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.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

Our favorite type of sign work has become the development and sale of LED Signs. Over the years this technology has grown popular and has become so easy to program and very affordable. Sunny Neon Inc., now has a sister company “SunRise LED Inc,” which solely concentrates on Research, Development, Manufacturing and Distribution of LED Signs around the world.

What types of work do you do?

Sunny Neon has evolved well beyond just a neon shop. We now retail and wholesale any type of sign imaginable. Our more popular requests have veered away from Neon. Now the most of our sales are made in LED, 3D Letters, monument signs, big format full color printing, banners and posters.

We now have corporate accounts where we produce a full spectrum of signs. Working with the architect we will manufacture and install all signs at a retail location from the exterior to interior retail marketing.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

We face the same challenges as all small businesses today – “the Economy”. Last year we suffered the worst year since we’ve owned the business. We rely on businesses opening, expanding, and increasing awareness of their business with signs.

We are very fortunate to have some excellent, loyal employees. We’ve sold our boom-trucks and no longer have in-house service and installation personnel due to the unaffordable disability Insurance. We also find it very difficult to find reliable/affordable sources for installation and service calls.

Do you have any funny customer stories?

We had a customer Dental office that had a plywood sign with a spotlight, and they asked us to replace it with Channel Letters. Since they already had the spot light we didn’t check for power but in installation we found out that the power provided was with 70 feet of extension cord. When we said that providing the power is the customer’s responsibility, the customer hired an electrician and deducted the cost from our invoice. We took him to court but we lost! I’m not sure if this is funny but it is a good experience for others to do good surveys and mention that power is provided by the customer!

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business? Your least favorite?

My favorite thing about the sign business is the creativity. There are so many types of signs and so many ways to use them in creative ways. It’s always a changing industry, with new technology and applications.

My least favorite now is how we mirror the exact effects of the Economy. If businesses are not moving/expanding/growing, our business is a direct reflection.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

SEIKO Large format printer with FlexiSign and of course our EstiMate Software and QuickBooks.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis? What impact has it had on your operation?

We use EstiMate to price out: large format printing, channel letters, retail items, and wholesale items. EstiMate has truly been a key to our success. It has given us a proven tool to price signs in a consistent manner. It’s enabled us to add staff and allow them to produce estimates for projects immediately.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

Make clear as much as you can on a project with the customer approving everything in writing. Also… don’t bother… between the taxes and overhead it will SUCK YOU DRY.

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

That we produce quality signs at affordable prices. We do not want to sell to a customer just once; we want to be their sign shop for life. We treat our customers with respect and our wish is to serve them well with a sign that will serve them well in return.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

Over the next year we are looking for some recovery in the Economy and the general sign business; however in five years we feel the sign business will be a whole new ball game. We plan to put our focus on technology – LED, LCD, 3-D.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

For Matthew he would say his primary hobby is his work. He loves to build and create success. But, unfortunately he has also discovered golf about two years ago and now is a fanatic. Alice has played golf for years and urged Matthew to learn to play. He finally gave in when she bought him a set of golf clubs for Christmas two years ago.

A Gallery of Work By Sunny Neon Sign Systems (click to enlarge)

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.

What types of work do you do?

We do mostly carved redwood and sandblasted signs. We also do the painted MDO and aluminum and banners, but mostly one of a kind stuff. We have a vinyl cutter and on a busy day it might see fifteen minutes of cutting. I do use it for making pounce patterns though.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

My favorite work is picking up a brush and going for it with a very fast scratch layout. This gives room for spontaniety and what comes out feels like making music. It has rhythm and when it swings, it feels good. Sometimes it feels forced, but the times it works makes everything worthwhile.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

Charging for the time I put into the work. I bid projects in what seems to be a reasonable time, but then apply so much extra that comes out of my pocket because I need to be pleased with the result. Little things like putting down another coat of background color because the hue didn’t work quite right.

Do you have any funny customer stories?

