posted
Freight this morning, everything arrived at once... even receiving material is becoming a major job
40 sheets dibond, 10 rolls 48" wide format film, 12 rolls 24" vinyl plus a skid of approx 450 pieces of reflective aluminium mostly 2x2 and 2x3, another skid of road sign stands, 4 boxes sundry items. Altogether about 25k of material at one shot.
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
posted
as long as you make a 50% profit on all that..........hehehehehehehe
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Thats the problem with living up north, you don't have the benefit of a supplier close by... but having all that inventory is a nice feeling for sure.
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Mike..You should write an article here for struggling sign guys!
You are doing everything right.
I doubt anyone is gonna read your advice and move to Labrador City to be competition!!!
After meeting Bob Stephens in Florida and talking to him for just a few short hours, I learned some valuable lessons about how to actually EARN REAL MONEY in the business.
Than I read his article here, over and over again. And it is as valuable as it was when first posted.
-------------------- 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
Dave, that's Mikes Secret... Not Much Competition, people not from there think it's an extremely harsh place, yes it can get cold in the winter, but it's a Beautiful Area in Summer and Winter... I guess thats Mikes Secret, and he's keeping it to himself. lol You Go Mike!
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I have great respect for Mike's business success. He's a great planner and visionary, who never sits back waiting for good things to happen. He makes them happen. I too would be interested in a more detailed account of his ride. No doubt there were some bumps in the road. Whether is was a flat tire, running out of gas or a complete engine re-build, Mike seems to do what ever it takes to get back on the road. (to success).
Advantage Sign Supply & Wensco's main HQ are both in Grand Rapids, within 45 minutes of my shop, or 1 day delivery UPS. Thats a big help for us. Feel bad for you Canada folks.
Edited to add, thanks to Dave G for posting Bob's article.
[ June 21, 2012, 02:39 PM: Message edited by: Rick Beisiegel ]
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3484 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
We're not that far from suppliers, about a week away, but far enough that freight cost is a concern and I inventory enough to buy bulk rather than place orders on a per job basis. Most of what we received yesterday is for work in hand and will be gone over the next 2-3 weeks, all of the aluminum is to fill one order, shop is running flat-out, We'll be matching last years sales by end of this month (month 8)
Can't say exactly what I'm doing right but we're still seeing steady growth after 20 years in the business, adding another 8,000 sq ft add on to a 6400 sq ft shop, 4,000 of that will be for the shop, the other 4000 will be leased.
I do face competition both locally (former employee) and of course from online purchasing, Labrador may be remote but it is certainly plugged into the world.
One thing I've always done is constantly reinvest in the business itself, my needs are met by a comfortable yet unassuming salary, and I do live within my means. I've never needed to take dividends or profits from the business and this in turns enables the business to acquire real estate and equipment assets. As long as the business is healthy I have no need for additional money.
I've always leaned towards the best in new technologies, my attitude towards equipment is that if you don't have the latest & most efficient, you will be competing against it on some level. It's a rare piece of equipment that I keep more than 5 years. I've diversified a lot, we offer a very wide range of products and services, but I havent changed my focus as to whom my customers are. I decided long ago to work with and for industrial clients rather than commercial or retail, everything we do is geared towards that client base. I've always taken a long term view towards business decisions and have incubated several projects for years before they turned a profit, my embroidery department is such a project, it's now, after 5 years, turning a good dollar now that I expanded into 4 networked heads from a single head setup, but like most things you have to learn to walk before you can run. Again the target client is industrial, and the profit is in the garments and not in the embroidery service.
I'm now at a stage in life that succession planning is on my mind, how best to plan to protect my interests whether I retire, fall to illness or die. I've been working on this with Price, Waterhouse Cooper one of the largest accounting firms in Canada. Their costs and costs for legal changes to the company structure will likely end up costing in the neighbourhood of 20k or so but the tax savings alone will save my estate hundreds of thousands of dollars. I was quite surprised with the evaluation they put on the business, they were quite surprised on how I built it, and also were surprised with my philosophy towards money and living.
For now I'm quite happy working, I've built a good core staff over the years and have delegated authority as well as responsibility, which leaves me free to travel quite a bit. I'm in the shop on a daily basis, but my roll has changed, I seem to spend half of my time with building or expansion planning. Staffing is crazy hard and getting harder, local rents are reaching 4000-6000 monthly for houses, small appartments are 2500 or so, romms are 1000-1500 each. I may have to invest in housing in this crazy market and import foreign workers, it's a slow expensive process. So even though we're in a boom, not everything is rosy. Sure keeps life interesting..
Mike
-------------------- Mike O'Neill
It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value. - Arthur C. Clarke
posted
Rick...Talking to Bob and then reading his article were probably two of the best learning experiences I have ever had!!
-------------------- 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
Great accurate information there for sure Mike... it's getting harder and Harder here on the Island portion as well, as far as staffing, Rent, Materials go... Having a Booming Economy has it's drawbacks for sure...
-------------------- "Keep Positive"
SIGNS1st. Neil Butler Paradise, NF Posts: 6277 | From: St. John's NF Canada | Registered: Mar 1999
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