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More of a business question than a sign question
Hello all, very new member here from the west coast of Canada. We have a rather unique business model here in that we only do work for television, film and commercials. The reason being is that I worked as a union employee within the film industry as a graphic designer and sign fabricator for many years.
For reasons that I won’t go into in this post, I decided to go independent several years ago. Thus far business overall has been pretty good but it is an extreme roller-coaster ride with us being far, far too busy and occasionally putting in 18 to 24 hour days or just waiting around for the phone to ring. (longest workday thus far was 27 hours straight)
This has me wondering if I should take the business in a new direction.
The beauty of this industry has been that there really isn’t much selling involved, jobs come to us well designed and well thought out and we never have to go to a jobsite to install, we just manufacture the product be it cut or printed vinyl, laser or cnc and they pick it up. Budgets are rarely an issue although turnaround time is usually quite short and always critical.
I’d like to know if there are any industries or client types that parallel ours, where jobs come in already designed and installation isn’t involved and without the extremely short turnarounds and possibly a steadier flow.
I know it’s a little bit rubber-stamp with little creative input but I do have other areas and interests that can take care of that.
Thoughts? – Boyd -
5 Replies
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Boyd,
Great to have you on the boards.
After reading your post I would be rather concerned as a business owner, your business model seems to be that of "Putting all your eggs in one basket" you seem to have a very nice niece market my concern would be what happens if this market suddenly pulls the plug on using you as they realise can get service elsewhere or decide bringing this in house would be better.
I’ve read of many a company here in the UK that rely solely on a couple of bug clients to keep them in business, if those clients walk these business are often finished.
My advice here would be make sure your business is built on having a vast array of clients rather then focusing on just the one.
Don’t bet everything on one single thing. Spread the risk around.
If something bad happens to the one basket containing all your eggs, you have lost everything.
It is less risky to distribute your the eggs among several baskets.
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Thanks James, and yes I agree completely with you about diversification however… The film and tv industry is substantially different than most in that they often give little or no advance warning of incoming jobs and almost always need same or next day turnaround. TV advert work is all that and more, art directors have come in with an idea scribbled onto a scrap of paper, we then have to refine the concept and they want to shoot it the same day. This could be anything from a large banner to sculptural cnc work.
As you can see, this type of business doesn’t mix well with "real world" clients. At this time, TV and film are our core clientelle and get top priority which means we have a really hard time shifting gears into other projects. For this reason alone we have avoided taking in work from the outside.
That being said, the industry is somewhat seasonal and quite fickle and this feast or famine thing is getting tiresome.
If we’re to change business models, I’d like to avoid being a custom sign shop where each and every job requires selling, design, installation, permits etc. I’d much rather find a select client base with similar demands as to what we already are which is essentially a service business that can be run out of a relatively small shop like ours. This would allow us to transition away from film and TV to a more stable business market.
Maybe I’m dreaming; maybe a real world client like that doesn’t exist but I thought the question might be worth asking.
Thanks again. – Boyd -
I can’t offer much in the way of busines advice but from what you’re saying…
you’re sent print quality or high quality artwork with which to work from? in the general sign business this is almost non-existent so you’ll have to factor in a lot of design time, probably some idot time time,
Installations are rarely as clear cut as they may as first seem – old shops for example, new facias can be a nightmare because there’s often several old signs below the one you think you’re replacing, below that it often a rotten facia which needs repairing and the shop-keeper wants nothing to do with that because you’ve not quoted for it!!
I too would be concerned about having all my eggs in one basket but, my own experience of trying to avoid that scenario means that I have become far too general a sign maker, I am currently looking to go back a few steps – becoming more specialised in the services I offer and concentrating on the better sides of my business.
If I had the type of business that you attract, I would perhaps look to offering yuor services to design agencies and other film / production type outfits who will know what they want before they even pick up the phone… very much the opposite of 90% of people who ‘want a sign’!! I’d certainly concentrate on your strengths and promote those rather than giong after the general sign market – unless of course you need to.
Hugh
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Even with the short turnaround times Boyd, could you sub some of the work. Surely there is someone with a large flatbed printer maybe that can get some stuff out quickly for you. I also would worry about all eggs in one basket. My client base over the years is made up from hundreds of clients which gives me the flexibility to lose the odd one if deadlines get too tight or if they become slow payers. Would you consider adding maybe wrapping to your portfolio Boyd?
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Thanks Hugh, yes it’s all those un-billable hours that can be wasted in travel, consulting, installation etc. that scare me.
Kevin, I’m not a big fan of wraps and our shop space and the fact that we do a fair bit of cnc work in that space means it wouldn’t lend itself to qualty (dust-free) installations.
I should mention that we didn’t start a business and decide to do just film work. Rather I was a a veteran sign and graphics person working inside the film industry. I opened Stagecraft to do battle with all the outside businesses that were nibbling away at our jobs from outside of our union. So we’re still finding a way to make this all work smoothly.
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