I was young and hungry and got a call from someone with a strong accent asking “You make leon sine.” “What? can you repeat that please, ” I asked.
They did and then asked if I could make si on wan. I asked who are you and when they mentioned a Chinese restaurant I understood. I went to their place and pulled the 4×8 acrylic panels from their sign, which they needed in two days for their opening and took them beck to my little shop to start the stripping process. Now this was long before vinyl, and lacquer thinner, rubber gloves and rolls of paper towels and a broad knife were the tools for this. It was raining outside and my ventilation was poor, but the big fan helped a lot. I worked all night and coated them with that liquid rubber masking we used to use, cut and peeled the letters and sprayed the translucent colors that afternoon. By evening I got the panels into the sign and went in and handed them the invoice for the agreed sum when I was told that they were too busy to pay me. Well there were two or three people in this large restaurant and I needed the money for groceries, so I sat on the floor in their entry by the cashier station and started singing. I sang loud. I sang “These people don’t pay their bills, they’re trying to cheat me, they might poison you….” and within a minute they had a check for me. At a later time I made a set of temporary signs for them on Masonite and saw them bungee corded to the sides of their van.

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business?

Making our community more attractive and feeling good about my work.

Your least favorite?

Needing to talk money and charge for what I love to do.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

Paints, brushes, chisels, table saw, assorted hand tools and planes. Since we are now in the time of computers, I need FlexiSign and Photoshop.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis?

Estimate gives easy pricing on the routine jobs and provides uniform pricing quickly.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

If you don’t love it, leave it alone!

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

To feel the rhythm of making a beautiful letter with a brush.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

15% more lucrative, in five years, I’ll probably want it to be someone else’s. I’ve been doing this forty two years.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

I like people more than things. I like to be where there are people gathered that want to share segments of life; cafe’s and small events.
I like fixing things and doing things that are simple and show immediate results like mowing the field. I like eating what I catch and walking along the remote coastline and forests. I like going to towns that retain their character and don’t look like everywhere else. I like my family and friends.

A Gallery Of Work By The Sign Shop (click to enlarge)

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.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

My favorite type of work in the sign business is printing and making full color signs that the customer has designed because you know they will like the end product when fabricated correctly and priced fairly.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

The biggest challenge in the sign business is the “need it yesterday factor,” as I like to call it. We work hard to inventory the right materials so we can turn things around fairly quickly on a consistent basis, but sometimes the customer’s window of time between placing the order and needing the finished product is extremely narrow.

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business? Your least favorite?

My favorite aspect of the sign business is being responsible for my own success and having the ability to translate hard work and extra hours into more returns to my family.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

I could not live without FlexiSign Pro, EstiMate, my Mutoh full-color printer, or my Graphtec Cutter.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis?

We use EstiMate every day to help calculate pricing for customer jobs, manage job quotes and orders, and to import completed jobs into our accounting software.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

If someone were starting a sign business I would highly recommend EstiMate, QuickBooks and FlexiSign Pro as they are well running, well supported, helpful and fairly-priced software applications that are not overly difficult to learn.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

In one year, I would like our sign business to be generating $220k in yearly revenues, and in five years to be generating $500k in yearly revenues.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

I enjoy exercising my faith within the sign business, working together with the Creator through prayer, Bible reading and faith, to see His hand and blessing.

A Gallery Of Work By Crawford Signs (click to enlarge)

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.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

Vinyl Banners. We can turn them around very quickly & with the Mimaki Printer we can print full color banners overnight.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

Getting customers to understand that to do a great design it takes time. Also, to get our customers to try to plan ahead so that they don’t come in at the last minute.

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business?

It is a business where everyone is a potential customer & it is something different every day.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

EstiMate Sign Pricing Software, the Internet, Flexi Sign, Photoshop, and our Mimaki JV3 Printer & Cutter.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis?

We use it every day. We now use it for estimating, Invoicing, Job Tracking, Vendor info, Customer Info. We have gotten several jobs because the quotes look very professional & plan on implementing more features into our work flow schedule to help my company stay on track.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

Like me when I started I didn’t know what to charge or what other people charged. With EstiMate I don’t have to worry about that. It is a very good tool to help me look professional & for giving quotes.

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

Honesty, Reliability, and Fairness.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

Right now we have 4 employees. My goal is to get everyone working as a team so that everyone loves coming to work. I want to have a company that is well respected in the community and to be able to serve the Lord through my business in some way.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

I really enjoy golf and softball. I have a wonderful wife and 3 kids. Our employees are a great asset to the company also. I really enjoy helping others. Something I am starting is a website called www.decalsforjesus.com We print decals from scrap vinyl to give away.

