The EstiMate Software Blog

Interview With: Alice Miller & Matthew Kalyani, Owners

How did you get into the sign business?

My brother Oscar purchased the business in the late 80′s from the original owner, who established the business as a wholesale Neon Shop in the late 1960s. At that time, Matthew was employed to as an Apprentice Glass Bender.

In the early 1990’s Matthew and Partner Alice purchased the business from Oscar when he decided to pursue another career. At that time there were just the two employees: Matthew, Alice and the shop dog. Matthew was the primary contact for the sales and he would bend the glass while Alice would bombard and handle the office duties.
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Interview With: Rick Sacks, Owner

How did you get into the sign business?

First, I wanted to learn to letter. I wanted to know how to make beautiful signs. I had no idea about wanting to be in business; that came along much later. I got an apprentice position in a three man shop and went from sweeping floors and washing screens to cutting panels to coating and then to filling in letters. These were guys that came from a former world where paint wasn’t already mixed and they saw the advent of rollers. It was an honor to straddle that history.
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Interview With: Jeff Crawford, Owner

How did you get into the sign business?

I got into the sign business after losing a job. My brother is in the business and formerly my grandfather was in the business.

What types of work do you do?

We are a vinyl and print shop, selling banners, magnets, stickers, yard and storefront signs, storefront window lettering and tinting, business cards, envelopes, and vehicle lettering. We also do sign design and installations.
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Interview With: Jay Sensenig, Owner

How did you get into the sign business?

I started out selling cartoon decals in 1996.

What types of work do you do?

We do trade show displays, vehicle wraps, magnetic signs, banners, artist canvas prints, posters, corporate logos, & much much more. We now have 3 Cutters and 1 Mimaki 54” Printer.
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Interview With: Glenn Taylor, Owner

How did you get into the sign business?

I was drafted. My father was the regional advertising manager for JC Pennys back in the 70′s. He would handletter showcards, trucks and small signs on the side for extra money. He would drag me around from one job to another as a helper. In 1978, he quit his job and moved the family to his hometown of Wilson, NC to follow his dream of having his own sign shop. I was 17 at the time. Dad would wake me up at 5am unannounced and have me help him letter a billboard or install a sign.
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Interview With: Shane Drew, Owner

How did you get into the sign business?

It’s a very long story, but I’ll give you the shortened version.

My background is in computer sales, and the late ‘80s I was getting restless. My sales specialty was graphic design software (anyone remember the Amiga 500/1000?) and I had won several sales awards but was getting bored. I worked in the family computer business and we were all pretty sick of the industry by the early ‘90s. Then, two of our largest clients both went broke owing us a small fortune, and we decided enough was enough. We sold out to a competitor.

One of our regular clients was a sign shop at the time and we were told they were going broke. Through no other reason than poor money management and very poor work ethic. They had some really good contracts.

As the sign business was fully computerised, and I had a good working knowledge of all the cutters and computers, my sister and father were familiar with their accounting systems, and we even knew some of the staff personally, we made an offer to take over the running of the business in a management role.

All went well for a few weeks until we found out the work ethic of some of the staff was so poor, they were actually stealing our stock to do work for themselves on the weekends. Even the previous owner was caught with his hand in the till.

So we sacked just about everyone and found ourselves in a very vulnerable position. A sign shop with some big contracts, and not a lot of experience.

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Interview With: Christian Slager

How did you get into the sign business?

Wow, this one is a long, but cool story. My parents were going to start “Christian’s Toy Store,” which was going to have non-violent toys and books for kids.

They looked at a unit in a busy shopping center, but didn’t like the idea that the landlord wanted them to be open 7 days a week, insisted that he could audit their books every few months, and if they were making money, raise the rent. They went to the sign shop across the street to find out how much they needed to budget for signage. It was owned by a retired gentleman that had been an engineer in his former life, designing and building RV’s, who did NOT have to work, but his buddy in Indiana had started a sign shop and he thought it was the coolest job he’d ever seen. So, the gentleman had owned it for five years, but being of retirement age and not needing the money, he turned away any projects that were too big or that he really didn’t want to mess with. After my dad told him his concerns about the landlord and shopping center across the street, the sign shop owner said: “Why don’t you buy my business? I’m ready to move onto my next venture.”

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