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How many of you could leave your shop behind for at least a month and not have any issues?

Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
WhatsYourSign? said:
You need to find something more important than money to measure the value of a person and a life by.
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Is this your attempt to gaslight me? It matches your personality. I already told you I don't care about money and clearly recall you saying that you won't take advice from some 20 year industry vet that's still out working. Anyone with half a brain can read that and discern what you meant. You'd have better luck spinning this back around if it wasn't in writing, dingleberry.
I get it though, you made it. You had 1 big sale, took 4 weeks off after 5 years and now you're above everyone else because you took a vacation. Congratulations, I really envy you. I'm so jealous that I won't even be able to sleep tonight.

BTW, how did your kids and teacher wife have a 3 week spring break but now all of the sudden they're due back to school?

You're a strange bird man, 3 days at ISA when it takes half a day to get through it all, Disney by yourself and now some weird mind retreat? Have fun, I'd rather be at work.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Texas_Signmaker said:
Well, I will attest to this. Whatsyoursign does run a decent sign shop. Come to find out I've used them for install and fab before and all went well... so he does have a decent team running the company. So at least we know he's a real guy running a functioning professional sign shop
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More than I can say
 
D

damonCA21

New Member
Running at 14% Net and 80% of revenue comes from less than 15% of sales ? With that slim a margin it would take very little to be making a loss with your VERY high fixed costs and all that outsourcing. I really hope that never happens, but I would have thought your $500 an hour business gurus would have explained about minimising costs to maximise profits for the future safety of the business.
 
M

MrDav3C

New Member
So I've finally found the time to read this whole thread.... Sorry but I genuinely believe this is a complete load of BS.

I guess the OP was sadly very bitter about this a number of years ago to revive this thread, blast on about figures & show alleged screenshots of accounting software to support this (anyone can edit an image these days!)

The whole thing just seems extremely unrealistic to me, I've grew up in the sign industry, have over 20 years experience, worked for various sign companies, big and small, franchises and independent and now own my own business and also work with and know other sign making businesses very well . Never once have I seen or even heard of a business owner in this industry that doesn't know their business, that can't get involved in almost every aspect of it if and when required to.

I may be wrong but the number of staff seemed to change from "a stable full of designers" to a total of 11 full time employees who are paid extremely well. I haven't even bothered to attempt to do the math as there are too many unknown variables for me to do it accurately but I doesn't take a genius to see that something seems massively off with these figures when you even loosely think about expenditure, revenue and profit.

Would love to know the name of this so called business that apparently functions so well with an owner that doesn't know enough about the industry to even make a simple sign on his own!
 
V

Vassago

New Member
I agree with the OP. They are business owners.. Doesnt mean the actually run the business themselves.

That said.

The ONLY way to make it work is to have someone with experience who can price.. Who can run the shop, etc.

But there comes the problem.

If they are doing that.. THEY have a sign company.. If THEY choose they can setup directly as a competitor. With ALL your staff and customers.

Running a company is different to owning a company. Best to have a FEW people you trust, who are good, but not so good they can take it all away from you.

Pay good money.. Offer good perks.

Dont offer the lowest prices, etc.

Build a good RELIABLE team who are there for you.. (Which means you must be there for them) otherwise you end up with people who will slack, jump ship at the worst possible moment, etc, etc, etc.

Build the best company you can by building the best team you can.

THEN get the team to help you.. Even have input into what you do as It makes them feel a part of it, so are less likely to jump ship or become a competitor.


Then.. You can leave the company tick over as it works..


A year is probably too soon to be thinking about leaving it to its own devices. Build the team first.. Including someone who runs the show.
 
Signarama Jockey

Signarama Jockey

New Member
He's more successful than most of you - that is why you are acting like high school bullies.

Rather than learn something that can improve your situation, you'd rather transform your envy into anger and focus it on those who have accomplished more than you.

With your attitudes, I am not surprised so many of you are small potatoes.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Signarama Jockey said:
He's more successful than most of you - that is why you are acting like high school bullies.

Rather than learn something that can improve your situation, you'd rather transform your envy into anger and focus it on those who have accomplished more than you.

With your attitudes, I am not surprised so many of you are small potatoes.
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And how, pray tell, do you know this ?? Is this based upon fact, or what you read ??
 
M

mbasch

New Member
I think you bring up a good point/goal for discussion and I think you are on the right path. It is my dream too! :) Most small of us business owners think too small. Too many of us work in our business and not on our business. I think the goal of any business owner is to create an organization that can run on its own whether I go away for a month or die, i want the business to function without me. Customers should love doing business with your company, not just doing business with just you. A business that has a great organization that can run into perpetuity should be the goal. I have spent 20 years trying to figure it out and haven't succeeded but mostly due to capital/income constraints and fear of stepping away. I am facing these thoughts as I get closer to retirement. Do I sell, do a merger or hire someone to run it? If we sell, and we are lucky, we'll get 2-3x cash to owner. If you and the relationship you have with your customers is the business, it is worthless to a new buyer. If you find someone who can manage and grow the business, you could get a paycheck indefinitely and still have an asset that is hopefully growing. I am considering taking on an equity partner to groom to take over or merging with someone who has younger leadership and a complimentary business. If I hire someone, I'd look for a "buy in" and give equity and profit sharing to make sure they are incentivized to stick around. I could use the buy in or the cost savings of combining businesses to off set the salary cost and not break the bank for a salary. Merging would bring in more business and more customers which would offset the extra cost of hiring someone. Either way, I feel like if you expect to have someone to act in the best interest of the owner, they need equity and a share of the profits. Look at large companies. The C suite has huge amounts of stock and large incentives to grow the company.

