The Top 10 Keys To Succeeding In The Sign Business

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Succeeding in the sign business, as in any business, is no easy task.  There are a lot of different factors that help some succeed more than others.  Over the past 26 years, we have worked hard to learn from mistakes and refine our program to help mitigate some of the potential pitfalls that new owners face in their first few years of business.

 

Here are the Top 10 things you can do to increase your chances of success:

  • People are your greatest resource… Always treat them as you would the “King” or “Queen”. – Without them your business is nothing.  By treating your staff well you set a precedent within your company of how the customer should be treated.
  • Recruit and retain the best people to work for you. – Longevity of staff is very important to a small business.  Sometimes paying an extra $1 or $2 per hour for a qualified staff member can result in increased production from a smaller staff which reduces your total employment overhead.
  • Don’t be afraid to provide additional training opportunities for your staff. – Even if it comes at a cost to do so.  It raises an argument, “If I provide additional training, it cost me money and the staff member might then ask for a pay raise or leave for more money because of their new skill set…”.  This is a true statement, but can you afford not to continually train your staff and allow for them to get better?…  Ultimately, the only way for your company to improve is to continually educate yourself and your staff.  The returns of paying for additional training far outweigh the risks.
  • Don’t be afraid to take on work you haven’t done before… – How else are you going to learn?  All too often we hear that sign companies that focus on large-format printing are afraid to take on vehicle wraps (because they don’t have a qualified installer) or electrical signs (because they don’t understand them).  This is a great opportunity to take advantage of the chance to provide additional training for your staff (see this referenced above).  Taking on a new project is a great way to break into new niches of signage and expand your companies offerings.  You want to be careful not to take on too big of a project that you haven’t done before.  Do your due diligence and work with another Signworld owner who has completed a similar project before.  They will be able to help you see the potential pitfalls for your particular scenario.

The Top 10 Keys To Succeeding In The Sign Business – Continued

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Here are next five keys to succeeding in the sign business.

Determine what you do best as a company and market the heck out of it! – If your company is really good at vehicle wraps, make sure that is the highlight of your marketing efforts.  Utilize what you are good at to draw in potential customers for other types of signs.

    Have a diversified sign product portfolio – As much as you can single out a niche and master that particular product line, it is always good to have a diversified product portfolio behind your specialty to be able to offer a complete sign package for your customer.  A diversified product portfolio will also help alleviate seasonality with certain products and allow you to continually grow your revenue streams.

    Have a great stable of distributors, vendors and wholesale manufacturers – You’ll find that a portion of your sales will be from projects that you don’t have the ability to produce in-house due to the lack of ability, know-how or equipment.  Outsourcing certain projects allow you the ability to control employee costs and overhead as well as minimizes space requirements.  For the majority of projects that you do have and are done in-house, having a strong cast of product distributors help you control your cost of goods and more importantly offer you a reliable source that has product on hand to deliver you what you need within 24 hours allowing you to keep your inventory levels quite low.

    Go after company certifications or licenses – Having a specialty license or certification can mean great things for your company.  In the case of a license it may be a contractor’s or electrical contractor’s license.  Being licensed allows you to complete any necessary installations without needing to utilize a subcontractor.  This would allow you to build a new revenue stream within your business.  In the case of certification, you could be certified by vinyl manufacturers which can be a great opportunity to showcase your skills as they will help market your services through their company website.  Other certifications could be woman-owned or minority-owned business certifications that can bring larger projects from large companies looking for a tax break by using a woman/minority owned business, or from government entities that funnel a percentage of their projects through certified businesses.

    Become a property owner – At some point, each Signworld owner should look into purchasing their own production facility.  With our focus on locations in business parks and light industrial centers, affordability of buying a building is within reach.  In most cases when buying a building, the monthly mortgage on the building is equal to or less than what you would be paying in rent for the same facility.  The extended benefit of buying your own building is the long-term equity play of being either a landlord should you decide to sell your company and retire, or sell it with the business to increase the sales price and return of the company.

There are many more items we could add to the list and I’m sure we’ll have a number of follow up articles on this topic.  If you are interested in learning more about Signworld and how you can become a successful sign company owner, please feel free to contact us for more information.

 And remember to like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more information like this.

