Too many sign shops!!

[redbarn]

exactly! my biggest clients are to trade, they just run different equipment and we have different products to offer.

 

[HulkSmash]

sigh, i miss addy.

 

[Xcesiv]

its not just in signage.

I have a customer who has basically made a business from nothing.

He promotes the crap out of his business and is very interactive in the social scene of cars

most of there clients know i do his vinyl decals for him and i designed his company logo.

I have 4 groups of people all asking me to help set them up.

They are all running
The same products/services.
same business model
same customer base
same demographic

really just a different name.

it amazes me how many people think there is just that much easy cash

PS - They all say they do, or going to promote that they do vehicle graphics and wraps.
no training, no experience, just the theory of "its vinyl, how hard can it be"

 

[Jillbeans]

Since this topic started way back when the "discount" shop has closed. There are now two new "sign" shops in town (besides the hacks, one of whom is a member here and one who was banned from here for admitting to using pirated software)

One is a carny router user and a calvin-peeing sticker type, website full of garbage and spelling errors, the other has a screenprinting shop with a totally illegible sign (I have a photo of it but I won't post it) that looks like someone puked on lexan.

The place down the street which customizes Hummers for the military now does signs (I lost an account I've had for 15 years to them) and also vehicle lettering, their designs are mediocre at best.

I think I now have 25 shops within 10 miles of me. Only 3 or 4 are reputable/established. I had to get a part-time job 18 months ago because I just cannot compete with almost free signs. Even if they look like sh!t, people only care about price here.

I've been gradually creating a new niche to adapt to changing times. I am doing a good bit of wholesale designs to other shops (love doing this) I am doing more painted jobs too. I am going to start selling stuff online to crafty type/vintage looking sign lovers. I have been pretty busy since last June, and it's really hard trying to do signs as well as a "real" job.

I have been asked to host a Walldog meet in Butler in 2016. I had sworn off of meets years ago, but the main reason I decided to accept the offer from the historical society is that I do not want some vynull jockey running the thing. The other reason is that no matter what woes have befallen me or my business, I still fukking LOVE signs and I care about how they look.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I wonder if the fine expensive restaurants care if a Burger King opens up across the street from them.Sharpen your skills and rise above the cricket owners and you will always have work.Position yourself in the market so you say to a customer with confidence"I'm not the cheapest I'm the best"If you are good the new hacks will only make you look better.

 

[Jim Doggett]

I am not exaggerating but i just realized that in my small town and specifically in 1 mile radius there are 11 sign shops that i know of!! 6 of them are just a few blocks away from my shop, they opened one after the other over the last 1-2 years. It is either they are not too smart or simply the sign business has become the easiest trade in the world all of a sudden!
No wonder we are busy lately

Yeah; that. If you have a laptop and a design program you bought or pirated (Corel/Adobe) and lost your job or cannot find one, a single Unemployment Check can get you into the "business" for about $3 to $5 hundred bux. An espresso machine, even at the low end, is north of $2 grand, and a latte sells for $3 or so bux. Meanwhile a single sign project can be $80 at the low end, or even pay for the $300 cutter and some app supplies, in one fell swoop. So with few jobs out there for workers, they have to make themselves a job, and indeed, this industry has a super low cost of entry.

Something else, that is both encroaching, but also a huge opportunity in the reverse is: Apparel Graphics, T Shirt Bling (rheinstones), which by the way, is an industry about twice the size of sign-making. And all those folks being sold stuff to do T Shirts are told that the cutter that comes with the package can make window decals, signs and banners, too, adding to the competition for a very slowly growing market, currently.

So I'd strongly advise considering that in the inverse: If you're doing signs, you can also do apparel, by adding a cheap heat-press, plus some rheinstones/rheinstone pattern & transfer material, Stahls and other flock and T shirt marking. It's a huge market, so it could easily grow to surpass your dollar volume doing signs.

Just my opinion.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Yeah; that. If you have a laptop and a design program you bought or pirated (Corel/Adobe) and lost your job or cannot find one, a single Unemployment Check can get you into the "business" for about $3 to $5 hundred bux. An espresso machine, even at the low end, is north of $2 grand, and a latte sells for $3 or so bux. Meanwhile a single sign project can be $80 at the low end, or even pay for the $300 cutter and some app supplies, in one fell swoop. So with few jobs out there for workers, they have to make themselves a job, and indeed, this industry has a super low cost of entry.

Something else, that is both encroaching, but also a hug opportunity in reverse is: Apparel Graphics, T Shirt Bling (rheinstones), which by the way, is an industry about twice the size of sign-making. And all those folks being sold stuff to do T Shirts are told that the cutter that comes with the package can make window decals, signs and banners, too, adding to the competition for a very slowly growing market, currently.

So I'd strongly advise considering that in the inverse: If you're doing signs, you can also do apparel, by adding a cheap heat-press, plus some rheinstones/rheinstone pattern & transfer material, Stahls and other flock and T shirt marking. It's a huge market, so it could easily grow to surpass your dollar volume doing signs.

Just my opinion.

And that's precisely why the apparel bling that I do is sequins. Not many people are going to be able to do embroidery/sequins (unless they use the hot fix type, which just makes my stuff look better).