A Gallery Of Work By Decals And More (click to enlarge)

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.

Later after college and a brief stint in retail sales in Pensacola Florida, I moved back to Wilson. By this time dad’s shop had several employees but none of them were suited for billboard work due to the fear of gravity. Dad asked me if I would help out for a couple weeks while I was looking for a job. Two weeks became 23 years.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

My favorite is probably sandblasted and carved. There is something therapeutic about working in the woodshop and creating something unique with your own two hands.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

For me the biggest challenge has been dealing with lowball pricing by competitors, particularly those fairly new to the industry who do not understand the value of signs and begin lowballing as a way to attract customers.

Do you have any funny customer stories?

Probably more than I care to remember. One of my favorites is when a client called me asking when we were going to install their sign. I asked her, “Have you looked out the window?” There was a moment of silence and then what I can only describe as a blood curdling scream. She was all excited. She had no idea we had come, installed the sign and left while she was in a business meeting.

Last Monday I got a call from a guy in a nearby town. His partner had called a few months ago about the possibility of redoing their website.

I never heard back from them until this morning. He was anxious to get started and wanted to know if I could remove the old site and put up some sort of “coming soon” page. He really wanted me to do it today if I could. Apparently the members of the club had been hounding him about the site and he finally got tired of it. I told him I’d try to get something for him today. He said he didn’t care what it looked like.

I knocked it out while eating lunch.

I called him to let him know it was done and to look it over to see if it met with his approval. Moments later there were howls of laughter over the phone. He loved it. He’ll be coming by on Friday to discuss the permanent site and pricing.

Well, while I was gone on an errand he apparently was so happy that he drove 20+ miles and gave the boss two crisp $100 bills. I hadn’t given him a price but he told her that if it was more to let him know and he’d take care of it when he came by Friday for his appointment.

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business? Your least favorite?

My favorite thing is having a happy customer who’s excited about the job we did for them. It gives a sense of accomplishment that is hard for me to describe.

My least favorite is the stress. There are days when I have to get a job done that particular day and it becomes the day when every brother’s son, salesman and politician has to call or walk in to see me. One day became so unusually bad that I locked the front gate. My mistake was in not parking my truck inside the bay so no one could tell if I was there. About 30 minutes after locking the gate and was busy working on fabricating some columns, I happen to look up and see a client standing at the door. He had climbed over the barbed wire fence because he just had to talk to me right then about a possible project and I wasn’t answering my phone.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

I’d have to say it was my computer. The majority of our work today is out-of-town or out-of-state and even overseas. The need to be able to communicate with our clients effectively has become such a necessity whether it is through e-mail, file and image transfers and even net-meetings.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis?

I have two copies of Estimate installed on our network. One for my office and another at the counter in our lobby. Often while I’m on the phone with a potential client, I’m able to begin working up a quote right there on the spot. I’ve had situations where they’ve asked me how soon I can get them a quote and I tell them to check out their fax machine. I’ve completed the quote and faxed it to them while we were still on the phone together.

At the front counter, any of us at the shop can put together a quote for most types of jobs while the walk-in client waits.

What impact has it had on your operation?

It has helped us communicate more effectively with the client and build our credibility in their eyes by making us look more professional and on-the-ball. With Estimate we are more consistent in our pricing regardless of who is doing the quoting. I like the fact that I don’t have to be the one to price out every single day and still have confidence that the quotes done by others are correct.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

Two things. First, buy a copy of Mike Stevens’ “Mastering Layout: The Art of Eye Appeal”. Stevens’ book really opened my eyes about proper layout and effective design.

Second but no less important, learn not be afraid to charge what the job is worth. I had the opportunity to meet Butch Anton several years ago at a seminar he was giving at supplier’s open house. What he said had a profound effect on me – “You can’t get it if you don’t ask for it.”

Lastly, know why you charge what you charge. I’ve met shop owners who had no idea what their shop rate should be and would pull the numbers from thin air. I’ve introduced a few of them to EstiMate, using it as a tool to help them discover what it really cost them to open their shop doors every day and produce the jobs that they do.

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

A nice guy who does good work and enjoys helping other people do the same.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

A year from now I want the business to be stronger both financially and in terms of market share.

