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Weekends
- Thread starter billsines
- Start date
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Its a different kinda work. Work around the house at this time of year starts in early April, til about Memorial Day. Then, it's maintenance throughout the summer and at the end of summer, harvest all the things we planted. We try to keep a few hours on Sunday for a little relaxation, but that's seldom. It also includes after work hours on weekdays, too. Was outside til about 8 o'clock, last night.
rjssigns
Active Member
I shut off my phone at 5p.m. every evening. Unless I'm making fat bank I no longer work weekends. There is nothing that pressing that it can't wait. Most of the time customers create their own emergency by waiting until the last minute.
Life is a finite resource. Don't spend it chasing money. Spend it making memories, in the end that's all you'll have.
Life is a finite resource. Don't spend it chasing money. Spend it making memories, in the end that's all you'll have.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Sometimes it involves work if something went wrong but I never plan any work or installs on the weekends. Mostly weekends are free and I spend some time catching up on computer work at the kitchen table but still available for the family.
Sunday is church day.
Sunday is church day.
KY_Graphics_Gal
New Member
Very rarely do I work on weekends. I bust tail all week long and the weekends are for my family. Speaking of which...HAPPY FRIDAY ALL!!
Arlo Kalon 2.0
New Member
It's been my observation that many "sign business" owners haven't been very adept at the "business" end of their endeavors. If they were, they'd be running a continuously profitable enough enterprise that balance in the rest of their life would be a no brainer. How many times has the old saying "lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency for me" been an entirely suitable reply for a customer who comes in with a last minute dire need? Yet I've been guilty of neglecting my family in the past to accommodate these people who could just as easily have waited until the following work week. Another consideration for being a businessperson is making plans for the eventual end of your work life. So many times I've seen competitors whose practices virtually assured a retirement lived in utter scarcity of adequate funds. I began self employment as a way to do what I thoroughly enjoyed on my terms. I'm glad I managed to squeak by with enough good planning to be enjoying retirement in a beautiful new home in the country with adult kids who have no regrets about time I wasn't available to spend with them. The older you get, the more you realize how fleeting time is. All that time you spend giving yourself to the pursuit of pleasing customers at the expense of time with your family comes down to wasting a vital aspect of your life.
bannertime
Active Member
Very rarely will we do work on the weekend for the sign shop. For our other business, it's pretty frequent they are working early mornings or late nights on the weekend for events and such. Just the nature of that business. I don't partake in that. I firmly believe we work too much and that with proper planning, a majority of the work force could go down to 4 day work weeks. I could do it right now if it wasn't for Fridays being so busy with last minute jobs. I don't even schedule anything for Friday anymore because it generates enough work by itself.
CanuckSigns
Active Member
I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old at home, so weekends are spent with them. I can't tell you the last time I came in on the weekend to be honest, I really don't want to miss these years with my kids so someone who can't plan ahead can get their sign.
Gene@mpls
New Member
It's been my observation that many "sign business" owners haven't been very adept at the "business" end of their endeavors.
It is not just the sign industry, I restored Corvettes for 20+ years and the bodyshop industry is similar, someone who is a good technician decides he would look good as the boss [and make the big money]. Good technicians are not necessarily good business people in my experience.
It is not just the sign industry, I restored Corvettes for 20+ years and the bodyshop industry is similar, someone who is a good technician decides he would look good as the boss [and make the big money]. Good technicians are not necessarily good business people in my experience.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
I don't know about some of these points...... ?? In the beginning, when one is getting his/her business off the ground, you want to work long hours to accommodate your customers' needs. You work and do whatever you can to keep your customers happy, which in turn, makes you happy. Once you reach a point of too many hours, generally you raise your prices ad if that still doesn't help, you hire someone to give you a break from 60 and 70 hours weeks to 40 or 50 hours. Working Saturdays was always something I thought necessary. Many people want signs who can't themselves get out of work during the same hours you wanna keep, so when they called, it was easy to say, yeah.... Saturdays from 8am to 1pm. I also got a lot done on Saturdays because the phone didn't ring as much and they're weren't as many interruptions.
