posted
Good points dan, & moreso coming from someone who so reently made so dramatic of a change of course in life.
I began 2005 with a conscious decision to wear the hat of businessman instead of signman for a greater percentage of my day then in previous years.
As a result I took on my first fulltime employee, made many other changes in the business & saw dramatic growth for the company.
quote:I found I had to look for other creative outlets and at work simply focus on the money, it simply was not worth it to me any longer...life is too short.
I hope to continue to see growing my business as a enough of a rewarding creative outlet that it takes some of the sting out of having to sacrifice some of my hands-on signmaking craft for the roles of "salesman, accounts receivable, and scheduler" that you mention.
One role I don't plan to delegate to the help is that of designer. In this way, I feel that my current job description is still an extension of the original passion that brought me in to this trade & as the businessman role continues to dominate more of my life, I will find creative satisfaction in guiding the hand of my employees in much the same was as I had previously been satisfied guiding the tools of my trade. This has been experienced this past year & was an important mental shift to afford me the chance of continued passion for the sign business, while also allowing & even persuing growth.
quote: Keep your goals in mind and review them often and don't be afraid to change them.
Thank you again for your insights Dan... because hearing words like yours over the past 10 years played a large role in keeping me from allowing growth sooner... & I hope hearing them now will help me keep my eyes open as I follow through with my decision.
posted
I just had a discussion with a old friend and business associate this morning and he really thinks that bigger is the way to go...he is in the sign biz as well (I started out with me and the sometimes help of my wife and at one point we had 32 employees!!!) what a nightmare, yes are dollars got larger but our margins got smaller, and if I've learned anything about the business end of the sign business or any business for that matter it is not the dollars that count it is how much of each one you retain after all is said and done.
I was SO young when I began my road of self employment and if I knew then what I know now I would have never gone down the same road...but it was a hell of a education that I wouldn't trade for anything, and I was lucky enough to be profitable at it as well, but in my case it simply was not worth it. I lost track of my true goals and thought that all that mattered was the $$$ (I guess that's youth and once you begin to achieve that you realize it really didn't do what you thought it would, don't get me wrong poverty sucks, but I don't believe you can be in business for the sole purpose of making a profit and be happy....I think I find happiness in having a balance of filling a necessary market need, doing something I enjoy, working with people I enjoy, generating a profit...for what it is worth.
I also think another area I went seriously wrong was my identity was my work I was Dan the Signman and I worked....I neglected my family, my self, and focused on my business, I think there needs to be a balance there and that you need to be careful not to define who you are by what you do to feed yourself.
My last business phylosophical point for the day lol is that I have met so many people that are incredible at their crafts, doctors, lawyers, artists, carpenters, but being a sucessful businessman/woman is a craft of it's own. I've met doctors whose practices are doing 5million annually and they are only making $60K themselves, I think as business owners we should use our monies to hire people that are better at tasks than we are (when I think often we do the reverse and hire people with skills less than ours for some odd psychological reason....at least that's what I did at first) and as artists maybe one of those skill sets we should hire out is someone better at the business end of things, I hate chasing money, scheduling and management yet that is what I found myself doing. I also think in some odd way the reason I hired people with skills less than mine was because in some odd way it makes me feel I was unreplaceable, when in reality I was not replaceable I owned the damn business lol but I've also been told many times that I am known for having "charity cases" as someone close to me calls them, where I hire some graffiti artist to teach him the skills to get him off the artistic crime path and into a trade, or a single mother with flexible hours to answer the phones, when often times we were helping them but not necessarily helping the business.
have a good day danio
Posts: 445 | From: Slidell, LA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Wanting to be creative is all about self satisfaction.
Trying to combine the two is a lesson in frustration.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Bob..combining the two WOULD be success AND would be Nirvana for all.
Unfortunately, there are very very few who seem to be able to accomplish that goal.
In my visits to Letterville I hear more of the "creative" folks complaining about not being able to pay the bills than I do the "business" folks complaining.
I truly wish that everyone who is "in business" would spend as much time learning about being in business as they do about "being creative".
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Try this Bruce. Get some pictures of those I put everything into it signs. Now do a knockout layout for the same projects. Print off the knock out and display the two side by side at your counter, in your portfolio or wherever the customer can see them. Have a price ready for the knockout. When they ask tell them the basic one is $500 and the upscale one is a $500 deposit for the design fee and another $500 to make it when they approve the proof.
A lot will go for the knockout but every so often someone will want the custom original look of the one you really want to make. Plus they will understand the financial reality of a top drawer job. You win by getting the ocassional job that will satisfy your creative urges.
Over the past 4 months we had a customer that did a 180 degree turn of the cheap vs unique meter. First he came to us and said how cheap can you put QUALITY HOUSE PAINT across the three windows of my recently expanded store. We did it in intermediate white vinyl and pocketed about $200. Two weeks later he realized it didn't have attention geting pull. He asked us if we could design a three frame cartoon that was approporiate for the house painting business. We said at least 10 manhours of creative time and the job will be about $400 per window. We had a ball coming up with the cartoon,finding and drawing appropriate artwork and working with him to improve our original concept. Cold weather has prevented us from completing the project but everyone, especially the client, can't wait to see the result. The final bill will be just shy of $2000! Plus we are going to add a outline to that QUALITY HOUSE PAINT job to make it pop more.
-------------------- Chuck Churchill, It's A Good Sign Inc. 3245 Harvester Rd, U-12 Burlington, Ont. Phone: 905-681-8775 Fax: 905-681-8945 Posts: 633 | From: Burlington, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I guess I'm pretty much the opposite...I loved doing sketchs by hand when I was young...but so many times my heart was broken when someone turned it down or I had to spend an extra day modifying it for some left brained jerk that didn't appreciate it anyway.
I have actually found that my layout skills have improved and certainly the time doing them has...so I get that same satisfaction I did with the pencil sketch layouts and I don't mind changing them now that it is just a click of the mouse away.
All this having been said...it is always about the money...that after all is what keeps you around to be creative.
Buck up friend and "enjoy everything you do...life shortens up everyday you live it".
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
posted
Dave, you said: "Being in business is all about the money. Wanting to be creative is all about self satisfaction.
Trying to combine the two is a lesson in frustration."
I'm not too sure I can agree with that from where I stand, and also, from personally meeting people who have been able to do both. Of course, it does'nt happen with every job that comes thru the door, but there IS the hope that this combination will be the case with every one . . . and when it does work out, it's unbelievabley satifying.
Actually, I always assume that a 'plain' job is simply something to do to make some money until something fun (ie:creative) comes in.
I would have left this business long ago if such creative opportunities, (which, btw, always generate a great income) very, very seldom existed . . .
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
oneshot on chat
"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
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and once you begin to achieve that you realize it really didn't do what you thought it would, don't get me wrong poverty sucks, but I don't believe you can be in business for the sole purpose of making a profit and be happy....I think I find happiness in having a balance of filling a necessary market need, doing something I enjoy, working with people I enjoy, generating a profit...for what it is worth.
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