Over the years, our shop has expanded its services to include screen printing, web design, brochures, business cards, and product design. Five years from now I suspect that signage will cease to be our primary service and we will be focusing on being more of an image builder for other businesses.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

One of my dreams is to find the 1969 Mustang Fastback I used to own, restore it and travel across the country.

My grandfather turns 88 this year. After he and my grandmother moved in with my mom this past year, he handed me the keys to his 1970 Chevy CST-10 pickup. I remember him taking me fishing when I was a kid. He’d hook up his Grady-White to the back of that pickup and off we’d go early in the morning headed for the James River. There are a lot of happy memories in that truck. I’ve just started working on restoring it and hope to have it completed before he passes away. I want to ride with him at least one more time to the river.

A Gallery of Work By Creative Graphics (click to enlarge)

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.

Fortunately we had two really good young guys who stepped up to the plate and gave me a crash course in application. Our primary income was from the tourism sector, which meant a lot of night work. So, I’d work the night shift learning the ‘trade‘, and worked days doing sales.

I did that for four years. It was a really good grounding in the business because I learned the hard way, but from the ground up.

My father got ill in ’96, and we sold the assets in the business to another sign shop, and I went out on my own, working from home.

My father is now 73, and doesn’t enjoy good health, but he and my 71 yo mum work with me as offsiders, and my wife and sister help with my accounting and office work on weekends.

Fortunately we are a very close family.

What types of work do you do?

I’ve always basically stayed in the tourism sector, mostly transport signage. I have a national contract for one of Australia’s best and largest coach companies, and I also have a contract for one of Queensland’s biggest shuttle bus companies. I am also contracted to reproduce original decals for machines associated in the mining industry, mainly for machines that have been refurbished.

Another facet of my business is that I am both a subcontract wide format print supplier to the industry, and a subcontract fitter to the industry. I also volunteer my time to teach those new to the industry about product selection, quoting and installation techniques. I’m also a regular on uksignboards.com.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

That is a hard question to be honest. I love what I do. But if I have a choice of what I’d rather do, its anything to do with bus or truck signage, in the digital print realm.

I love big signage. Building up to a big picture and standing back looking at the finished result is very satisfying for me.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

Cash Flow is my number one challenge. Being essentially a one band, the time it takes quoting – designing – producing then fitting causes huge highs and lows in my income stream.

Plus, wholesalers look for loyalty from you, but rarely display any loyalty if you exceed your credit terms.

Do you have any funny customer stories?

My father and I have worked together for over 35 years. We have an excellent relationship, and share a lot of things in common. We both have for instance, a similar sense of humour, and we both play off each other really well. Its fair to say we laugh most days.

This also extends to our clients and sales reps. Rarely a job is done onsite without us having a laugh about something with the client. Some clients and most sales reps will even bring morning tea and we’ll sit down and have coffee and cake, as well as a good chat. Having a good laugh is pretty common too.

Several years ago, one of my opposition targeted my client base, trying to undermine my contracts based on price. My relationship with most of my clients is that when one of my opposition call around trying to get their business, they’ll usually drop me an email advising me who and when they called.

This one day, the operations manager was approached by this one particular sign shop asking if he could quote on getting their business.

The Manger said no, they where happy with ‘Shane and his dad‘, and had no intention to change.

The signie asked what ’shane’ had that he didn’t offer.

The manager looked at the guy and said, ‘when you supply an old guy like shanes dad, with a son like shane, that enjoy a good laugh like they do, I might talk to you, but until you come up with a better combination, you may as well leave now’

Then he rang me and related the whole experience.

The signie was livid by all accounts, and said that he’d have the last laugh when he sent be bankrupt.

That really upset the manager, so he called their security and had the signie thrown off the site.

I thought that was really funny!

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business?

People. I’ve still got most of my clients from ‘92. I work hard to maintain good relationships, and as a result I am pleased to call most of my long term clients friends, as well as clients.

Your least favorite?

My least favourite is the dishonesty in the industry. It seems some people don’t see our industry as a long term prospect, or see it as a get rich quick ideal. Here in Australia, anyone can buy a cheap sign system and call themselves a sign writer.