Saturdays stopped for me about 25 years ago. I'll still work if it's a big money maker, but 99% of the time, I'm home working in the garden, around the property or just enjoying life.
Saturdays stopped for me about 25 years ago. I'll still work if it's a big money maker, but 99% of the time, I'm home working in the garden, around the property or just enjoying life.
Again, this is all coming from someone who owned their own business for quite some time. Employees, generally hang their hat at 5 o'clock Friday and don't think another ounce until Monday at 8:30am.
Texas_Signmaker
Very Active Signmaker
Yup. In my first few years all my work was done at night or on the weekend...after coming home from my day job. 60-70 hour weeks, no family time... worked VERY hard. It was so rewarding when I got to say goodbye to my day job... other then the fact that I didn't get ONE job for nearly two weeks after I quit! Was really odd timing. Since I quit 4 or 5 years ago I havn't "scheduled" a weekend install.... All done with that!
I mostly catch up on design work and some maintenance around the shop on the weekends when the phones aren't ringing and customers aren't walking in. We'll do a truck for a contractor who would be dead in the water without his or her rig during the week, but it's pretty rare. I consider myself very fortunate and grateful to have found a craft that I love which allows me to be creative with my work day.
My dad was a milk truck delivery man his whole life and probably earned $25k tops working 6 day work weeks starting at 3am his whole life. Putting in some extra hours to help make him proud of me and my siblings is something we all have not lost track of.
We're in an area with 325 wineries in a 25 mile radius and we specialize in work for them and most have tasting rooms that are open mostly on the weekends making installations on the weekends problematic, so that helps us lock the door on Friday night and not face grueling weekends all the time. Most winery owners are very generous with gifts of appreciation so the booze cabinet is usually brimming with lots of great wine to make the weekend even more enjoyable.
We just passed our five year anniversary of buying an existing business that had been embroiled in a race to the bottom with a nearby competitor. The hourly shop rate was far below sustainable as well as average prices. Thankfully, the competitor has run themselves into legal and financial trouble by their actions, so we have ignored their existence now that we have carved out our own niche and pricing.
The laborious process of educating our client base about realistic pricing and earning their trust being new owners takes time and some extra effort after hours to prove oneself. We've increased revenue 5%-10% every year since taking over and yes, some of that growth comes with a price at the expense of free time.
As others have stated, it has to be done to establish oneself and that's how we've looked at it. A lack of good, reliable, experienced labor in our area is another cause of some weekend work.
We're a year away from owning the business outright and our priorities will change at that point as well.
My dad was a milk truck delivery man his whole life and probably earned $25k tops working 6 day work weeks starting at 3am his whole life. Putting in some extra hours to help make him proud of me and my siblings is something we all have not lost track of.
We're in an area with 325 wineries in a 25 mile radius and we specialize in work for them and most have tasting rooms that are open mostly on the weekends making installations on the weekends problematic, so that helps us lock the door on Friday night and not face grueling weekends all the time. Most winery owners are very generous with gifts of appreciation so the booze cabinet is usually brimming with lots of great wine to make the weekend even more enjoyable.
We just passed our five year anniversary of buying an existing business that had been embroiled in a race to the bottom with a nearby competitor. The hourly shop rate was far below sustainable as well as average prices. Thankfully, the competitor has run themselves into legal and financial trouble by their actions, so we have ignored their existence now that we have carved out our own niche and pricing.
The laborious process of educating our client base about realistic pricing and earning their trust being new owners takes time and some extra effort after hours to prove oneself. We've increased revenue 5%-10% every year since taking over and yes, some of that growth comes with a price at the expense of free time.
As others have stated, it has to be done to establish oneself and that's how we've looked at it. A lack of good, reliable, experienced labor in our area is another cause of some weekend work.
We're a year away from owning the business outright and our priorities will change at that point as well.