How the sign industry has changed over the last 15 years: Signworld’s Role

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The sign industry is constantly changing and growing.  Not only in the overall production and revenue generated by the purchase of signage, but also in the capabilities that sign companies are able to provide to their customers.  Signs continue to change regularly in both quality and style.

 

Looking back over the past 15 years, there has been a ton of change to the sign industry.  15 years ago, when you needed more than one color on a sign it was either painted or required the application of multiple layers of adhesive-backed vinyl.  This style of signage typically looked fairly basic as the overall design of graphics was limited by the capabilities of sign companies to produce the desired product.

Roughly 10 years ago, the introduction of digital printing expanded the capabilities of sign companies and allowed for more detail to be presented within the graphics and signs.  This created a new breed of sign companies that weren’t only sign manufacturers, but also graphic designers.

As we fast forward to today, digital printing is now the primary platform in which most signage is generated.  The changes that have occurred in the most recent years is not necessarily the technology or way in which we make signage but more in where we place signage based on vinyl manufacturers ability to improve their products to allow for more capabilities. 

Today, we are able to place graphics and signs on vehicles, floors, walls, ceiling tiles, windows, curved surfaces, and on, and on, and on the list could go.

The industry is constantly changing which makes it exciting, fun and always engaging.  In order to stay in front of your competition and provide leading edge signage, you need to remain educated on the changes in both the manufacturing and marketing side of the industry.  One of the beauties of the Signworld business model is that Signworld is constantly in R&D mode in order to keep up with the changes in the industry.  More importantly, Signworld works hard to ensure that each of the independent Signworld owners is presented with these changes in the industry so that they can not only remain competitive, but also lead the way in their respective markets with any new trends or marketing opportunities that might help them increase their foothold and customer base.

4 Areas Where The Sign Industry Continues to Change

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A few members from Signworld corporate staff recently attended the SGIA show that took place in Orlando, FL.  The focus and goal for attending the show was to learn more about what is currently going on in the industry but more importantly find out what is on the horizon as far as changes in technology and signage are concerned.

 Here are a few of our observations:

 Equipment –

Flat-bed printing is becoming much more efficient, quality is much better than in years past, and, more importantly, the cost of entry with one of the many viable presses available is becoming much more feasible for the average sign company.  Press manufacturers like HP, CET Color, Roland and others are leading the way in making flat-bed printing an attainable option for more and more sign companies around the world. On the traditional wide-format digital printer front, manufacturers continue to up the ante with the introduction of additional ink sets and configurations to allow for much more efficient printing as well as the ability and option to print with white inks or metallic inks.

 Textiles –

Textiles are being produced and marketed much more for the sign industry however the manufacturers are not providing the necessary education to help would-be users choose the right material for any specific application which is resulting in a lot of confusion and thus the use of more traditional sign materials.  Textiles provide a great opportunity to provide different sign options for customers than what is being marketed by most sign companies however most sign companies don’t have the time or resources to do the necessary due diligence to research the materials available to them.  Paul Wagner, Signworld’s VP of Technology, has spent a great deal of time learning more about the textile options available as well as specific applications in order to provide Signworld owners with the necessary information to be a major player in the textile sign space.

 Technology advances –

Dynamic digital signage is still in its infancy but continues to grow its place in the sign market.  The biggest problems with DDS, also known as EDS or Electronic Digital Signage, is the cost of entry and the education being provided.  On the cost front, as much as the cost of electronics continues to go down, it is a very low margin product which doesn’t allow for much room to make a profit on the components.  In regards to education, not many DDS providers have taken the time to provide the right educational opportunities to their resale partners to help them sell the product.  The lack of education on the ROI of the product, areas of scalability with the product and most importantly help with identifying the right opportunities to present the product really hinder the growth.  The great thing is that the providers and manufacturers are getting better at the educational side and Signworld has partnered with some great companies like N. Glantz & Son and DSA Phototech to provide the product and education on a wholesale bases.

 The reality is that DDS or EDS will never take over as the primary medium for sign displays as static signage will still continue to be the biggest signage purchase for most customers.

