Rant Hiring Installers

[gnubler]

For workers, I hear good things about kids, got any you'd drag along?

Is that Gino-approved? That's exactly what my insurance agent suggested NOT doing, for liability reasons. I've hired friends/neighbors to help me on some bigger jobs, but if something happened and they got hurt on the job, I'm SOL.

Boudica - I've done similar on bigger jobs that are just beyond the scope of my services (or within my wheelhouse, as you often put it). I usually refer people to Yesco because they can handle the entire job. I doubt another sign company would want to install signs I made when they could have just made it themselves...might conflict with their warranty terms.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Try to Google search and find a sign company that appears to just be an installer. Usually their address will be a residence and you can see if there are bucket trucks there. Talk to other small shops in your area and see if they are using an independent installer. That's who you'd want. I was an independent installer for most of the sign shops in my town... ones that were too small for a full-timer, and ones that were very large and had overflow work. I charged around $175-$225/hr and had more work than I could handle. I carried my own insurance. The sign companies I worked for couldn't mark up that cost much, but it allowed them to sell more signs and I got my full install rate. Sure I didn't make a double whammy of sign AND install, but I didn't mind because it's way less pressure knowing I'm just putting it up for someone else and if there is a problem, it wasn't MY problem.

If that doesn't work.. call a large sign company. They probably handle "receive and install" national accounts all the time. Don't complain about their price or expect to mark it up, just count it as a win because you will get to sell a sign you otherwise would not have... AND you keep the customer who might future order stuff that doesn't require install. I sub installs out all over the country... it's rare when I can markup their rate.

 

[JBurton]

Yesco

Have you reached out to Yesco for install purposes? They were selling franchises years ago to existing medium sized companies, and depending on how the owner bought in, some kept their shop for in house work. They'd be happy to hang a sign for you, they don't care about warranty because they won't offer one on your sign, and as long as it fits in their schedule, they could care less if they are hanging for you or the end customer.
It might not be the best price for the customer if their alternative was to go through yesco, but what they don't know won't hurt your bottom line.

 

[gnubler]

I may look into Yesco and see what they say. I see their trucks around here on occasion, doing bigger jobs with multiple buckets.

 

[Creative Sign Guy(s)]

Another issue I see is a lack of respect for installers. Whether that be design, project management, or the owners themselves. 98% of issues arise because of lack of planning and the installers are thrown into that situation having to show face for it. I'm not saying you do or will, but everyone knows shit rolls down hill. You cant expect an employee to care or work as hard the owner.. and they shouldn't.

Having to work long hours because of bad planning or wrong measurements only to have the same thing happen the next day and then the next is enough to make people move on nowadays. I'm 30 years old, and if I didn't understand the importance of this skill I would have tossed 2 middle fingers up 4 years ago and went into coding.

Now I'm on my own, making my own hours

This.
I manage a pretty large sign department and the only employee who has stuck around more than 6 months is a guy who almost never does installs(he assists me on more difficult jobs), so he doesn't have to deal with all the headaches. He has been here close to a decade now. Everyone else leaves because front of house/design/clients screw up constantly and then the owners blame the installers. They do not have the seniority/courage to talk back to an owner like I can and do. I reassure them that it is not their fault and tell the owners to let me discipline my staff, but they like to get involved way too much and cannot help themselves. Every installer gets fed up and quits quite quickly. I can't say I blame them. When I started working here(started at the bottom) I almost quit on several occasions, but I am not a quitter and was determined to learn a new job skill.
Now I have to do everything myself, which sucks. I miss having an experienced wrapper to delegate installs to or have assist me. Even as an assistant on an install having knowledge/experience goes a very long way. They know what I need from them and I do not have to tell them every little thing. They also can spot problems I may have overlooked.

I sure hope I can find someone who will stick around. I have the knees of a 90 year old man and some installs are truly excruciating for me. Unfortunately, until the aforementioned problems are resolved I doubt anyone will be willing to stay. I have mitigated the problems by taking control and being involved with as much as I possibly can. I refuse to even print anything now unless I personally took the measurements.

I do love signage, though. I should look into starting my own shop.

 

[wrapwrap]

Most of them are slinging it on Youtube/TT, not interested in getting their hands dirty.

Most of them don’t make money like this - but anyone over 30 thinks this is the case. Now I’m in total agreement that social media is contributing to negativity affecting our lives, but it seems like anyone that isn’t included in the 18-30 age group all they have to say about the younger generations is “they don’t wanna work anymore” “they’re on YouTube and TT making money”. The amount of competition on these apps makes it pretty difficult. It’s a lot easier as a business owner to just say “yeah they just don’t wanna work anymore” versus “I’m not being very adaptable to what the situation is”. The truth is that yes a lot of them are not working, and that’s it - they aren’t making money elsewhere, they just aren’t working. Living with their parents, the numbers on how many young adults are living at home is staggering. The amount of young people in “Limbo” right now is extremely high. (Don’t know why and don’t know the solution) I’m not trying to defend but I get a little tired of people just making excuses while plenty of companies are adapting just fine.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Most of them don’t make money like this - but anyone over 30 thinks this is the case. Now I’m in total agreement that social media is contributing to negativity affecting our lives, but it seems like anyone that isn’t included in the 18-30 age group all they have to say about the younger generations is “they don’t wanna work anymore” “they’re on YouTube and TT making money”. The amount of competition on these apps makes it pretty difficult. It’s a lot easier as a business owner to just say “yeah they just don’t wanna work anymore” versus “I’m not being very adaptable to what the situation is”. The truth is that yes a lot of them are not working, and that’s it - they aren’t making money elsewhere, they just aren’t working. Living with their parents, the numbers on how many young adults are living at home is staggering. The amount of young people in “Limbo” right now is extremely high. (Don’t know why and don’t know the solution) I’m not trying to defend but I get a little tired of people just making excuses while plenty of companies are adapting just fine.

It has always been like this. Eventually, the millennials will be the ones complaining that the younger generation is lazy.

 

[MGB_LE]

We are a smallish digital print shop (~43 FTE), and wide format is only part of our business. We use a nationwide installer (Advantage Innovations) to handle our installs. We print and ship to the site, then send the PO and any special instructions to Advantage, and they manage the installs to completion and provide before/after photos. We've done nearly 100 installs with them, going back to 2023. It hasn't been painless, but we haven't added headcount, and they've been able to install them everywhere we need them except in Mexico.