Accounting & Financials

The 10 Sign Shop Commandments - Part 2

In this engaging podcast Series, Peter shares his 10 Sign Shop Commandments—a comprehensive set of principles designed to drive your sign shop's financial success. These commandments aren’t just generic advice; they are presented in a unique percentage-based format, offering clear and actionable insights to help you stabilize, optimize, and elevate your business operations.Bryant and Peter delve deep into each commandment, unpacking the strategies and steps necessary for implementation. They discuss how these rules can fix sign shop owners' challenges and difficulties. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, these ten commandments serve as your roadmap to success.##-##In this episode...00:00     Intro.00:50     Sign Shop Yoda.04:40     Recap of first five commandments.06:44     Advertising Budget Query 11:17     6th Commandment: Total Payroll 21:36     7th Commandment: Average Payroll26:08     8th Commandment: Lead Conversion33:37     9th Commandment: Hourly Rate44:39     10th Commandment: Quote to Sales Order53:58      Outro##-##Are you a sign or print shop owner?Join the Better Sign Shop Community - our exclusive Facebook group for shop owners and managers. Connect and learn from peers at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bettersignshopmastermind.

The 10 Sign Shop Commandments - Part 1

In this engaging podcast Series, Peter shares his 10 Sign Shop Commandments—a comprehensive set of principles designed to drive your sign shop's financial success. These commandments aren’t just generic advice; they are presented in a unique percentage-based format, offering clear and actionable insights to help you stabilize, optimize, and elevate your business operations.Bryant and Peter dive deep into each commandment, unpacking the strategies and steps necessary for implementation. They discuss how these rules can fix sign shop owners' challenges and difficulties. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, these ten commandments serve as your roadmap to success.##-##In this episode...00:00      Intro00:32      Catching Up06:20      Year-end and sign-shop09:05      10 Sign Shop commandments11:40      1st Commandment: Gross Profit Margins15:09      2nd Commandment: Direct labor percentage18:13      3rd Commandment: Material cost26:10      4th Commandment: Operating expenses32:35      5th Commandment: Advertising budget42:20      Jason’s Question on Marketing Vendor46:23      Ride the wave (ridethewave.info)48:18      For Introverts53:33      Social Sponge (socialsponge.biz)57:03      Recap58:32      Outro##-##Are you a sign or print shop owner?Join the Better Sign Shop Community - our exclusive Facebook group for shop owners and managers. Connect and learn from peers at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bettersignshopmastermind.

Carving a Niche // Jim Dawson of Synergy Sign & Graphics

Jim Dawson owns Synergy Sign & Graphics in Strasburg, OH. From humble beginnings in his basement 20 years ago, he has built a business that thrives on challenges and innovation. In this podcast, he shares his experiences with creative architectural signage.##-##This episode is sponsored by:GCI Digital ImagingYour partner for large/grand format trade printing. Known for exceptional customer service, GCI Digital Imaging is the go-to for banners, coroplast signs, vehicle wraps, and other digitally printed graphics.Discover more in Episode #9 or visit https://gci-digital.com.Jaco Wholesale Sign ProductsLooking to enhance your clients' impact and boost your profits with flat-cut acrylic letters and logos? Jaco Wholesale Sign Products delivers laser-cut acrylic letters and signage with quick turnaround times and excellent communication. They offer a wide range of mounting options, Pantone matching, several acrylic thicknesses, and nationwide shipping.Visit https://sign.supply/bss/ for a quote and $50 off your first order.##-##Links:Dan Sawatzky Episode: https://youtu.be/QHOBWzf-5QYSynergy Signs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/synergy_signs/##-##Key Points Discussed:- Business and Personal life: Jim shares his business and personal life and how he and his wife manage it all together.- Jim's Journey: Jim shares his journey and how he ended up with signage from an animator and cabinet shop. -Architecture Projects: Jim shares with us his amazing architecture Projects and shows us the workflow of working with architecture Projects.-Client Expectation: We dive deep into this conversation, discussing the importance of knowing and fulfilling clients' expectations and how to let clients know what we expect from them.- Pricing Methods: Jim discusses his pricing method and how he decides or adjusts his pricing and profit margins.- Changes in the industry: We discuss the positive and negative aspects of the industry's changes and how they will affect the market and the future of signage. -Jim's Workshop: Jim talks about his workshop, which they conduct a few times per year. Y http://www.synergysign.com/sign-alchemy-workshops/-Sign Shop School: Jim and Peter discuss their future plan to open a sign shop school and give back to the industry.##-##In this episode...00:00            Intro 00:38            Sponsor 01:27             Catching Up 04:40            Winning a Lottery 09:12             About Jim 10:25             Working with Wife 13:55             From Animator to cabinet shop to signage 19:12              The Progression. 22:12             Storefront walk-in traffic 28:07             Inflection Point  31:12              Jim’s architecture projects    33:12              Fulfilling Client Expectations 36:25             90-day Terms 38:18              Equipments 43:20             Fire Prevention 46:02             Workflow with architecture Projects. 52:30             Pricing Method 57:05             Changes in the Industry 01:02:42        Jim’s Workshop 01:12:12          Sign Shop School##-##Are you a sign or print shop owner?Join the Better Sign Shop Community - our exclusive Facebook group for shop owners and managers. Connect and learn from peers at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bettersignshopmastermind.Interested in being a guest on the show or have questions for our team? Reach out to us at hey@bettersignshop.com.

Mastering Your Financials

When To Invest In Your Shop

Michael, Peter, and Bryant are back with more answers to listener questions. They cover...When should you invest in your shop? How do I handle a client that's NOT happy with their vehicle wrap even though they approved the proof ?What should my markups on materials be?In this episode, we discuss...Mike's panic about his upcoming wedding (01:59)Diving into when to invest in your shop (06:57)Peter's reason why he bought his first printer (09:21)Should you buy a new piece of equipment if you don't have time to learn how to use it (15:50)Why training is as important as any equipment you buy (20:10)Other types of investment into your team (27:51)The importance of simply paying your team well (31:15)How to handle un-happy customers (35:27)The situation is never black and white (39:15)Handling the situation (43:37)What to set your material markups at (51:40)Links from the episodeTopaz Labs (for enhancing pixelated images) https://www.topazlabs.com/Wrap Institute (for video courses on wrapping vehicles) https://wrapinstitute.com/Follow the crusty sign guysBryant from Better Sign ShopBetter Sign Shop Website: https://www.bettersignshop.comBetter Sign Shop Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bettersignshop Better Sign Shop Community for sign shop owners: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bettersignshopmastermind/Michael from Letterbox Sign DesignLetterbox Sign Design Website: https://www.letterboxsigndesign.com/Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LetterboxsigndesignPeter from Sign Shop ConsultingSign Shop Consulting Website: https://www.signshopconsulting.com/ Have questions you'd like to hear us answer on the air?Email us at hey@bettersignshop.comInterested in being a potential guest on the show?Fill out our guest form at https://airtable.com/shrXZebg0Ou7u5ovU

Certified Financial Planner - Ask Me Anything

Expert financial advisor and founder of Cultivate Financial Planning, Ashley Coake, joins us to answer your questions on retirement planning, paying yourself a reasonable salary, and all things financial.

Virtual CFO - Ask Me Anything

Do you have financial or accounting questions you'd like some expert advice on? We've got answers for questions on cash flow, profitability, taxes, and anything accounting.