joe
06-30-2013, 09:33 AM
Making a business pay.
Everyone who opens a sign shop ends up asking themselves, what can I do to make my business more profitable. For all of us that's a difficult question because we're so close to the subject. Self evaluation is always difficult. In general terms it can be broken down something like this.
Advertising
Product
Profit
Skills Sets
All four of these are heavy weight subjects and deserve a book. But lets skim over them just the same and see if there's something that might help.
Advertising:
More and more we see the necessity for a good website. The yellow pages aren't as powerful as once before. I'm a hawk on this topic. Here are my guidelines. Don't get carried away with lots of flash stuff and tricky expensive techno junk. What the customer wants to see is what you have to offer. A clean neat website isn't expensive and probably one of the best advertising methods. A good set of business cards are a must. Ten to twenty dollars will cover that. I also have a hand out page with nothing but pictures of my sign. I leave one of these behind at every sign contact.
Product:
All of us need to evaluate what we're offering and look for new exciting area's in which to grow. Also it's necessary to make sure each of your offerings brings in the kind of profit it should. Sometimes we get into a trap of not keeping the profit margins in line. To make sure, keep an eye on the “big guys” in the business. Most often they get it right. We have to think outside the box and look to the future.
Profit:
When looking over what you are selling, it's important to make sure there is good profit in each product, no matter how small. Another technique I've learned for other service businesses like plumbers and air conditioning guys. They itemize everything they do on their invoice. Every nut bolt and screw is charged out. Man that adds up so you should keep close watch when invoicing details. Don't let them slip by. The big picture is, we work twenty days a month. It's quiet easy to divide your income by that number of days to get a rough idea what your daily charge should be. That is after you have reduced out the operating expenses.
Skill Sets:
The most expensive part of running a business is labor. That translates to getting the work out in an efficient way. You can't cut corners with quality and get top dollars for your effort. For that reason I'm a firm believer in getting assistance. That can come from attending weekend workshops, purchasing training materials, or visiting other shops. Those casual visits are very important because they help set your perspective on how you're doing. See if you can establish a good working relationship with other fellow in the trade. With them you can swap information and get valuable tips. I, myself have dozens of these guys to call on. I'm also very keen on joining up with On-Line Forums. However you should be careful about forums in that you'll often get bad advice. You will often see posts that are way off the mark. It's not all that unusual. Be careful and follow the pro's for good help.
Joe Crumley
Everyone who opens a sign shop ends up asking themselves, what can I do to make my business more profitable. For all of us that's a difficult question because we're so close to the subject. Self evaluation is always difficult. In general terms it can be broken down something like this.
Advertising
Product
Profit
Skills Sets
All four of these are heavy weight subjects and deserve a book. But lets skim over them just the same and see if there's something that might help.
Advertising:
More and more we see the necessity for a good website. The yellow pages aren't as powerful as once before. I'm a hawk on this topic. Here are my guidelines. Don't get carried away with lots of flash stuff and tricky expensive techno junk. What the customer wants to see is what you have to offer. A clean neat website isn't expensive and probably one of the best advertising methods. A good set of business cards are a must. Ten to twenty dollars will cover that. I also have a hand out page with nothing but pictures of my sign. I leave one of these behind at every sign contact.
Product:
All of us need to evaluate what we're offering and look for new exciting area's in which to grow. Also it's necessary to make sure each of your offerings brings in the kind of profit it should. Sometimes we get into a trap of not keeping the profit margins in line. To make sure, keep an eye on the “big guys” in the business. Most often they get it right. We have to think outside the box and look to the future.
Profit:
When looking over what you are selling, it's important to make sure there is good profit in each product, no matter how small. Another technique I've learned for other service businesses like plumbers and air conditioning guys. They itemize everything they do on their invoice. Every nut bolt and screw is charged out. Man that adds up so you should keep close watch when invoicing details. Don't let them slip by. The big picture is, we work twenty days a month. It's quiet easy to divide your income by that number of days to get a rough idea what your daily charge should be. That is after you have reduced out the operating expenses.
Skill Sets:
The most expensive part of running a business is labor. That translates to getting the work out in an efficient way. You can't cut corners with quality and get top dollars for your effort. For that reason I'm a firm believer in getting assistance. That can come from attending weekend workshops, purchasing training materials, or visiting other shops. Those casual visits are very important because they help set your perspective on how you're doing. See if you can establish a good working relationship with other fellow in the trade. With them you can swap information and get valuable tips. I, myself have dozens of these guys to call on. I'm also very keen on joining up with On-Line Forums. However you should be careful about forums in that you'll often get bad advice. You will often see posts that are way off the mark. It's not all that unusual. Be careful and follow the pro's for good help.
Joe Crumley