What is going on...is everyone so busy?

[Stacey K]

I'm now getting emails from other sign companies asking me to install signs for them. I had an email today from a nationwide company looking for an installer...I said no, I'm too busy with my own installs! I'm getting calls and emails from people in other cities for signs. The shop down the road from me is sending people to me. I'm already booked out a few weeks and can't keep up with the amount of jobs I already have. Most of them don't even ask for an estimate they just want it done.

Is everyone experiencing this? I'm guessing part of it is shops don't have enough help. Yes, I raised my prices, I don't think that's the issue. I'm a little higher than most in the area on vehicles and have lost a few jobs in the past because of it.

 

[Pauly]

That's a good problem to have.

We're near capacity. Waiting on our custom fotoba to automate trimming and cutting.

 

[rjssigns]

Slow right now, but my business has always run in streaks. Goes from wanting a shade more work to wondering how I'll get all of it done. Right now slack time is welcome as I'm in the finishing stages of a kitchen remodel.

 

[Stacey K]

I think part of the problem is the girl in the shop down the road must only work part time. I get a lot of her customers coming in complaining they stopped 3-4 times or called and she isn't there or doesn't answer. It might be time to consider hiring someone, especially if her business continues that way.

 

[gnubler]

Stacey, I'm in the same boat. More work than I can handle and orders keep coming in. I also had another sign company contact me to do a site survey for a corporate account back east and I turned it down. I'm about to raise my prices too.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

It's nice to have some help, doing everything by yourself is not easy. Maybe you could get a part timer to start and see how it goes? Before covid we had a guy that would come in for a few hours every morning. I'd have everything ready for him at the end of the day then he would finish it in the morning.

 

[Bobby H]

We're busy. For now. This situation feels a little like 1999 or 2006, just before some serious down-turns. But this time it feels more strange.

The bursting of the housing industry bubble in 2006 that hurt a big part of the global economy didn't affect us all that badly. Housing prices in Oklahoma weren't hyper inflated when that bubble market took place (not many people wanted to move here). For some reason the dot-com bust in 1999 and 2000 recession ended up hurting us worse. Business was going along just fine in late 1999 and then suddenly we were dead for months. It was the worst period I've seen in my 20+ years working here. We came close to going out of business. Activity slowly picked up again but didn't get back to a sense of normal until 2002. It's morbidly funny that some of the steps taken to recover from the early 2000's recession set the stage for an even worse downtown in 2006-2009.

It's great to be covered up with work. But I can't help but get the nagging feeling this activity is all a rush to get things done before something bad happens. Interest rates are still low, for the time being. But inflationary pressure is off the charts. We're having to constantly adjust our prices due to rising materials prices. The housing situation in my town is absurd. Military people are reporting to Fort Sill and finding little if anything to rent off post (many rental properties have been sold). We're seeing a lot of speculative activity in the local housing market from out of town buyers. Not all those buyers are actually moving here. It's causing both home buying and rental prices to increase, but the income levels here aren't rising to support the price hikes. Overall this feels like a very unsustainable situation. So while our own sign business activity may be speeding along I'm scared that we're driving blind and about smash into a concrete wall. I'm praying that doesn't happen, but in the meantime I'm working pretty hard, getting jobs cranked out, saving money and not making any big, risky purchases.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I'm seeing this a lot lately. I do work for a national retailer and have to call around sign shops all over the country. As I call around, it's becoming a common response that a local sign company can not handle anymore work right now. I have to keep calling and sometimes pay people from out of market to come in a do a job. I got hit with a massive order so I can't take any new local work. I haven't noticed install prices get too much higher.. in face some just seem low. Fabrication costs have gone up though!

I can tell you, one of my clients who orders quite a bit is doing so because of the impending tax hikes on the wealthy. So in a way I guess you could thank Biden?

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I'm seeing this a lot lately. I do work for a national retailer and have to call around sign shops all over the country. As I call around, it's becoming a common response that a local sign company can not handle anymore work right now. I have to keep calling and sometimes pay people from out of market to come in a do a job. I got hit with a massive order so I can't take any new local work. I haven't noticed install prices get too much higher.. in face some just seem low. Fabrication costs have gone up though!

