Yesterday, November 1, was the 22nd anniversary of the opening of my own business. I began with a $5,000 loan (each) from my mother and two brothers. They are now all dead, but they were paid back.
At 69 I'm contemplating retirement, but not just yet. In less than a year I will be debt free and will begin to slow down a little.
Over the years I've made just about every dumb mistake you can imagine, but I don't guess I would change anything if I could do it all over again.
After all, this is better than working for a living.
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
I'll bet that I have made a few that you never imagined!
Posted by Rick Sacks (Member # 379) on :
Ray, since you've made every dumb mistake already, and are entering the forgetful years, start the list over and see if you learn faster?
Posted by Duncan Wilkie (Member # 132) on :
Are you sure you wouldn't change anything Raymond? I'm pushing 35 years of self employment, 30 yrs.with staff. I too have made mistakes, but like you, I have no real regrets. Would I change anything, most certainly. In 30 years of leasing space, I've spent nearly $700,000. in rent. Who would have thought I'd been in business this long? Another thing, I would have spent a lot more on the "business" end of it. Typically sign shops are started on a shoestring...under-funded in every area, and unfortunately under skilled in critical areas of management. Nothing has changed much in 35 years. I guess it comes down to expectation and realities. The bottom line is do we have quality of life, and that includes a myriad of factors. Money really isn't imporant in itself, but security is! Unfortunately, money and security are not mutually exclusive.
Edited to add: I pushed enter sooner than I wanted. I have a lot of respect for you and everyone who has followed their passion for making signs. I highly doubt if I'd still be making signs had I not become self employed. So for that I have no regrets. I love making signs, just like you. Congratulations to for following your dream and to those close to you that without their support, you would not have succeeded .
[ November 02, 2013, 11:29 AM: Message edited by: Duncan Wilkie ]
Posted by Dale Feicke (Member # 767) on :
I'd have to include myself, when it comes to expertise in mistake-making.
Don't know about you, but I didn't realize a lot of them were mistakes, at the time they were being made. Many of them just occurred during the course of business. This business was never "work" for me; even the challenges were fun in most respects. It was always rewarding when a customer wanted something really "weird" or complex, and had enough faith in my abilities to say "you make it happen".
I'm 68 now, but real retirement isn't all that appealing to me. I still enjoy "swingin' a brush", and even though I've slowed down a lot and take more time off (mostly due to a stroke I had a couple years ago), I hope to be able to go on for a few years yet.
Would I do it all again? Let me put it this way. If it was the way it was back then, things were simpler. The sign business was still a craft, requiring many learned skills that made the business day, a fascinating journey; and one that I truly love, to this day.
Given all the computerized "this" and digitized "that", and the level and amount of cut-throat competition, I seriously doubt that I'd enter this field today. "Quick" and "cheap" are poor substitutes for quality, and that's what I've always tried to provide for my customers.
[ November 03, 2013, 10:24 AM: Message edited by: Dale Feicke ]
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
Congratulations Raymond!
This is my 45th year of being self employed in the sign business. Mistakes are something I make every day. It's how we learn. I started small, on the fringe of the business rather than simply painting signs. I have nothing against vinyl but it simply wasn't for me. I'm not afraid of computers nor technology however (although I am challenged in that area) and have embraced CNC routers to help me do my dimensional signs and projects.
We've grown our business, purposely shrunk it down to just me again and now grown it once more in order to tackle the large projects under way in our shop. We currently have six full time and five part time staff and my expand even more in the coming months.
We've found our success and enjoyment in a niche area of the market, doing the bulk of our business for small regional theme parks. Back when we started this specialized work I wondered how long it would last or how much there really was. I had no reason to worry. We turn down more work than we are able to take.
I've come to realize that if I follow my passion what I do is not really work at all. Instead I find the days fly by and I am challenged daily to get better and better. Competition is something I've never really thought about or concerned myself with.
I work from a dream shop in my backyard in a tiny town far from the city. I am surrounded by and am close to a loving family. My employees are respected and respect me in return. I expect the very best from them and they in return delight me every day with the wonderful work they do.
I turn 60 in a couple of months and it causes me to pause as I reflect on what we have achieved and what lies ahead in the coming years.
While I would perhaps like to ease back a little in the not too distant future I am delighted with the path get to travel daily. Life is good!
-grampa dan
[ November 03, 2013, 01:22 AM: Message edited by: Dan Sawatzky ]
Posted by Rusty Bradley (Member # 6938) on :
Raymond...I've been letting things kind of slide all these years but since you bring it up...I think you must have forgotten about the $5,000 you borrowed from me back in 1981.
Posted by Raymond Chapman (Member # 361) on :
Rusty, it is you who must have forgotten - I paid you back, along with the other folks.
Posted by Rusty Bradley (Member # 6938) on :
Raymond...ok then...my bad...we'll consider it paid...but from the many of us here who truly love you and are concerned about your well being...please take just a couple of minutes and check out this link.
What link? And...who is this Bradley guy?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Rusty,
Raymond says all the people who loaned him money are dead. I don't know if I would push this issue...
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
Congratulations Raymond. I still consider you one of my first sign heros.
I think it was somewhere around 1975 that I finally discovered Signs Of The Times. After years of struggling, I finally had a link to real sign painters.
I recall getting my first issue. In those days I read them cover to cover, including all the ads. There was a truck lettering job for a locksmith painted by a guy named Raymond Chapman!
To have you as a part of Letterville all these years makes me very proud.
Posted by Neil D. Butler (Member # 661) on :
Funny Ray, 15 years ago Judy and I opened Signs1st, although I've been in the business self employed for over 15 years before that as basically a one maned operation, finally we had a "Real" Store front with employees and all, and that in 5 years we were going to be Gadzillionaires..... well that never happened,,, are there things we would have done differently? Yes of Course.... but I believe we all would have done that... but Regrets???
Posted by Bill Davidson (Member # 531) on :
My mistake was working for myownself. Shoulda been in the back room away from them pesky customers. Learned That one too late.
Posted by Checkers (Member # 63) on :
Congrats Ray! Who hasn't screwed up at one time or another? IMHO, if you're not making mistakes, you're not working.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
Posted by Wayne Webb (Member # 1124) on :
![[For Your Information]](graemlins/fyi.gif)