posted
Every few weeks there are requests for information on the various and assorted thermal resin and or inkjet printers on the market. Invariably everyone has a specific slant on the subject.
Personally, I have been getting more and more requests for jobs that require just such equipment. Some are LARGE format prints and some are small decals. I have taken the road recommended by several knowlegable contributers to this forum. I outsource the work to folks who frequent this Bullboard. It works out for the benefit of both parties.
Just yesterday I picked up approximately $950 worth of Edge prints from a fellow board member (I had supplied the files in the format that was required). I paid him. I finished the premasking, where necessary, and the final cutting of the hundreds of individual decals into individual items. Today I delivered the $950 worth of decals and, in return, got cash and cheques totalling $1600. I spent about 3 hours preparing the files, and another hour delivering the decals.
NOT BAD...$650 in the bank for about 4 hours work!!!
The nice thing is..I not only made money but the owner of the Edge also made money!!!!
Support your local digital printer!!!!!
-------------------- 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
It's a personal preference but if I can't do it in house I do do it at all. I feel like your taking money for something you haven't earned. So you spent a little time doing whatever so could the guy you purchased the product from. To me your a needless middleman. Kinda like our goverment taking money for something you didn't earn. But I am fortunate enough to be able to do everthing in house.
I wonder if there could be a way if a list could be created of registered members who are willing to wholesale their sevices. I've had a few calls this week asking for services that I don't yet offer and directed the callers to other Lettervillians. I don't have a wide-format printer, but I may have a job coming up soon where I may need one. I'd rather farm it out to another 'Head. I'm already farming my sandblasted and carved stuff to another member, Jonathan Androsky's company - 21st Century Signs (they do great work).
posted
Edge II work available....contact Jackson Signs. LOL Way to go Dave! Networking is the way to go and good for you. How many times do we take it in the shorts and just break even or lose money. Sometimes you need to be the middle man. Good for you!
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Ronnie..I agree that, if it is at all possible,..Do it in-house.
But I am a one man sign shop..I can't justify a wide format outdoor durable inkjet printer AND a Gerber Edge for the smaller stuff. I actually like being the "middle man" in those cases..It is a nice change from working my long weary hours!!
I also don't do screen printing, and have outsourced it too, to the advantage of both parties.
It is just a matter of working smart, instead of hard!
Let the guy who has the knowledge and the experience help YOU!
And, of course, the same relationship just might come back to help you also!
-------------------- 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
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Glenn..The idea of an "in-house" database is a fine idea..In an ideal world...BUT you have to be wary of those who might take advantage.
YES it does happen. It has happened to me and to others I know.
I will continue to deal with other shops for work that needs to be done, but it will ONLY be with a shop that I can deal with on a face to face manner.
The exception to the "face to face" rule, for me' is Bill Biggs from Texas...I have sent him stuff that he couldn't output and usually I had the cheque in my hands before he had the product!!!!!!! LOL LOL (all the way from Texas to Ontario Canada)
Yeah!!! It works both way folks. I outsource work to others and sometimes I am lucky enough to have someone order stuff from me!
Life is GOOD!
-------------------- 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
Sadly, I've had to hunt down a few 'Heads in the past in order to get payment. It risks alienating them from this site and causing problems that never need have happen.
posted
Way to go Dave! I too have access to the Edge 2 ( my buddy owns one and is looking for work to keep it busy) and would gladly provide samples of jobs done to anyone interested in outsourcing digital printing through me. Just email me.
I believe you're dead right on outsourcing, given your circumstances. I've done it with Gemini letters before. A building contractor wanted these type letters for a sign that HE wanted to install. I let him pick out the letter style, marked them up 60% and he came and picked them up. I didn't do a lick of work....and made a nice profit. I'd do that all day long if I could!
It's bad business not to! If you're smart enough to figure out how to satisfy a customer through the creative use of the brain God gave you....then you have certainly "EARNED" your money.
If you let a job go to a competitor because you don't feel your intellect is worthy of a profit...then I guess that's a personal decision...but one I wouldn't be willing to make.
Hey, I know I personally like the idea of buying tires for my car, even though someone else made them......I don't feel the need to try to construct my own.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
When you go to a doctor, lawyer or other professional you aren't necessarily paying for what they DO, you're paying for what the KNOW. They aren't the only ones with knowledge.
Daves KNOWS the right process to use for the job. Dave KNOWS how to set the job up to be produced correctly using a given process. Dave KNOWS the right person to farm the job out to in order to acheive the desired quality...
Knowledge has monetary value, you pay and charge for the use of it. Turning work away because you can't produce it yourself? Really? I can't imagine doing that myself. David
-------------------- David Fisher D.A. & P.M. Fisher Services Brisbane Australia da_pmf@yahoo.com Trying out a new tag: "Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth Peter Ustinov Posts: 1450 | From: Brisbane Queensland Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
In my dreams I have all the equipment to do it all myself..... but life is not quite like that. I do what Dave has done and also wholesale what I can produce. It works great for both parties and the customer.