I have too much respect for the traditional signwriters, so refer to myself as a sign maker. I have been an advocate for application licenses by the sign industry in recent years. 3M in Australia have gone down that path with real training and real testing, not a marketing exercise as most of the other suppliers offer. I sat my exam and passed this month. I’m now a Certified ‘Silver’ 3M applicator in Australia and New Zealand.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

I have a few items that make my life easier. My Ezytaper is, for a small business like mine, a must. (I hear Ezytaper.net are going to be displaying at the 2010 Orlando Sign Show too). Its probably the best thing to come out of Australia since the Hills Hoist.

Another is my Aquaseal Liquid laminator. For my wholesale business, I’d be lost without it.

My Techink Bulk Solvent inks make my two Roland 540’s much more competitive against my opposition using solvent inks with results in CMYKOG far better than the previous eco sol inks or settings.

Last, but not least is the Estimate software. Since enlisting the software to keep track of my quotes and pricing, it is one thing less I have to worry about in my daily operation.

How do you use EstiMate on a day to day basis?

I use it for everything. I wish it had a purchase order module though.

With the wholesale business, I offer a % discount on every job produced for my sign shop clients. Usually they just quote their own clients my retail price, and know that their margin will be the discount I’ve offered them. As my prices are pretty much the industry’s going rate, they know that their client is probably being quoted a similar price, so are happy to use my prices as a guide. They all know I’m using a specialist quoting system, so that my prices will always be consistent.

What impact has it had on your operation?

I’ve been using it for a number of years now. One thing it has allowed me to do very easily, is to see what jobs are not worth doing. You can still do the job of course, but you have a clearer understanding why you are not making money on some jobs.

My accountant tells me that my margins have been much more consistent since I’ve gone from my ‘brain working out the pricing’ to the computer setting the standard.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

Sit down and do your homework. Understand the importance of margins as opposed to turnover, and don’t try and win every job. Frankly, if you win every job, you are obviously too cheap. If you get a reputation for being cheap, you’ll be pigeon holed and may miss out on a lucrative job if it comes along. You’ll attract a lot of time wasters too.

So often new shops go into a market thinking the cheapest price will automatically get the most business. But, people will pay more if they see value for money, and the cheapest way to provide value is to supply an exceptional service. Corporate clients understand that service is a value added item. The better the service, the more they will likely pay. The more lucrative jobs will usually go to the company that can impress, and the first impression is usually service related.

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

Honesty and integrity. I’m not motivated or driven by money or wealth, but I really enjoy what I do, I enjoy meeting and helping people, and hopefully that will be my legacy.

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

In the next year or two I’ll still be doing what I do I guess. In 5 years both my kids would have left school and will hopefully be working with me, which is something I really look forward too.

If they choose another career path before then, who knows, I’ll probably look at taking it easier and cut back my workload to 5 days a week – LOL!

What is the primary reason a customer should do business with your sign shop?

I’d like to think it is the personal service I offer. Easily 95% of my business is by referals, so I am always keen to do the right thing by the referer and be sure that I’m worthy of the recommendation. Not as easy as it sounds, but its cheaper than advertising.

Tell us something personal about yourself – your hobbies, interests?

Apart from being a work-a-holic?

I enjoy writing and write my own company newsletter every month. Been doing that since 2002. Started out as a kind of stress therapy and I’ve not stopped.

I also write for one of Australia’s premier wide format online printing publications as a contributor. I write about anything, but usually industry related.

I am also a keen photographer, and my teenage son and I have some quality time together spending a day at one of the airports photographing planes.

I have a D200 and a D70, and I’m one of those photographers that takes 1000 shots and might only like 2 shots in total. It drives my wife nuts!!! She takes our teenage daughter shopping on those days. She reckons its less stressful. (My hobby is a lot cheaper though!!)

I used to have my own dark room, which was my therapy in the computer industry days, but with the advent of digital photography, the darkroom was dismantled and sold.

I’m more a traditionalist photographer in that I don’t manipulate my photos with software usually. I’m hopeless at photoshop, as I’ve used Corel Draw all my sign making life, so I try and wait for the right moment to take a shot. (that really annoys my wife too LOL)

We go to New Zealand every couple of years for a 2 week vacation because on the south island, around every corner is a postcard view, and a photographers dream. Even if you do have someone in the background saying… ‘have you taken the shot yet?’

A Gallery of Work By Drew’s Sign It (click to enlarge)

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.”

