[Warren Beard]

Thanks Andy, will take a look 🙁

[Warren Beard]

Awesome thanks and think it could be a good option. They are thinking of paint but I thought wouldn’t look great, go with existing or last as long.

I’ll look in to this and they have a sample slab we can test on so could be a possibility [emoji106].

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

My guys use gecko pads and love them, mainly of windows or plastic bumpers etc. The 4 pad gecko pad is for corners etc so it can bend. Ours are lasting and quality seem good, think they are that yellow tools brand from the states.

[Warren Beard]

We had the same problem so a while back we bought an entry alert device, a cheap £15 sensor you would put by you door etc so if somebody walks past or crossed the sensor it makes a sound, we put it on the floor in front of the take up with the receiver under the printer so when the Media gets close to the floor it crosses the sensor and the alarm sounds reminding us to do the take up [emoji106][emoji6]

[Warren Beard]

Good idea David, we have a laser cutter we cut on after printing. It also has a zero point although not quiet zero so different from the printer, we’ve measured the difference and simply apply this variable to the position when cutting and it lines up great. Lasers large but is a Chinese rebrand so not the highest quality machine but has served us well but limited to materials and size.

I’ve met with Zund and their machines are fully upgradable which is great to be able to continually add features but yet to see prices and fear it might be out of reach right now but haven’t really looked at much else so still a lot of research to do.

Cheers
Warren

[Warren Beard]

Thanks guys, I guess upgrade path may be an issue so not serious and will have to get the best I can at the start. I have a few meetings set up with supplies so hope to learn a lot but possibly seems I either need to go with a cheaper machine with the extras or a high end machine without extras. We have a laser cutter that we print and then contour cut with good results and that’s with no registration marks or cameras etc. So think we may be able to make do but need to find out more.

Early days but appreciate the help guys.

Are there any major points I should look to avoid?

[Warren Beard]

Gecko pads from signgeer.

$this->BBvideo_pass(‘$8’, ‘$4’, ‘$7’)

[Warren Beard]

Going to put this on auction site soon, make me an offer as just gathering dust now.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. I’ll speak to Esko and Zund but wonder if it’ll be too much for theirs right now but will check them out.

Learning as I go and looking at all options does anybody know anything about Radical and their Paranha range of CNC? Prices seem reasonable but need to find out why and how they compare. Yes they will be a rebadged Chinese machine but as a stepping stone maybe something to consider. I will research the differences between all to make the best decision but always good to hear from users and what to look out for when making decisions.

Cheers

Warren.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks, it’s for our Roland. Was very surprised by cost differences between companies. Looks more like “creative” quoting but stuck with Printmax who have always looked after us [emoji106]

[Warren Beard]

Speak to Admiral Tapes and they will help with adhesives.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Chris, already spoken to them and was looking for one more for a comparison but good to get a 2nd recommendation for them [emoji106]

[Warren Beard]

Here’s our version, sorry it’s only one bad image but didn’t feel like taking the rolls off to photo inside :shake: 😆

It’s a £35 Ikea box and we made an ACM tray to fit inside which has 2 silent running bathroom extractors sucking and blowing out the holes below. The tray inside only goes half way down. We’ve never had problems with outgassing before making this so don’t even know if it makes any difference but thought we would do it anyway :awkward: :rollseyes: :bigsmile:

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[Warren Beard]

We’ve done tons of school graphics and used normal vinyl with no problems or comebacks. I honestly don’t think it will make any difference, it may be stickier but a kid can stick pick at it and peel it off. In my experience all it will do is leave more damage to the paint.

[Warren Beard]

Yes you get a reverse applied contravision which is actually a clear version of it, you will need to print in reverse and back in white ink so you will need to be able to print white, after the white you print black ink. We’re about to go in to production with our first job doing this but test prints worked well. We spoke direct to Contravision who helped with samples and put us on to distributors.

[Warren Beard]

I do [emoji6][emoji106]

[Warren Beard]

Awesome many thanks [emoji120]

[Warren Beard]

Thanks so far, customer wants it fairly traditional so don’t think vinyl will suffice, they are imagining a thickish (10mm) logo that looks like gold, probably slightly rounded edges.

If we made it out of 10mm pvc and rounded the edges would real gold leaf stick to it?

