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Up and coming young adult in the sign industry

Hey every one!, just like to say hello and that I'm excited to get to know you.
So here, you can get to know me.
I know how to use forums very well, running and moderating a couple.
I race, build and design RC boats and have a couple that run around 100MPH mark, all electric.
I am 21 years old. Work for a marina in Muskoka as a tech there, previously worked on a close friends pig farm for nearly 5 years, and worked for LEGO Canada as a event guy.
Being in the marine industry winter is down time! hence where the sign making comes in.
I bought my first cutter ( 32 inch) in 2007 when i was 17 and used it up until two months ago to cut as much as i could! It helped me buy my two beautiful Cadillacs, and my boat.
However as of last month i had purchased a SP 540 V printer.
I knew I enjoyed sign making alot and the graphic end of things, so I took it to the next step with this machine. I still have yet to come up with adequate pricing and margins to give my self enough profit, however my overhead is low as I am running in the basement.

Here is some history on my work.
4 FULL vehicle wraps, one which is my own( shown in picture)
7 window front full graphic displays for local stores
many helmet, bike and snowboard graphic packages.
6 snowmobile wraps( all custom not purchased online... which I only found out about last week!!)
And MANY other stickers and graphics for my RC boats, model cars etc.

So that's where i am right now, unemployed for the winter. However learning how to be self employed while teaching my self at the same time
Thanks!
Regards
Taylor Shaw
 

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Dave Drane

New Member
Welcome from Down-Under. I like your attitude to life. Good luck and congratulations in joining this great forum.
 

COOKY

New Member
Mate you obviously enjoy it and have a passion for it. I personally think that's the key so keep working with that and the profits will follow. Good luck mate
 

FatCat

New Member
I agree with Pat's comments above as your comment here concerns me...

I still have yet to come up with adequate pricing and margins to give my self enough profit, however my overhead is low as I am running in the basement.

I realize your overhead may be low, but you have to be aware of your local pricing AND charge a fair price. So I am hoping those wraps you did were close to what other sign shops would charge in your area and not like half price or something. Otherwise, you will quickly get labeled as "the cheap guy" and you will get all the business that goes with that label. But otherwise, nice introduction and best of luck to you.
 
Thanks So much every one!
my vehicle wraps were priced correctly i believe.
i had warped a Nissan Maxima which is a mid sized car, it wasn't a graphics wrap but simply to change color so it was solid 3M scotch print 1080.
my cost on materials ended up to be about 700 dollars once said and done., it was my second wrap so it took me roughly 8 hours to complete!, however it was pretty much spotless, only trouble i had was the front bumper which i had to re-do.
the final bill was 2100 dollars. which i found to be reasonable for the time it took to wrap, and using two people.
if it was a graphic wrap i would surly charge more, however it was a straight forward wrap with no tiling or anything.
 

ForgeInc

New Member
Welcome.

Don't forget to absorb as much as you can from the old timers. New technology will only get ya so far, got to have a feel for the design and finesse end of things. Try and find some old sign magazines, and do as much absorbing as you can of folks who do it the old-school way...by hand!
 

HulkSmash

New Member
Thanks So much every one!
my vehicle wraps were priced correctly i believe.
i had warped a Nissan Maxima which is a mid sized car, it wasn't a graphics wrap but simply to change color so it was solid 3M scotch print 1080.
my cost on materials ended up to be about 700 dollars once said and done., it was my second wrap so it took me roughly 8 hours to complete!, however it was pretty much spotless, only trouble i had was the front bumper which i had to re-do.
the final bill was 2100 dollars. which i found to be reasonable for the time it took to wrap, and using two people.
if it was a graphic wrap i would surly charge more, however it was a straight forward wrap with no tiling or anything.

i charge more for solid scotch print wraps.. than digital prints.. alot more
 
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