Category: Operations

One of the first things I hear from shop owners when they hire me to help them turn their companies around is how proud they are of cross-training their work force and how they have sound production scheduling practices. I ask myself, then why are they having production issues leading to lack of profit, poor […]

The post Shop Advice: Employee Multitasking Pluses and Minuses appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

Sign shops may think they understand the sales model in our industry—manufacturers supply their products through distributors who then provide them to sign shops. However there is a role in our industry that is gaining more and more attention—that of manufacturer’s reps.“A manufacturer’s rep is the outsourcing of a function to an independent firm so […]

The post Analyzing The Role of Signage Manufacturer Reps appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

How many times have you wondered how your competitor could afford to sell a job at a ridiculously low price? In many cases, the other guy actually can’t afford it. While these shops may cover their direct material and labor costs, they may not have allocated a reasonable share of the overhead. Eventually many of […]

The post The Subtleties and Dynamics of Job Costing Explained appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

We believe that you hire for attitude and you train for success.” That’s the philosophy espoused by Pete Rappoccio, owner and founder of Sign Pro, a full-service sign company based in Plantsville, Connecticut. Sign Pro believes those attributes are the foundation that sign shops should be focusing on when it comes to bringing on the […]

The post A Sign Of Successful Hiring appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

In the approval process for business loans, lenders use the “five Cs of credit” as their standard for credit analysis. If you want to improve your chances of getting a business loan, you need to satisfy the requirements in these five areas: Capacity, Capital, Character, Collateral, and Conditions. Let’s take a closer look at these […]

The post Funding Your Business: The Five Cs of Business Credit appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

I recently asked a friend how often, during her career, she had been complimented or recognized for her work. Her response? “Not often enough.” Unfortunately, that is true for most employees. I wonder why that is. I have some ideas that I’ll share with you here. The first is denial. Most managers and supervisors think, […]

The post Why Employee Recognition is Critical appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

“I can’t believe this is my shop!” There are many well-run sign shops around the world, but most of the small ones (ten to fifteen employees) that I’ve had the pleasure of visiting have a lot of work to do behind the scenes, before they are operationally efficient enough to deliver dependable results to customers […]

The post Ten Ways to Improve Your Operation Today appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

Building a sustainable and profitable shop is both challenging and rewarding. Before launching a sign and graphics business, it’s important to know there are many ways to begin. So let’s dive in.   In the Behind the Signs community, someone recently asked how to get started in the graphics business. Their three main questions were:  How […]

The post Three Steps to Launching a Successful Signage and Graphics Business appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

I am not a designer. When I first started my business, I did not understand the value design brought to my business or my clients. So, the truth is, I ran a sign shop for years and never charged for design work. It was just a small line item on our estimate sheets, and we […]

The post How to Value Your Sign Design Work appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.

Media Partnership originally appearing in Sign Builder Illustrated‘s August 2024 edition WHAT is the point of training?  Training is a process of increasing the knowledge and skills relating to a particular role or skill, but it also has wider benefits.  The process can include product updates; goals to improve capability, productivity and performance; and ways to […]

The post Sign Industry Training: The What, the Why and the How appeared first on Sign Builder Illustrated, The How-To Sign Industry Magazine.