Mobile Sign Company Anyone?

[allamericantrade]

I had thought about the same idea at one time. This is what my thoughts ended at.

1. Dust / Dirt would kill the equipment

2. Heat /Cold / Moisture would destroy the material

3. Stock / Room would require a full color array of vinyle's and metallics

4. Printer? The maintanence would be insane. I could see knocking the heads out of alignment after going over a speed bump not to mention having to keep plugged in for the self maintanence the printer performs. At least won't have to worry about having a laminator.

5. Accidental The correct insurance is much higher no to mention a car accident stopping your business flat cold. Customers may have to go to another shop while your shop is in a shop having repairs done. May loose customers afterwards.

6. Availability, or lack of Ever notice there isn't an icecream man around when you want one? If I want some thing done I am not going to wait. I am too impatient.

7 Professional Appearance The amount of time one needs to spend on the road and in the back of a metallic box running equipment, generators, etc, It would be quite difficult to hold a high level of professional appearance.

Other than that,
Good Luck to you.

My mobil shop is a laptop with flexi. For an additional charge, I am willing to meet at location with my laptop, design what ever the sign may be, Bring the design back to the shop, do the work, drop off or install afterwards.

 

[VINYLIMAGEZ]

My mobil shop is a laptop with flexi. For an additional charge, I am willing to meet at location with my laptop, design what ever the sign may be, Bring the design back to the shop, do the work, drop off or install afterwards.

Too much time lost there, thats exacly what I am trying to avoid.

BTW, this mobile rig is not my primary shop, this will only be used when needed, I am just testing waters in a city were there is no service like this, I know my area.

 

[VINYLIMAGEZ]

My shop has been mobile for the 18 years I've been in business. I started with vinyl cutters & didn't get my Roland VP-300 until 2008. I'm currently in a 8.5'x24 trailer with a vending window.

My Honda EU2000 runs everything but the a/c. If I need to run my a/c, I use a 4000 watt generac. Most of the time I'm using a good power source wherever I'm doing the job at. I also make sure that my computers, cutter, VP-300 and anything else that could be sensitive is on large battery backups. I've never had a problem in 18 years.

During the summer months I work a fair & festival route. In the winter, I'm in the Tampa, FL area. Currently, I'm wrapping 4 food trailers in Pensacola, FL.

I decided to make my sign shop mobile because I enjoy traveling. That's been part of my biz model from day one. My customers love it that I can come to them & do the work on site. I've built a great reputation for doing quality work. I still have great customers that have been with me since my first year in business, so I must be doing something right.

If anyone has any questions on doing a mobile shop, please ask. I'll be happy to help if I can.

I'll post pictures of my mobile shop soon.

I would like to see pictures of your mobile rig, thanks

 

[TyrantDesigner]

I had thought about the same idea at one time. This is what my thoughts ended at.

1. Dust / Dirt would kill the equipment

2. Heat /Cold / Moisture would destroy the material

3. Stock / Room would require a full color array of vinyle's and metallics

4. Printer? The maintanence would be insane. I could see knocking the heads out of alignment after going over a speed bump not to mention having to keep plugged in for the self maintanence the printer performs. At least won't have to worry about having a laminator.

5. Accidental The correct insurance is much higher no to mention a car accident stopping your business flat cold. Customers may have to go to another shop while your shop is in a shop having repairs done. May loose customers afterwards.

6. Availability, or lack of Ever notice there isn't an icecream man around when you want one? If I want some thing done I am not going to wait. I am too impatient.

7 Professional Appearance The amount of time one needs to spend on the road and in the back of a metallic box running equipment, generators, etc, It would be quite difficult to hold a high level of professional appearance.

Other than that,
Good Luck to you.

My mobil shop is a laptop with flexi. For an additional charge, I am willing to meet at location with my laptop, design what ever the sign may be, Bring the design back to the shop, do the work, drop off or install afterwards.

Good points. My killing point would be the added operational costs from loss of materials and equipment due to quality control and the added cost of operating on site would be deathly on spec work due to gas costs. I have a small netbook with proper software loaded for on site designing for the customer as well as all my stuff in one messanger bag. ... I can sketch and design right there if need be, collect deposit and be back with work in hand ready to apply easier than a trailer. Most of the time, I just sketch there, collect art fee, send proofs of finished designs, once approved I can either get a deposit or get to work for on site installs ... did that for years.

 

[signdudegraphix]

I had thought about the same idea at one time. This is what my thoughts ended at.