I can tell you, one of my clients who orders quite a bit is doing so because of the impending tax hikes on the wealthy. So in a way I guess you could thank Biden?

The tax hike thing doesn't make sense. Wouldn't you hoard your cash during times of low taxes then spend it later to avoid a higher tax rate?

We're busy. For now. This situation feels a little like 1999 or 2006, just before some serious down-turns. But this time it feels more strange.

The bursting of the housing industry bubble in 2006 that hurt a big part of the global economy didn't affect us all that badly. Housing prices in Oklahoma weren't hyper inflated when that bubble market took place (not many people wanted to move here). For some reason the dot-com bust in 1999 and 2000 recession ended up hurting us worse. Business was going along just fine in late 1999 and then suddenly we were dead for months. It was the worst period I've seen in my 20+ years working here. We came close to going out of business. Activity slowly picked up again but didn't get back to a sense of normal until 2002. It's morbidly funny that some of the steps taken to recover from the early 2000's recession set the stage for an even worse downtown in 2006-2009.

It's great to be covered up with work. But I can't help but get the nagging feeling this activity is all a rush to get things done before something bad happens. Interest rates are still low, for the time being. But inflationary pressure is off the charts. We're having to constantly adjust our prices due to rising materials prices. The housing situation in my town is absurd. Military people are reporting to Fort Sill and finding little if anything to rent off post (many rental properties have been sold). We're seeing a lot of speculative activity in the local housing market from out of town buyers. Not all those buyers are actually moving here. It's causing both home buying and rental prices to increase, but the income levels here aren't rising to support the price hikes. Overall this feels like a very unsustainable situation. So while our own sign business activity may be speeding along I'm scared that we're driving blind and about smash into a concrete wall. I'm praying that doesn't happen, but in the meantime I'm working pretty hard, getting jobs cranked out, saving money and not making any big, risky purchases.

I agree with you on this. Even lumber prices in 2005 went through the roof and supply became scarce. People thought it was never gonna end back then too.

 

[Stacey K]

We're busy. For now. This situation feels a little like 1999 or 2006, just before some serious down-turns. But this time it feels more strange.

The bursting of the housing industry bubble in 2006 that hurt a big part of the global economy didn't affect us all that badly. Housing prices in Oklahoma weren't hyper inflated when that bubble market took place (not many people wanted to move here). For some reason the dot-com bust in 1999 and 2000 recession ended up hurting us worse. Business was going along just fine in late 1999 and then suddenly we were dead for months. It was the worst period I've seen in my 20+ years working here. We came close to going out of business. Activity slowly picked up again but didn't get back to a sense of normal until 2002. It's morbidly funny that some of the steps taken to recover from the early 2000's recession set the stage for an even worse downtown in 2006-2009.

It's great to be covered up with work. But I can't help but get the nagging feeling this activity is all a rush to get things done before something bad happens. Interest rates are still low, for the time being. But inflationary pressure is off the charts. We're having to constantly adjust our prices due to rising materials prices. The housing situation in my town is absurd. Military people are reporting to Fort Sill and finding little if anything to rent off post (many rental properties have been sold). We're seeing a lot of speculative activity in the local housing market from out of town buyers. Not all those buyers are actually moving here. It's causing both home buying and rental prices to increase, but the income levels here aren't rising to support the price hikes. Overall this feels like a very unsustainable situation. So while our own sign business activity may be speeding along I'm scared that we're driving blind and about smash into a concrete wall. I'm praying that doesn't happen, but in the meantime I'm working pretty hard, getting jobs cranked out, saving money and not making any big, risky purchases.

Yes, the housing in my town is insane. It is now standard to write a 2 page letter with an offer well over asking price. The owner then decides which buyer is worthy of their house. My friend just sold her moms house in 24 hours with a 2 page letter from a couple with 8 kids. A real sob story I guess.

I agree that it feels like something is going to happen. I'm taking on as much as I can handle and saving money also...just incase.