Stacey K
I like making signs
I'm almost reaching my first year of having a storefront and being full-time. I worked a lot of nights and weekends, some Saturdays and Sundays. Recently, I decided I wanted some weekends back with my kids so I started coming in at 5 or 6 and leaving at 4 if possible - early mornings, no interruptions! Two things I'm learning...
1. Customers can usually wait and why should I work on a Sunday because they can't plan ahead?
2. I need to plan better if I don't want to work weekends!
Ways to achieve this...stay off of Facebook, set a lunch time and stick to it, stay off of Signs101 unless I need something, make a to-do list and stay focused!
1. Customers can usually wait and why should I work on a Sunday because they can't plan ahead?
2. I need to plan better if I don't want to work weekends!
Ways to achieve this...stay off of Facebook, set a lunch time and stick to it, stay off of Signs101 unless I need something, make a to-do list and stay focused!
Johnny Best
Active Member
If I have to work on a Saturday or Sunday then I will take a day off during the week to make up for it.
James Burke
Being a grandpa is more fun than working
There's nothing like being able to shift a schedule to work around life's events...either joyful...or tragic.
I was able to be there shortly after each new grand baby arrived. And during my mom's last year of life, I was able to drop everything in a moment's notice to take her to appointments or help get her through a bad night.
JB
mfatty500
New Member
Or the Dance Mom that knows you work from home and thinks they can come over at 9:00 in the evening on a Saturday, and have the apparel done for them on Sunday.... I had that about a month ago, but it was a quicky and easy beer money, of course I charged her plenty of $$$ for a foot of material...
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
We are turning 10 on June 9th, 3 years ago after my dad died was when we quit working weekends unless there was a project needing it and client paying for it. Time is finite for us humans and its the only resource we can't replenish, its not worth wasting.
I'm addicted to this industry and business in general. I have a hard time leaving before 8 or 9 pm. I work weekends as well...
My wife is happy and we are able to help both sides of our family as needed. I get great joy working on our companies marketing efforts and love to create new market segments. If I had the option to attend some dinner party, watch tv/movie, or just hang around the house....or get quality time without distractions as I work on new growth opportunities for our companies it's easy to pick. I LOVE to work as it provides a great amount of joy to me...
I have plenty of great family memories and when I want to create them our work has allowed us to make it happen. When my wife ask that I leave work, I leave work and spend time with her needs. Owning our own business allows us to work the hours we choose to work. Otherwise I build the foundation for what is to come for our family. The old expression... you can't take it with you. Well yeah, that's obvious, but it's not about what you take with you, it's more about what you leave behind from those in your family. My goal is to leave behind great family memories, make a positive impact on my community, and multiple bank accounts with enough money to cover all of my families concerns.
There is a VERY low chance that our companies would be where they are today without the extra hours!
Everyone has different goals and agendas. Make the best of yours and it will all work out.
My wife is happy and we are able to help both sides of our family as needed. I get great joy working on our companies marketing efforts and love to create new market segments. If I had the option to attend some dinner party, watch tv/movie, or just hang around the house....or get quality time without distractions as I work on new growth opportunities for our companies it's easy to pick. I LOVE to work as it provides a great amount of joy to me...
I have plenty of great family memories and when I want to create them our work has allowed us to make it happen. When my wife ask that I leave work, I leave work and spend time with her needs. Owning our own business allows us to work the hours we choose to work. Otherwise I build the foundation for what is to come for our family. The old expression... you can't take it with you. Well yeah, that's obvious, but it's not about what you take with you, it's more about what you leave behind from those in your family. My goal is to leave behind great family memories, make a positive impact on my community, and multiple bank accounts with enough money to cover all of my families concerns.
There is a VERY low chance that our companies would be where they are today without the extra hours!
Everyone has different goals and agendas. Make the best of yours and it will all work out.
gabagoo
New Member
During the winter months I don't mind coming in on a Saturday for a few hours to play catch up, but I don't generally take on customer work as all suppliers are closed and if I need something I am out of luck. From Mid may to sept. I won't come in at all, unless I need to get tools to do something around the house.