[Warren Beard]

My 2 cents worth after 10 years since starting in this game on my own is "it will pay off". You have to be willing to work extra hard, extra hours and extra stress otherwise you should just work for somebody and earn your wage. I started on my own and now there is 8 of us. I can finally spend extra time with my family with more holidays, go to all the school events and treat them to some afternoon treats when ever I want. I couldn’t have this if I didn’t put in the extra effort to get the business there. To keep myself motivated I 1) always try new things or expand in to new areas to increase your offerings or what you do in house, this keeps your mind busy while at the office, and 2) think of everything you have and could have because you work for yourself and what you would lose by being an employee, this helps me keep focus and continue enjoying this game [emoji106]

[Warren Beard]

Apply vinyl to protect surface and VHB tape sign to vinyl

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Martin [emoji106] I’ll give them a call.

[Warren Beard]

Pretty sure APA have a range of velvet vinyl.

[Warren Beard]

Got to be Dibond as customer specified colour which no others match even close. Will try Amari again but they didn’t reply on my first request so was looking for other stockist.

Thanks guys

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Call John at XCS, we have a larger set up here but I’m sure they cover all levels of machines etc. Good company to deal with.

[Warren Beard]

[emoji482] John, still in our thoughts.

[Warren Beard]

Admiral tape are the manufacturers of this tape. It’s very good.

[Warren Beard]

The problem I think is they want all the text joined to make a solid one piece display piece similar to the attached. It needs to sit on a counter top. I’ve seen it before and looks good but not sure how it would be polished if not laser cut?

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[Warren Beard]

Hi

Does anybody have anything further in regards to this? We’re in the same boat now and all we could do was the H&S training which gives you a 6 month temp card although the "qualification" is for 2 years but this seems a stupid way of doing things.

What are you doing to get around this with contractors if you don’t have CSCS cards?

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Why can’t you use 5mm? I only ask because if you look in to the tolerances allowed in cast acrylic it’s ridiculously large. We had some 5mm that was 4.1mm thick and told it’s in tolerance so as long as you can find some 5mm that is not less than 5mm it could be almost the same thickness at 6mm with a negative tolerance and ending up nearly 5mm anyway.

Would your customer even know it was 5mm and not 6mm?

sometimes they have to simply understand they need to compromise.

[Warren Beard]

quote Martin Cole:

quote Paul Hodges:

quote Warren Beard:

Sign Waves is another one who deals in similar ways with operating side line companies offering the same products less than trade price.

This is interesting to know. I use Signwaves quite frequently but will revise this now.

Same here, very disappointing to hear, I’ve spent thousands with them over the past few years.
would be interesting to hear the other company name they are selling through?

Interesting thread though.

In short these companies seem to want the best of both worlds.

I think once trade only suppliers loose their integrity peolpe will loose trust in them as we are being shown in this tread.
Again has been said It simply comes down to Ethics plain and simple. ( there are certain things you just don’t do in business and this is one of them!)

Vote with your feet and find alternative suppliers

This goes back about a year and did some investigations in to it to find out more but can’t remember every detail but my customer was getting them from Tullford signs, I noticed their contact email was a different name which was BD&H Ltd who I think is part of Sign Waves or something. They were all tied together somehow but can’t remember exactly.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Stuart, funny enough I saw it advertised today in a magazine I was reading and looks interesting.

[Warren Beard]

I used to use signmaster but stopped using them for other ethical issues so not surprised they would do something like this. Sign Waves is another one who deals in similar ways with operating side line companies offering the same products less than trade price. I had a quote for about 100 signboards and found they were quoting my client direct, my trade price for blanks was higher than their printed signs they quoted. How do you compete against that [emoji15][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35]

[Warren Beard]

Try sovereign, we’ve used them a few times and quality is always good.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks everyone, Sema sounds good and yes seen it in some of those shows Rob [emoji41]. Fespa is probably the best option I guess, I went when it was in London and went to Drupa last year although for other reasons so didn’t get to see much of the signage side.

Was thinking of going to the states if they had a really good large show to get some "worldly experience" [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

[Warren Beard]

Aalco buy a lot of their stock from Blackburn but Blackburn have their own serious issues and we had a very short, not great relationships with them. Aalco are great for what they do although slightly more expensive.

[Warren Beard]

Yes we also did the embossed logo but just one small one [emoji6]

[Warren Beard]

What’s strange for me is our first printed wrap was LESS effective than our Matt metallic green wrap I have now. More people stop to ask me about the colour than they did the print but it’s probably down to design and also no need to ask if wrapped as they should be able to tell. I think it’s better if they talk to you about it [emoji6]

[Warren Beard]

Thanks guys will give them a call.