If you want to have multiple locations for sales or customer convenience, open up smaller centers for on boarding of customer and jobs and centralize production to one facility. For example, each location may have a roll printer and vinyl cutter for quick turn or simple products, but the main facility has flatbed, routers/cutters and generally equipment for higher volume or high skilled products. This maximizes your exposure to potential customers, reduces overall space cost, consolidates inventory and increases efficiency through economies of scale.

I remember when I got into this, I was told to run your business like you want to franchise it. Have great systems and processes that could easily be replicated or handed over on your exit. This is what helps a business function independently of ANY individual.
 
S

Stewski99

New Member
Sounds like a bunch of disgruntled parents talking to their teenager -
The sign business is a creative path for many and just a business for some.
This gentleman wants to own a business as an investor and named owner - reality is a hard master and in this business which relies on teamwork and planning & the reality is you are either really involved day to day or you’re an absentee owner/investor which is a choice.

We’re a 24 year old family company so it’s easy to step away can’t imagine trusting anyone else.

Good luck with growing your business but if you’re able to make it a family business it might be easier. . . Just sayen’
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Signarama Jockey said:
He's more successful than most of you - that is why you are acting like high school bullies.

Rather than learn something that can improve your situation, you'd rather transform your envy into anger and focus it on those who have accomplished more than you.

With your attitudes, I am not surprised so many of you are small potatoes.
Click to expand...
You're taking a lot of things at face value with all of these assumptions about others here. Try to focus on the message everyone is giving and not the delivery of it. There's a lot of truth spoken in this thread that you are ignoring because you want to live the same fantasy as this guy.
You are also removing the context of the original post and replacing it with different scenarios to argue a general point all while ignoring the specific situation.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Stewski99 said:
Sounds like a bunch of disgruntled parents talking to their teenager -
The sign business is a creative path for many and just a business for some.
This gentleman wants to own a business as an investor and named owner - reality is a hard master and in this business which relies on teamwork and planning & the reality is you are either really involved day to day or you’re an absentee owner/investor which is a choice.

We’re a 24 year old family company so it’s easy to step away can’t imagine trusting anyone else.

Good luck with growing your business but if you’re able to make it a family business it might be easier. . . Just sayen’
Click to expand...
Family. Fully vested interest in the business from people that aren't going to run off.
I don't signjockey gets this dynamic.
 
Notarealsignguy

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
mbasch said:
I think you bring up a good point/goal for discussion and I think you are on the right path. It is my dream too! :) Most small of us business owners think too small. Too many of us work in our business and not on our business. I think the goal of any business owner is to create an organization that can run on its own whether I go away for a month or die, i want the business to function without me. Customers should love doing business with your company, not just doing business with just you. A business that has a great organization that can run into perpetuity should be the goal. I have spent 20 years trying to figure it out and haven't succeeded but mostly due to capital/income constraints and fear of stepping away. I am facing these thoughts as I get closer to retirement. Do I sell, do a merger or hire someone to run it? If we sell, and we are lucky, we'll get 2-3x cash to owner. If you and the relationship you have with your customers is the business, it is worthless to a new buyer. If you find someone who can manage and grow the business, you could get a paycheck indefinitely and still have an asset that is hopefully growing. I am considering taking on an equity partner to groom to take over or merging with someone who has younger leadership and a complimentary business. If I hire someone, I'd look for a "buy in" and give equity and profit sharing to make sure they are incentivized to stick around. I could use the buy in or the cost savings of combining businesses to off set the salary cost and not break the bank for a salary. Merging would bring in more business and more customers which would offset the extra cost of hiring someone. Either way, I feel like if you expect to have someone to act in the best interest of the owner, they need equity and a share of the profits. Look at large companies. The C suite has huge amounts of stock and large incentives to grow the company.

If you want to have multiple locations for sales or customer convenience, open up smaller centers for on boarding of customer and jobs and centralize production to one facility. For example, each location may have a roll printer and vinyl cutter for quick turn or simple products, but the main facility has flatbed, routers/cutters and generally equipment for higher volume or high skilled products. This maximizes your exposure to potential customers, reduces overall space cost, consolidates inventory and increases efficiency through economies of scale.

I remember when I got into this, I was told to run your business like you want to franchise it. Have great systems and processes that could easily be replicated or handed over on your exit. This is what helps a business function independently of ANY individual.
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So to sum up what you said, easier said then done?
I think it's fair to say that most everyone has this goal, to hustle, build and back away. Something in the business ALWAYS suffers with an absentee owner and people here have either tried and experienced it first hand or have watched other businesses go down the tubes when the owner is out globetrotting.
There are businesses more suited for absentee ownership,they generally require little day to day operational skill, like a car wash or self storage facility. With that being said, if you look into the industry forums of either, which are a top choice for an absentee owner and highly sought after, they also are tied to their place or it goes to shit. Most small carwash owners are there everyday, equipment breaks, people destroy the facility, money needs collected, supplies ordered,reclaimers serviced, pits pumped. When you see them for sale, they don't talk about any of that.
 
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