Sign Opportunities-

Sign opportunities continue to grow with the imagination of either the customer or the sign provider.  Windows, walls and floors have become hot marketing spaces because the materials available have allowed for better adhesion to these surfaces regardless of the finish.  Interior designers and architects have begun to utilize the services of sign companies to produce custom designed wallpapers and window graphics to help complete a theme or design of a room.  Vehicle wraps continue to be a hot item for both big and small business marketing, but has also caught the eye of those in the car modification world.  Digital printing allows for more intricate designs to be implemented where traditional painting practices fall short.

 Signworld works hard to stay ahead of the trends as they continue to unfold in order to assist each Signworld owner take advantage of new opportunities within their respective markets and be trend setters rather than trend followers.  Contact Us now to learn more about how you can become a Signworld owner and leverage the power of the Signworld Training & Support to build your very own successful sign manufacturing company.

Team Red, White and Blue Charity Golf Tournament – Hosted by Signworld

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Signworld is set to host it’s 2014 Charity Golf Tournament benefiting Team Red, White and Blue. The tournament will be hosted on March 27th, 2014 at the Arroyo Golf Club in Las Vegas. This is a private tournament and players in the tournament are comprised of Signworld’s corporate staff, Signworld owners and staff, as well as Signworld core of Preferred Partners.

“This is a great event that we hold each year in conjunction with our annual convention. It’s an opportunity to get out on the golf course, have some fun, do some networking, and most importantly, raise some money and awareness for a great cause. In this case, our beneficiary is our 2014 Special Missions Partner, Team Red, White and Blue. We believe strongly in what they are doing with veterans in their respective communities and we hope that our efforts help make an impact. We are extremely delighted that our tournament sponsor, HP, has taken interest in this great cause as well. Together, we can do great things!” Dan Werner said of the event.

Team Red, White and Blue is a community-based organization with over 90 chapters throughout the U.S. Team RWB assists veterans who are returning from active duty re-emerge as civilians through recreation and sport.

Brandon Young, director for Team RWB’s Denver chapter said, “We look forward to our partnership with Signworld and their individual operations throughout the country. With the sort of network that Signworld has, it allows us to support future events in areas that we haven’t before. This event in particular looks to be a great opportunity to kick off our partnership. We’re proud of our mission and trust that as we get more people aware of volunteer opportunities, our mission will spread and more veterans will be able to take advantage of our efforts.”

The 2014 Charity Golf Tournament will be the 4 straight year that Signworld has held this ongoing event as a charity function. A silent and live auction will take place at other events over the weekend with the proceeds also benefiting Team RWB.

 

Signworld’s Brass Ready to Kick Off The 2014 Signworld Convention

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Signworld is set to kick off the 2014 Signworld Convention and Trade Show, which is set to be held at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas.

The four day event consists of a charity golf tournament, educational and motivational sessions, a trade show with over 60 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services as well as some great networking opportunities to help grow relationships and future business partnerships.

Ken Kindt said of the convention, “Our annual convention and trade show is an event that we look forward to every year. In its newest format, which began in 2010, the show has continued to grow. We have had more owners and their staff attend year over year, we have also had more of our Preferred Partners exhibit year over year. The greatest thing about our conventions is that we hold these events at no additional cost to our owners outside of their airfare and hotel stay. We provide the guest speakers and educational opportunities, the meeting space and all of the food and beverage throughout the weekend. There are not many organizations or franchising companies that do that. It’s something that we look forward to providing for many years to come as a great “value-add” to our already great program.”

The convention will feature over 30 seminars and breakout sessions to help each individual Signworld owner improve their business and a trade show with over 60 exhibitors showcasing their latest products and services. New this year, will be a focus on more “One-on-One” time for individual owners to have with Signworld’s corporate staff, preferred partners and service providers to help hone in on specific issues and concerns rather than general information that might be shared in group sessions.

“We continue to grow this show in great ways. This year our owners will have more opportunities than ever before to dive into specifics of their business and receive on-the-spot answers. With over 200 people from the organization attending the show, we know we have our work ahead of us for the weekend, but we are up to the task and we’re looking forward to not only making this the best convention yet, but create a flow of raving Signworld owners who share their experience with others that didn’t attend. Although we understand that certain circumstances don’t allow owners to attend, we believe that every owner should be at the convention because it is one of the greatest opportunities to better your business. Our attendance records continue to go up each and every year. We trust as we continue to improve the show each year, that one day we will have each and every owner in attendance at the same show.” Jack Werner added on the event.