[Warren Beard]

Try Sign Trays, good quality, service and price.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks James, I tried google which didn’t help and forget to search eBay [emoji12]

[Warren Beard]

Grafityp do a good one for about £500. Speak to Nigel.

[Warren Beard]

Flood coat the panel in vinyl, if it gets damaged just peel it off and apply new. Will be cheaper and easier than anti graffiti so a lower upfront layout and if the vandalism isn’t often then a little repeat business as and when it’s damaged.

[Warren Beard]

Hi James

Yes they are mate, many thanks for that :thumbsup:

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Hi David

Many thanks for that, that should be great thanks.

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Print on to clear and apply to the reflective.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks David, will try them.

[Warren Beard]

Hi Steve

I know the stuff, used to use it before on normal tables as a cutting mat but doesn’t allow enough light through for the light table and also don’t think it comes in the size needed as needs to be a single piece for a 4.8m long table.

Thanks anyway mate.

[Warren Beard]

Hi Rob

Having Primer as an option is totally available but in our case we have 8 slots available and 4 are 4 CMYK or can run 2x CMYK, then you have the option of white, clear and primer but can obviously only chose 2 of those 3 as each one takes 2 slots.

We chose white and clear as we would use it more and also it gives you the option to manually prime your material.

I haven’t heard about the drying/tacky issue although we have noticed that when we’ve stacked "fresh" prints they do seem to slightly tack together but never caused any damage. That’s only been sort of 10 sheets however so not sure if you had a lot of sheets and were pressing them down in a guillotine etc.

cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Just to confirm for my experience and what Rob has mentioned, our vinyl is horizontal on racks off the ground and also we are always in a nice warm environment. Metamark have told me they know about the issue so on the M7 it’s a liner issue. The vinyl is great and normally no issues but when on the table it can be.

We were applying 8×4 sheets on to ACM boards to flood coat them so no application tape either.

Rob’s comments are also 100% correct but not always only those reasons 😉 lol

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Yes we have the same issue and it’s the liner on the Metamark M7 vinyl that causes this. Metamark know about the liner problem and are apparently working on a solution but can’t say when that will happen. I can only guess it’s a small market having this problem so they won’t be in any hurry to change it.

[Warren Beard]

Hi David

We’re busy testing the Mimaki one and so far works really well on glass and metal.

As for correx we haven’t actually printed any yet but before we had our own printer we outsourced some correx prints and the ink did peel/scratch off quiet easily especially around the edges wher most of the handling takes place. I would say it’s probably partly process when printing in regards to contamination and then customer handling combined but could also be quality of correx or what UV ink was used. Correx is still something we need to test but don’t avtually do much correx signs so hasn’t been a priority.

The Mimaki primer however is worth a test if you’re going to print on glass, or metal, we don’t need it on acrylic as we get a good bond without it.

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

$this->BBvideo_pass(‘$8’, ‘$4’, ‘$7’)

get it!!!

5 years ago before I employed my first person I bought a Rapid Applicator from Paper Links (Europoint before that) prices were on par with the Rolls Roller but opted for the Rapid Applicator because as Rob mentioned it didn’t have the gantry across the bed and the glass came in 2 pieces so if you did accidentally break it then you only have to fork out for half the glass 😉 It comes with a bar across the gantry that is for holding rolls for easy flood coating etc or app taping graphics, we hardly use it as we have a spare laminater for app tape but you can see it in the picture.

after 5 years it hasn’t missed a beat, gets worked all day every day by 3 or 4 people, hasn’t twisted or skewed or anything but this one is a beast at nearly a ton in weight and solid as a container ship 😆

All that said I don’t think you can buy these ones any more but as long as you buy a good quality one it will make life so much easier in efficiency and quality, training takes 2 minutes with a totally inexperienced person to start laying 10×5 sheets perfectly.

If I had the space I would get a 2nd one, WHEN I have the space I will get a 2nd one, ours is just short of 5m but it has extendable arms to support longer panels etc but have only used them about 2 or 3 times in the last 5 years.

We recently wrapped it so looks a bit different but they are brilliant.