-------------------- Glenn Thompson Tell-Tale Signs Williams Lake, BC sign@telus.net (250)398-7446 Posts: 201 | From: Williams Lake, BC | Registered: Dec 2000
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Ronnie wrote: "It's a personal preference but if I can't do it in house I do do it at all. I feel like your taking money for something you haven't earned."
Ronnie, i earn my money by finding the right solution for my customers' signage needs. if that solution is something i can make, then i'll make it. if its something i need to buy, then i buy it. i earn my money by researching the options, getting competitive bids, and ensuring the job gets done properly. my customers don't want to worry about uploading files, matching colors and loading fonts -- that's what they're paying me for. My customers don't want to have to go to four different sign shops to get their projects done (and i don't want them to).
-------------------- :: Scooter Marriner :: :: Coyote Signs :: :: Oakland, CA :: :: still a beginner :: :: Posts: 1356 | From: Oakland (and San Francisco) | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
I outsource products and services on occassion too.
It's pretty nice receiving a check without having to think about how much of that check now has to cover materials or labor, or replenishing the stock you used. It's nearly all profit.
I like keeping as much "in-house" as I can, it allows me to control quality, but if I want to print business cards for a client I'm not gonna run out and spend $200,000 on a digital press when I can email a file and receive my cards a couple weeks later for $60.
Production and installation is where we lose our profits... any materials get messed up while working on a job, you gotta replace it.. there goes some of your profits.. a job takes longer than expected, there goes your profits.
Outsource a job and the source screws it up, it's THEIR profit on the line, not yours.
"Money for nuthin' and the chicks for free"
-------------------- "If I share all my wisdom I won't have any left for myself."
Mike Pipes stickerpimp.com Lake Havasu, AZ mike@stickerpimp.com Posts: 8746 | From: Lake Havasu, AZ USA | Registered: Jun 2000
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I used to think everything i did needed to be produced in house by my own two hands. over the last few years i have been sub-contracting jobs like neon signs and aluminum cabinet signs out to a larger sign company. they give me a wholesale price so that i can make money off of the design and sales of the job. recently we finished 2 neon signs and computer routed letters for a new restaurant.
The total price for the signs, a little over $10,000. i made a tidy profit of $3,800.00 for the design and sales.
just like you said dave, they made money and so did I.
while they were producing the neon signs, i was cranking out profitable antique signs for the restaurant's bar along with my usual in-house production such as truck lettering.
I see no other way to survive as a one man sign shop.
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Well you know it isn't ALL just about making money. There is another side to it too. It is called KEEPING you customers.
In the example I mentioned earlier, one of the customers is my largest customer. They spend with me, depending on the year, and their replacement of equipment, anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 per year with me. There is no way I am going to say to them "No I can't do that particular project, you'll have to go elsewhere to get it done"!!!!!!!! What if they like the looks of another sign shop better than mine? What if that other shop is run by a really cute young lady that they wouldn't mind watchin more than me while she is working???
THEN, I have not just lost one particular job but a WHOLE bunch of money all year, every year! No way I am going to let that happen!!
[ May 15, 2002, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Dave Grundy ]
-------------------- 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
Does anyone know anybody that subs out digital printing on banners
There is a local band here that had a 4' x 8' banner airbrushed by a guy and the paint pealed off after a short period of time. They wanted to know if i could make them a new one but I don't do that kind of airbrushing.
So I thought the logical thing to do is sub the job out to someone with a vutek or something like that
any thoughts or ideas on how to takle this one would be appreciated.
posted
Just today, a friend of mine called me and told me he was thinking of getting an edge printer, and wanted to know what I knew about them, and if I thought it was a good purchase. He also wanted to know if I and another friend of mine in the sign business would sub out to him at times in the case he did buy one. I could never justify the cost of one here by myself, but if he buys one and two or three or more of us sub out to him, it will provide us with an opportunity to supply edge type work to our customers, and help him by supplying him with work other than just the jobs he gets. If I could afford all the equipment I'd LIKE to have, shoot, I'd have a shop full. Dave just showed good business sense. He did the computer work, the edge guy did the printing, and dave delivered them to a satisfied customer. What a great co-operative way to get a job done.
-------------------- Maker of fine signs and other creative stuff. Located at 109 N. Cumberland ave. Harlan, Ky. 40831 606-837-0242 Posts: 4172 | From: Ages-Brookside, Ky. Up the Holler... | Registered: Jul 1999
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I wouldn't need to use an EDGE but once or twice a week for something very small and only occasionally for things like decals or the like. I lost one job the other week though because the other sign guy in town was doing EDGE stuff for less that I could sub it out for. I still am looking for somebody to sub out edge stuff to for a little less than what I have been getting quoted. I am really considering getting a Roland or the like even though I have heard bad press on them, maybe even just a PC12. We sell heat transfered tees and really could use such a machine just not one that costs $15000 plus. I have seen an EDGE put a real hurt on a small sign comany that really didn't know what they were biting off when they bought one.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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