The EstiMate Software Blog

I’m Going To Be Your Jacob Marley Today

The other day I got into a long online discussion with some folks about prosperity and success in business.  During the conversation it became evident that a few of the participants thought that succeeding in business and earning more than they needed in order to “get by” was the equivalent of cheating the customer.

I was, as usual (you all know me by now , trying to point out how exciting it can be to make enough money to retire, to have what we want in life, to work the hours we choose to work, and as a result to have all the time to do what we want to and have the life we always dreamed of having.

What I didn’t count on was that my ideas would fall on deaf ears.  And I learned a lot in the process.

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Note: This article is written from the sign shop perspective, but is applicably to any small business where time and materials are the bottom line.

The wrong hourly rate (or “shop rate”) can be like a hidden cancer for your business.

How do I know?  Because I almost killed my sign business this way in 1995. Obviously, now that EstiMate Software is my gig, I’m not making signs anymore.  I grew up in the business, though, and ran my own shop for 8 years — so I know a thing or two about how to keep it going and what matters.

One thing I know for sure is that the wrong shop rate can kill your business.  Especially in times like these. The very worst thing you can do is work for cheap.

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