Cheers

Warren

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[Warren Beard]

aint that the truth James 😉 lol

Well they came back and are happy with MY terms so that’s one for the record books HA HA 😉

[Warren Beard]

Hi Hugh

That’s exactly what I had said to them, all future orders after this one 😉 will wait and see what happens 😉

Just good to know others thoughts.

cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Hi Seun

We’ve done similar before and put eye hooks in the wall and then attached/hung the panel with carabena’s.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks George, I’m a Mac man so wouldn’t know where to start with the PC, might have to get a tech guy in to take a look. :awkward:

Thanks

[Warren Beard]

If accessing the PC then it’s quick, only slow accessing Server which is why I think it could be a permissions issue?

[Warren Beard]

Now sold thanks guys.

[Warren Beard]

I still have this for sale and willing to accept £200 to get it gone
if anybody interested to purchase. Collect or can deliver if not too far and willing to wait until we come in your general direction 😉

[Warren Beard]

Morons Wood Components might be able to help Hugh

[Warren Beard]

Good to hear, wish all the other companies would do the same 😉

[Warren Beard]

Speak to Nigel at Grafityp, they sell lasers and have the added benefit of a good back up service and support. We bought ours from them and have had good service from them over the last few years.

[Warren Beard]

We don’t have a Rolls Roller so not sure how keen William Smith will be to help :lol1: Could always be worth a try anyway.

Would need to fix in the middle and rotate and not by the feet I would think.

[Warren Beard]

It’s about 650kg and double doors just not wide enough so needs to come in at 90º, unfortunately using people is not an option.

One was used when we purchased a flat bed applicator (Rolls Roller type table) but was through Europoint 5 years ago so need to try find one to hire possibly.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Guys, will try them.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks everybody :thumbup2:

[Warren Beard]

quote Robert Lambie:

Europoint http://www.europoint.co/
Spandex.
Antalis. i gave up on them. i found it impossible to actually place an order on numerous occasions.

Thanks Rob, similar issues with Antalis unfortunately.

[Warren Beard]

Hi Denise

Sign Elite look after our 4 vans and happy with them and their service too. They do our business insurance as well but the vans are on their own policies.

[Warren Beard]

Mactac ww300 works great.

[Warren Beard]

quote James Sahota:

Hey Warren

I feel your pain mate…we moved into our place come a year in August we have just a tad under 10,000 sqft production space and we are already thinking that we are running out of room fast…thinking of taking on the unit next door to add another 6,000 sqft for some extra kit….

Have you thought about something like this

https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/alexander-mk … ApRN8P8HAQ

I think this would be very quirky for your type of business perhaps even housing the design studio in a cool looking studio like this and then moving kit into main warehouse…. Great thing about these Garden style offices is if you do move you can take it with you.

You could even look at getting a storage container…I’ve seen people cut windows into the roof and sides and add an electric shutter to the face and use these as additional space.

Couple of suggestions for you buddy

Thanks James, this might have to be an option if can’t find a suitable garage type unit for vans.

[Warren Beard]

quote John Hughes:

Are you going for a new flatbed Warren?
We are in exactly same position…had flatbed a while now (give me a call if your going down route) but looking to get more kit but vehicle fitting takes up space.
An option for us was to stop doing vehicles but I was out voted on that.
We are now looking at getting an extension but planning & landlord not keen.
Don’t want to move as in perfect spot.

John

Hi John, can you PM me some contact details so we can have a chat?

[Warren Beard]

quote Phill Fenton:

How tall is your unit? Is there potential to install a mezzanine floor to increase work space?

http://www.mecalux.co.uk/other-storage- … Aoo48P8HAQ

Unfortunately not Phill, our units are being torn down in 3 years time and have the opportunity to move to a bigger one next door which would be great but don’t think we’ll make 3 years where we are as we are out of space and need more desperately now so this could see us through for a few more years otherwise move somewhere else probably much more expensive so will pay to stay in the long run so exploring as many options as I can.

[Warren Beard]

quote Kevin Flowers:

Warren
you could try someone like these loads of these companies around

http://www.blueriversteelbuildings.co.u … r_id=37691

Thanks Kev, been looking at some of these and these also look good so will get in touch thanks

[Warren Beard]

Hi Dan

Yes agreed, we have an indoor unit currently but need the space for new machinery so it’s the only part of the unit I can "move out" otherwise means moving the entire business which is an option but trying to work around first as moving would cost a lot more than building a prefab garage space for vehicle installs 😉

Thanks for the reply

Warren

[Warren Beard]

:thumbup2: Thanks Guys

[Warren Beard]

what would be your best recommendation for Matt Black wrap vinyl then? I really liked the Ultra Matt but don’t want to chance 4 vans with it?