My father had worked with computers his whole life, and found the brand new Gerber IVb machine that was in the shop to be fascinating, along with the large presses with the different wood and metal type that lined the walls, and the rest is history! I was 7 years old at this point, and was at the shop after school every day. While the other kids from school were playing when school wasn’t in session, I was learning how to draw shapes with x & y axis moves. I loved it, and at 31 years old now, I still do … normally

What types of work do you do?

We have always stayed a vinyl sign shop, but prided ourself on better design than your normal “quicky sticky” shop. We do vehicle lettering & graphics, window lettering, banners, large format printing, vehicle wraps, etc. and have recently begun to offer apparel screen printing, ad specialty products & printed products through the use of wholesale vendors. We try to be a one stop shop for our clients.

What is your favorite kind of sign work? Why?

Anything out of the ordinary. I used to have a guy that was into model boats & airplanes; he would bring me completely white models and say “have fun!”

Remember, I grew up with the Gerber machine, where things were more mathematically than visually determined, so I enjoy having to figure out all of the curves and lines in order to make striping and graphics fit perfectly.

What are your biggest challenges in the sign business, day to day?

I don’t know that I would say it is a challenge, but one thing that I miss from “the old days” is that clients would simply come in and say “I need a sign that says this…” and my dad would say “ok, I’ll call you when it’s done.”

He would call them in a few days, and they would come that day or the next to pick it up. These days people tend to insist on proofs for the simplist of projects, then call multiple times a day to see if it is done yet! Then, once it is done, they don’t show up for weeks to pick it up! LOL. Things are much more stressful today.

My dad is glad he is out of this business world.

Do you have any funny customer stories?

I think anyone that has been in the sign business for more than a year has experienced the engineer who wants 12″ tall letters that say “Insert your extremely long message here” in an 18″ wide space.

What’s your favorite thing about the sign business? Your least favorite?

Believe it or not, I love reading my customer’s minds. A lot of my employees get frustrated that they can’t figure out what the client has in their head, and aren’t able to put into words, or on paper. I guess I have been blessed with the ability to just “get it”, and seeing the client get excited that we are on the same page makes me smile. My least favorite thing would be the insane hours that I put in – my buddy that has a shop in the next town over and I have yet to think of anyone else in any other industry that puts in the hours that we sign folk seem to put in.

What equipment / software / materials do you work with every day that you couldn’t live without?

My Versacamm has become our most-used tool, and we treat it like gold. As far as software goes, FlexiSign & EstiMate are the backbones of our company. Every job goes through both programs.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the sign business?

A year or so back, our local newspaper asked me the same question, and I hold to the same answer… if you want to start a sign business,

work for one first!

I’m all about personal experience over book knowledge. Both are important, but when every day shop-life starts swirling around you, the book knowledge goes out the window and the experience carries you through. If you want to start a sign shop, I would recommend working for at least 3 years in one, and of course you will have to be involved in every aspect, from customer service, to working the tables, to managing people.

If you wanted to be known in the industry for one thing, what would that be?

I’d love to be a consultant for our industry. I have a few shops around that are actually competitors but call me on a regular basis with questions about pricing and software and materials and dealing with employees, etc. I’d rather be friendly, and see us all thrive and help each other out, and see quality signs and designs around me than a bunch of Times New Roman condensed to 45%, Photoshopped to death, and printed on cheap materials. My dad used to have sign painters and screen printers that would come in and sit for hours drinking coffee and sharing “war stories” about our industry, and I want to keep that cameraderie going in my business. Most see this as poor business sense, but I figure if after 21 years in business being the oldest shop in town that is still owned by it’s original owners (26 years if you add in the 1st owner) we are still around, and well respected by clients and competitors alike, we must be doing something right!

Where do you want your business to be in one year? Five?

In one year, I would like to have my staff able to completely run our shop on their own without me. In five years I would like to have a second shop in a neighboring town, running smoothly, and have myself going between the two.

What is the primary reason a customer should do business with your sign shop?

The primary reason our current customers DO come to us is because of our family feel. We have a laid back attitude, and even the “stuffiest” client leaves our shop smiling and reminded that we are all people first, and business people second.

I’ve never been that “guy smiley”, fake kind of person, and none of my employees are either. We treat them like friends and family and actually talk to them about “the big game” or ask them how their kids are doing these days, just like my father and the previous owner did. I guess we are kind of an oasis in the corporate machine that our society has become.