 

[Stacey K]

It's nice to have some help, doing everything by yourself is not easy. Maybe you could get a part timer to start and see how it goes? Before covid we had a guy that would come in for a few hours every morning. I'd have everything ready for him at the end of the day then he would finish it in the morning.

Yes, when school is done I have a high schooler coming in. I'm going to try it and see what happens. Even just cleaning up, an extra set of hands, doing a little bookwork will be a big help. From there I can decide if hiring a real part-time person would make sense. I had 2 girls I used to call for help here and there to sit in the shop and clean or handle customers when I went out on installs. One only works a part time job and said that's good enough for her, she doesn't want 2 jobs. The other one is on unemployment and said she's making enough money, she doesn't need anymore. Funny because they BOTH used to beg me for more hours!

 

[Adam Vreeke]

Yes, the housing in my town is insane. It is now standard to write a 2 page letter with an offer well over asking price. The owner then decides which buyer is worthy of their house. My friend just sold her moms house in 24 hours with a 2 page letter from a couple with 8 kids. A real sob story I guess.

I agree that it feels like something is going to happen. I'm taking on as much as I can handle and saving money also...just incase.

So much this. My wife who is a real estate agent just had some clients looking to buy a house, after getting outbid on 2 other houses they ended up going $20k over asking, waived all inspection conditions and wrote a letter to the owner expressing how they could see themselves raising their 2 little ones in the house / neighborhood. Absolutely ridiculous right now (makes good money for my wife on the commision end though ).

 

[Gino]

So, I take it..... it's a sellers' market ??

We're more busy at the moment, too. Called one of my part-timers in to help out due to the workload and he said he'll think about it. Good luck with that one..................

 

[GaSouthpaw]

That's a good problem to have.

We're near capacity. Waiting on our custom fotoba to automate trimming and cutting.

You will love that Fotoba. It cut that part of our finishing from a week (something like 50 full 54x150 rolls needing trimming) down to half a day.

 

[Pauly]

You will love that Fotoba. It cut that part of our finishing from a week (something like 50 full 54x150 rolls needing trimming) down to half a day.

Yeah we're hand cutting everything... We got the high speed version too. Just a waiting game now.

 

[Vinyl slayer]

So, I take it..... it's a sellers' market ??

We're more busy at the moment, too. Called one of my part-timers in to help out due to the workload and he said he'll think about it. Good luck with that one..................

300% a seller's market.
Right now the real estate Buyer has to Start over asking, prepare for a bidding war, and name your walk away price. Within about two days. No time to really think, ponder... It's incredibly stressful.

 

[rydods]

Busy here as well Stacey K. I think we're in the same state/region. I've never seen it like this really. Hiring some help, even part time, would help ease up on the stress. We're a 4 person shop and I was able to hire a couple of months ago and it's definitely helped me with all of the smaller tasks that I would normally need to do on the weekends or early morning/late night. Still, we could use more help. If I can find a way to implement it properly without having it add more stress I will. Maybe someone to manage and respond to all of the emails, calls, texts and social media just so they don't fall between the cracks. My advice would be, take the extra work if it's good. It could turn into a very great and long term customer. Also, if you're feeling the burnout, take a long weekend (3-4 days) off and enjoy it! There's no such thing as a week or two off for a small business owner. Lol! Good luck!

 

[ham1056]

Curious...any specific industry markets that are busier then others (ie: construction, small business, etc)? Our Covid work has dropped off & now mainly small businesses re-opening or freshening up signage

 

[Stacey K]

Curious...any specific industry markets that are busier then others (ie: construction, small business, etc)? Our Covid work has dropped off & now mainly small businesses re-opening or freshening up signage

Mostly small businesses here - electricians, roofing, landscapers, restaurants. The most surprising was the local roofer had a tanker sitting idle since 2011 and they need it lettered because they have to pick up their own tar (?) because the companies that they get it from can't find drivers.

 

[rjssigns]

We're in a phase of what I'll call Covid Catch Up. The shut down created the business surge we are seeing right now. I wonder what things will look like once the backlog is gone.
Note: When I say business I mean all of them. From global manufacturers, construction, to mom and pop operations etc...