[Warren Beard]

Thanks everyone

The logo isn’t really possible to simplify or at least I don’t want to, embroidery could work fine but that’s what I’m trying to find out, just the fact it’s a 15 colour design made me think print would be the best option.

[Warren Beard]

so how do they make clothes you buy in the shops that don’t crack? I’m not being funny but there must be a process for garment printing that "works" ?

Hopefully :lol1:

We won’t be using Polos but cotton shirts, not 100% sure on jumper/sweater/fleece/etc or jacket as yet but not polo shirts :shake:

[Warren Beard]

The logo is very multicoloured and detailed so not sure if embroidery will work or be cost effective, like silk screen where there’s so many small bits of colour it may also not be cost effective.

I do think print is the way but what process?

Denise, are you saying that DTG is good but only if done right? I’ll be looking for somebody who can do it right, like I said I want quality over price.

We have shirt vinyl we can print on our Roland but from what I’ve seen I don’t think I’m going to be 100% happy with that or at least not after a short while if it fades and cracks.

I guess I just need to know the best process and I’ll try find somebody who can deliver 😉

cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Yeah don’t think I’ll get the quality I want using solvent and think it needs to be DTG due to number of colours in the logo. Needs to be high quality and last well before I worry about costs.

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Martin, good to see that but would be interested in a higher quality finish I think. I was told that direct to garment printing will outlast the shirt but could just be sales talk so hope to get some additional feedback.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Warren Beard]

I would love to get this thread updated on who else has gone paperless and their experience. We are still very much job cards which holds all our job information and we too are filling up a 4 drawer filing cabinet a year with job cards and only implemented them 3 years ago 😕

We have just had a demo of Clarity and from that it looks to tick all the boxes although at a very hefty price. Many here know me and my company and it’s growth and from being a one man band 5 years ago we are now a 8 strong work force all trying to gather information and keep track of job cards etc.

For me it’s a daily struggle trying to keep on top of quoting and everything else that goes in to running this business not to mention trying to stay on top of costs and profits so Clarity seems a great choice and safer for data storage etc. I hope it will help streamline production and our internal processes and mainly free me up to work on the business rather then in it non stop.

We also use 2 desks for all our job cards so this is valuable space taken up in our production environment not to mention the continuous writing out of everything again and again and manually searching for specs and details for new and repeat orders.

I feel we could go totally paperless and scan and upload any drawings etc we want to keep so interested to hear any further updates and developments oaths thread and get the general discussion flowing again around paperless, cloud and MIS systems.

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Hi Adrian

Any updates on this? I’m considering Clarity and this is also one feature I like and would want too use but would expect it to work 100%

Any other feedback would be greatly appreciated as currently reviewing.

Thanks

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Many thanks Kevin, that looks just the business thanks.

Warren

[Warren Beard]

try these guys, haven’t used them but had an enquiry and they were very helpful and can make anything you want apparently.

Anthony Pelly
a.pelly@cartography.co.uk

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Jamie

Font is "Jane Austen" and had a look and nothing for stencil. Maybe your idea is good to do each letter and create it as a new font ……. have no idea how to do that. Do you know who can do things like this so I can get a price?

cheers mate

[Warren Beard]

another vote for Xero here, used for many years and is very simple, can also do your quotes and then simply turn them to invoice as well so more professional looking and also keeps track of quotes etc. Their support is excellent as well.

[Warren Beard]

we make the board the exact size to fit the boards including the 3.25mm gaps the saw removes, we then add 2mm bleed on each end of the print because when we trim to the print edge we cut off about 1mm, then the print fits perfectly to the board with maybe 1mm overlap but it lets us line it up very accurately, we trim the 1mm away and then the print should be square to the board. Then trim them up in to singles and they all should be within 1mm of each other.

They all get installed in different locations so even if a few mm’s different on each it shouldn’t make a difference.

Cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

for this type of work we step them up to a manageable sheet size so say 20 on a sheet and 5 sheets giving you your 100 you need.

We space each 3.25mm apart and then cut them up on our table saw which has a fine tooth blade and cuts away 3.25mm of material, set your fence and trim them all one way and then set the fence for the other cuts, takes minutes to cut up 20 boards with clean cut edges.

We’ve even done this on our large wall saw with larger panels and stepped them up 20 on an 8×4 for example. Lay the print square to your board and cut away.

[Warren Beard]

David, great idea, can’t believe I didn’t think of it 😉 lol

We can print white and need to leave clear background so for stuff that has to be printed or too small for cut vinyl we print on clear and mount to clear acrylic but it needs to be optically clear.