1. Dust / Dirt would kill the equipment

2. Heat /Cold / Moisture would destroy the material

3. Stock / Room would require a full color array of vinyle's and metallics

4. Printer? The maintanence would be insane. I could see knocking the heads out of alignment after going over a speed bump not to mention having to keep plugged in for the self maintanence the printer performs. At least won't have to worry about having a laminator.

5. Accidental The correct insurance is much higher no to mention a car accident stopping your business flat cold. Customers may have to go to another shop while your shop is in a shop having repairs done. May loose customers afterwards.

6. Availability, or lack of Ever notice there isn't an icecream man around when you want one? If I want some thing done I am not going to wait. I am too impatient.

7 Professional Appearance The amount of time one needs to spend on the road and in the back of a metallic box running equipment, generators, etc, It would be quite difficult to hold a high level of professional appearance.

Other than that,
Good Luck to you.

My mobil shop is a laptop with flexi. For an additional charge, I am willing to meet at location with my laptop, design what ever the sign may be, Bring the design back to the shop, do the work, drop off or install afterwards.

1. I have dust covers on everything when not in use.

2. I've never had an issue with that ever.

3. I only carry around 18-20 different colors of vinyl. I've had bad luck with getting old metallic vinyl, from my suppliers, so I stopped carrying it.

4. Maintenance as usual. I use the bracket that locks my print heads in transit.

5. My insurance runs about $500 more a year & covers the contents of the trailer. It's called an inland/marine policy. I did get rear ended by a drunk driver once & totaled a trailer I had. His insurance covered it all & I was up & running again in no time.

6. My main customers are at the fairs & events I go to. They know when they will see me & plan accordingly. I have customers that love my work & will wait for me to come back the next year if I can't mail them what they want.

7. I always look professional wherever I go. The truck I use to tow the trailer has a full living quarters inside, complete with a queen sized bed, toilet, shower, fridge, freezer, microwave, stove & the kitchen sink.

Nothing is impossible if you want to do it bad enough.

I enjoy seeing the country & I get paid to do it.

 

[VINYLIMAGEZ]

^this site needs a "like" button

 

[signdudegraphix]

Here are some photos of my shop trailer. Trying to find some good ones of the inside.

My fair route consists of KY, OH, PA, WV, LA & FL.

Most of the time I'm doing window stickers & signs. I'm usually too busy to do wraps during a fair.

 

[J Hill Designs]

wow do you pay licenses for all of that copyrighted material?

 

[signdudegraphix]

Here's some photos of the inside of my shop as I was building it.

I'll take some better photos of what it currently looks like after I clean up the mess from doing this wrap job I'm working on.

 

[Pat Whatley]

I'm sure there's a peeing Calvin in there somewhere.

 

[Locals Find!]

wow do you pay licenses for all of that copyrighted material?

I was going to ask the same thing.

 

[VINYLIMAGEZ]

Here are some photos of my shop trailer. Trying to find some good ones of the inside.

My fair route consists of KY, OH, PA, WV, LA & FL.

Most of the time I'm doing window stickers & signs. I'm usually too busy to do wraps during a fair.

that's not the rout I'm taking my business:Oops:

 

[Gino]

Is that dog taking a tanning booth light-ray session ??

 

[signdudegraphix]

wow do you pay licenses for all of that copyrighted material?

Everything you see has been modified in some way from the originals.

This year I'm changing all of my displays to not have anything that's remotely copyrighted. As a rule, I never do anything involving disney, harley or sports teams.

I'm coming up with some new designs to freshen things up & not carry what everyone else does.

 

[signdudegraphix]

Is that dog taking a tanning booth light-ray session ??

No, he's in charge of customer relations. LOL

 

[J Hill Designs]

Everything you see has been modified in some way from the originals.

sure doesnt look like you modified VW, ford, dodge, CAT, and many others

 

[TyrantDesigner]

sure doesnt look like you modified VW, ford, dodge, CAT, and many others

I also don't consider taking the Chevy ribbon and putting it in a 3 set and calling that modified.

 

[txsurfer]

There is a guy in my area that is very succesful

http://www.mobilegraphicstx.com/

 

[VINYLIMAGEZ]

^ that's what I'm Talking about

 

[signdudegraphix]

that's not the rout I'm taking my business:Oops:

When I started out, I was just making signs for the vendors @ fairs & events. I used a car hauling trailer to work out of at that time. I just got bored & decided to do the sticker sales route. It turned out to be more profitable for me.

I still do signs & wraps only at certain events. I have one fair that I just sit in the camping area & just make signs for the vendors. They keep me busy that I wouldn't have the time to setup for the general public. I'm also the exclusive sign shop on the grounds for that fair.

I keep my shop versatile to fit any type of situation.