys to run their training courses. When we were learning, we found it beneficial to contact one of them direct & have them come to us to provide us with training. Yes it cost more but made the teaching group smaller and more specific to our needs. It also meant the trainer could talk about and teach using a wider range of materials, rather than going on a dedicated 3m course and solely focusing on 3m's media etc.
rydods
Member for quite some time.
Unfortunately, rich dude's toy garage.
His hobby is fixing old cars. Those wall lights are amazing! Night and Day, literally.
JBurton
Signtologist
Yeah, at first I thought those were windows at noon.
gnubler
Active Member
So much good info in this thread, I'm going to read through it again. Signs of the Times magazine must be lurking, they just published this article:
https://signsofthetimes.com/want-to-be-a-vehicle-wrapper-this-is-what-you-need-to-know/
Kinda a generic article, like they just needed something for filler.
https://signsofthetimes.com/want-to-be-a-vehicle-wrapper-this-is-what-you-need-to-know/
Kinda a generic article, like they just needed something for filler.
gnubler
Active Member
I'd love to, but such a person just doesn't exist. And not just for wraps...I would love to hire an experienced sign maker as a coach and mentor. I'm someone who learns by example, so my best option so far has been Youtube University.
Lots of discussion here about wraps lately, mainly about the costs of labor and materials. What about design? Does your design rate differ based on the difficulty of the vehicle being wrapped?
Gino
Premium Subscriber
That's exactly why some people here, just shake their heads. I've always said learn how to swim before jumping into the deep end. Ya either go to lettering school or go work for a shop which can offer you a future, instead of just jumping in with both feet. Excuses like no one around or ya can't afford them....... if you're serious, you go to them.
gnubler
Active Member
Where is this lettering school you speak of? Not sure those exist anymore, right? However I would definitely benefit from attending the wrap academy, even if I don't get into wraps.
There are no shops in my area to work for and my employment options overall are limited...too old. I was never a great employee and am better suited as a business owner, so just working with what I've got.
There are no shops in my area to work for and my employment options overall are limited...too old. I was never a great employee and am better suited as a business owner, so just working with what I've got.
tulsagraphics
New Member
Fully agreed. We've been doing wraps for about 14 years, but discontinued them about a year ago. Material costs have gone up a lot (if you can even find the vinyl you need -- and good luck finding vinyl for color changes without special ordering full rolls and waiting weeks or months for delivery). Reliable labor is hard to find, and the amount of time spent (from start to finish) just isn't that profitable for a small sign shop compared to banners/yard signs/etc..
For example, say you have a $3.5k wrap (above average price for a standard passenger vehicle in my area), and it costs $1,850 in vinyl (50 yard rolls of 3M IJ180 + 8518)+ $150/ink. (Granted you'll have some material left over.) You've got 1.5k left to work with -- if everything goes to plan and nothing has to be reprinted -- spread across 30 to 40 hours of design, prep, install. That means you're grossing $37.50/hour for some of very tedious and unforgiving work, which probably won't come close to covering shop overhead. I won't go into detail about the many challenges of wrapping vehicles (e.g. vehicles with very breakable plastic parts, wrapping doorjambs, dealing with warranties, etc.), but it's tough. And you need someone experienced enough to not damage vehicles in the process.
Can it be profitable? Sure, with the right shop setup, temp. controlled garage / lighting, a lot of learning (up front and ongoing), and a really optimized work flow. Is it worth it? Not for my shop. I can afford to be picky about my jobs, so I axed the least profitable work (wraps). But if you can do a very professional job and command top dollar for it... then maybe it could work out?
JamesLam
New Member
Many here would drywall and paint their own house but would not do it for others. Wraps are the same. We did our van and a few projects for interest/fun and to gain some insight but honestly it's a full-time gig.
I would think that the truly skilled professionals are well respected by most of us here but for the laymen and the people spending the dollars they just don't offer the same cred.
Looking at the financial side if it costs $1800+ for materials then the sell price should be somewhere in the $7k-$8k range minimum and that's just not happening. There are enough folks out there working late nights and nickeling-and-diming themselves into oblivion.
I would think that the truly skilled professionals are well respected by most of us here but for the laymen and the people spending the dollars they just don't offer the same cred.
Looking at the financial side if it costs $1800+ for materials then the sell price should be somewhere in the $7k-$8k range minimum and that's just not happening. There are enough folks out there working late nights and nickeling-and-diming themselves into oblivion.