Will give your suggestion a try thanks

[Warren Beard]

and obviously you doing it dry then? We get marks all over, if you did it dry with a squeegee you would see all the squeegee marks, we get a similar mottled type finish if we do it dry on our Roller table.

When we do it wet we are usually OK but have had issues with what look like watery stains no matter how much we squeegeed and rolled.

Tried different vinyls with different adhesives and different application fluids, still not found a 100% perfect solution.

Dust and loose arm hairs aside 😉 lol

So you say dry straight through a laminator is best? Will give it a try.

As a side note, we usually not too bad with photographic work, it’s solid colours and optically clear prints that are the worse.

cheers for the help so far chaps

[Warren Beard]

We’ve been using Xero for about 4 years now and it’s very good and getting better all the time as they develop and update. We do all our quotes on it as well so can easily convert to invoice when ready. Run our vat returns from it as well. It now also will automatically chase unpaid invoices, I haven’t used this feature yet as been using Debtor Daddy for that but as it’s free and Debtor Daddy is £9 per month I may start using the free built in option.

Xero has a lot of add ons available via 3rd party apps and as mentioned is gaining ground very quickly on a lot of other packages. It’s by no means new or in development stages, it’s a full on accounting tool and many accounting firms are also signing on to be parters due to it’s excellent growth.

[Warren Beard]

Do a glass weed test first, I heard of this method before and one design we had to do for a pub window was very intricate and was taking a long time to weed so I said lets just weed on the window as I heard it works. Biggest mistake ever because like you said it came off in tiny chips and took 4x longer to weed and not only that I had to send my guy out for about 3 days standing at the window picking pieces off the glass. Very costly excersise for sure.

Do a test first 😉

Good luck though, it’s terrible work.

We have also had difficulty with white etch which had a white liner, the only way we could see the cuts was to put a torch flat on the table so it shone across the surface and this would show the cuts better but only where the beam of light is so continuously moving the torch to see.

[Warren Beard]

100% payment upfront with first order and a completed credit account form if they intent to ask for credit on future orders. This should make sure most of your customers are payers ……

…. I wish I would take my own advice 😉 lol

The problem is that as you grow (well I’m just speaking from my experious and opinion) your client types will change to various degrees. Larger companies sometimes will only deal with companies who give 30 days or more, if you want their work then you accept it but the chances are usually extremely good that you will get paid but will take longer. If cash flow allows this then it’s a no brainer really. Other medium businesses who are "trying" to be big business will often insist on a credit account but in reality can easily do a Bacs or send a cheque with no problems and if they want to use you then they will.

We have the same problem with "estimates" mainly on vehicle graphics because you don’t know what the final price will be if it’s a rough brief but getting some sort of deposit is advised.

To be 100% honest we are too trusting and 95% of the time give credit which then gives the customer the leverage to pay when they want, we try get payment on collection of vehicles or the rare signs that are collected otherwise everything is invoiced on completion with a due date of the same date as the invoice. A week later my system will automatically chase payment if not received yet and usually once they get the chaser email it usually gets paid.

Like most businesses it’s not ideal and we do have a lot of money outstanding at any one time but we generally know it’s coming in on a regular basis, our cash flow is good so we try not stress too much until it’s 30+ days overdue and then they get a phone call.

It’s part of running your own business and the more you do the worse it gets 😉 We do have some plans to try clamp down a bit on this in the future as we have a few big things going. This and HR in my opinion will always be your 2 most frustrating parts of your business 🙂

[Warren Beard]

+1 for James at 101 :thumbup2:

[Warren Beard]

I’ll try make it up on the Wednesday as well so maybe catch up with a couple of you hooligans then 😉

[Warren Beard]

Good to hear although we use MD5 mostly 😕 We haven’t switched over but Printmax have said they will take back any unopened carts we have so we’re monitoring closely now and may switch over soon.

[Warren Beard]

quote DavidRogers:

From a hard lesson learnt…several times before I figured out why…

The polythene strips whilst very good at keeping in the heat are dirt magnets.

Don’t drive brand new, showroom fresh cars THROUGH them…they’ll get scratched to buggery!

Very good point thanks David 😉

[Warren Beard]

This has raised it’s head again, anybody else changed over and can offer feedback to whether or not it’s worthwhile doing?

cheers

Warren

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Guys, looking in to options now and if I find out any info I’ll let you all know.

Cheers

Warren