Thinking about it.....

[adicreed]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum, and wanted to stop in and say hi and basically give you a shake down of who I am and why I'm here. I am a 26 year old guy, that has come across this business as an opportunity. This past weekend, my father came to me with a business proposition. He read in the newspaper about a guy who does any and every type of business advertising there is, and apparently this guy is doing so well that he is making franchises out of it. This got my father interested in possibly getting started in it. Here's just a little bit of a background on my father. As it stands he is a retired entrepreneur, he owns a commercial office park, used to own a theatre, and had a video editing business as well, which were/are mostly successful. He's pretty much retired now, but apparently wants something to do and make a little money on the side. Now.....my cousin is in the t-shirt screening business and is making a killing at it, and apparently knows a thing or two about banners, window signs, car wraps etc. So my cousin tells us that buying that franchise is a waste of time and money, that he can tell us exactly what we need and how to get started. So now we're at the point of deciding to take the dive or not. I've been lurking around on the site a tiny bit and thought I'd go ahead and introduce myself. By the way, my cousin thinks we should get the Roland VP-540, what is the concensus on this thing? It looks to be like a work horse and a "do it all" system. Again I don't know much about this industry, but I'm a quick learner, and willing to learn any and everything I can about it. If there's any advice you guys want to give I'm willing to listen.

Trent

 

[Gino]

No advice yet, but welcome from PA.........................................

 

[J Hill Designs]

welcome from cali

 

[gnemmas]

If you cousin is making a killing on his business, why aren't you jump into there?

 

[adicreed]

Well for 2 reasons....I don't want to step on his toes and possibly be stealing each others customers. And two if we're in a different area than he is...and he has somebody that needs a banner or what not, he can outsource it to us....and if we have somebody that needs t-shirts we can outsource it to him.

 

[weaselboogie]

Take some business and design classes first, or better yet, work for your cousin for a year or two.

 

[adicreed]

I understand the reasoning behind taking some classes....but what would be the point in working in a t-shirt business to learn how to make banners? No disrespect....just wondering the reasoning behind it.....

 

[Gino]

​

 

[adicreed]

 

[Marlene]

what experience in the sign business do you have? sounds like none. would the franchise train you and have support when you needed help? if so, it might be worth going in that direction.

 

[SignManiac]

Damn, I just bit my tongue.

 

[weaselboogie]

I understand the reasoning behind taking some classes....but what would be the point in working in a t-shirt business to learn how to make banners? No disrespect....just wondering the reasoning behind it.....

Because making banners is easy. Not making ugly banners isn't.

Learn the basics of design... Going into a business completely green in every way is a surefire way to be a statistic.
Noobs only comprehend the production side of a shop, but most of the important steps are made before the ink ever hits the substrate.

 

[adicreed]

You're correct in assuming that.....we have none, the guy was offereing 2 weeks of training, but beyond that we were on our own. My cousin is willing to teach us everything he knows for free, that's why we are considering not doing the franchise, plus the fact that the franchise is so much more money.

 

[adicreed]

So what you're basically saying is that the graphics side of it all is the hard part? Being creative is what the difficult part of it is? And by the way thank you weasel for your input I very much appreciate it. It seems to be a little more helpful than people that give snide remarks and tear you down. I guess bettering yourself isn't cool....oh well I'm uncool. Thanks again Weasel :U Rock:

 

[Marlene]

what does the two week training involve? check that out to see if it would be worth it. you have the business side of things that they might be including in those two weeks so the actual sign end of things might not be all that helpful. what do you get with the franchise? if you are just starting out, it might be a better route. having your tee-shirt screen printing cousin teach you would be great if you were opening a tee-shirt screen printing business. he know a thing or two about banners and car wraps...has he done them? has he worked in a sign shop at some point? I don't know him or his abilities so it's hard to say sure, have him train you.

as far as being creative and knowing the basics of setting up a good layout is a no brainer as signs are all about that. unless you just want to do really basic signs like NO PARKING or generic signs like that, you do need to know what you are doing.

 

[adicreed]

I don't know exactly what those 2 weeks would involve...I haven't touched the article. Those are some good points though that I need to consider about franchise vs. no franchise. As far as my cousin, I know he knows more than I do, but as far as if he's ever done them.....I don't really know for sure. This whole venture is a very new concept to us, and so that's why I wanted to get advice from all of you, because you all have already been there and know the right questions that should be asked.

 

[B Snyder]

adicreed - If you started a business being an architect without ever having drafted a single job how successful do you think you'd be?

 

[adicreed]

very true.....so how did you all start out in this business? Did you guys all go to school....did you work at another sign shop? if so how long did it take you to learn what you needed to know to venture off and start your own business. I'm not looking to buy the necessary things tomorrow and then start selling people banners on Friday. I do realize that there is plenty to learn in this field....lol and just a coincidence my father at the age of 16 drew up his first blue prints and built a highschool, later built dozens of houses, apartments, office parks, and he didn't get any kind of degree in architecture. lol just a funny little side note.

 

[weaselboogie]

So what you're basically saying is that the graphics side of it all is the hard part? Being creative is what the difficult part of it is? And by the way thank you weasel for your input I very much appreciate it. It seems to be a little more helpful than people that give snide remarks and tear you down. I guess bettering yourself isn't cool....oh well I'm uncool. Thanks again Weasel :U Rock:

The design part is the most overlooked side of it. I can train someone to run a cutter in a matter of hours/days, and I can train someone how to use a program, but to teach someone how to design is why there are schools devoted to it.

I'm a honors graduate with a degree in visual communication and have been doing signs since I've been in my teens and sometimes I still find that design is the hardest part of the job. This is not something that this guy is going to be able to train you in 2 weeks along with running the business.

Find a designer who knows how to use VECTOR based programs and either hire him or oursource anything more than basic text.

 

[adicreed]

My cousin does work with Vector based programs......so I'm guessing he would be a good person to work with....