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Bryant Gillespie: Learn how to build
a better sign and print shop from a

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few crusty sign guys who've made more
mistakes than they care to admit.

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Conversations and advice on
pricing, sales, marketing,

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workflow, growth, and more.

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You are listening to The Better Sign
Shop podcast with your hosts, Peter COIs,

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Michael O'Reilly, and Bryant Gillespie.

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​

Before we jump into the episode,
I'd like to give a shout out to

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our sponsor, GCI Digital Imaging
Grand Format Printer to the Trade.

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We talk a lot about outsourcing on
the podcast and the importance of.

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Good partners and gci Digital Imaging
is a good partner to have owner TJ

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bak and his team focus on providing
killer customer service just the

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way grandmother used to make it.

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If you're interested in learning
their approach to business, hop

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back into the archives to episode
nine where the guys and I interview

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TJ about customer experience.

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So if you're looking for a high quality
trade printer for banners, wraps,

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and other printed graphics that your
customers throw at you, check out

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GCI Digital imaging@printgci.com.

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All right, guys, we're back with the next
edition of the Better Sign Shop podcast

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with me, as always, the sign shop Yoda,
wearing the baby Yoda helmet or hat.

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Got Peter Caris.

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Peter Kourounis: How are you, Pete?

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Pretty good.

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Pretty good.

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I'm happy that no shave November is over.

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At the filming at the
time of this podcast.

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It is now December 1st.

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I finally shaved it all off.

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It was getting ridiculously long.

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Really excited about that.

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Also, I am a year older.

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I just celebrated my birthday,
so I am now a whopping 3,

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Bryant Gillespie: 8 38.

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Oh, congrats.

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Dude.

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I didn't even know it was your birthday.

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I feel like I

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Peter Kourounis: know every, everybody
wishes me a happy birthday on Facebook.

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Everybody did.

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I even think Chris did.

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But, but you, I,

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Bryant Gillespie: but you

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Peter Kourounis: but me.

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Well, my main squeeze

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Bryant Gillespie: forgot it's birthday.

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What a jerk.

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What a jerk Mike did.

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Peter Kourounis: Sorry, dude.

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Mi Mike did.

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Sorry, dude.

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Mike's not here, but
he, I'll give him props.

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He was like, happy birthday man.

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Appreciate you.

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Yeah.

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Bryant Gillespie: I'm sorry dude.

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I apologize.

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I'll make it up.

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And

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Peter Kourounis: you're knee,
you're knee deep in like every

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little bit of project, so I get it.

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You'll have a, you get a pass

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Bryant Gillespie: and, and flu season too.

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So, yeah, we're missing the sign burrito.

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The chi changa.

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What?

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It's not as fun when he is not here
to do the nicknames, but I know we

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had, um, cr Hey, what was the, what
was the one that Chris gave him?

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The Sign Sign Design Samurai.

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Peter Kourounis: That was a good one.

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I don't know, man.

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I don't know.

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Isn't he like the Sign Shop general?

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The sign The sign general?

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Chris Fleniken: Yeah.

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I,

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Peter Kourounis: I, listen, we just need
to stick to something between you and I.

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We just need to like, we need to make
him like a name plaque for Christmas.

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Like that's it.

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Like that, that's gonna be it.

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It's gonna be set in the stone.

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Like if and if I had it my
way, that Shimmy Chango would

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definitely be the winner for me.

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Bryant Gillespie: I like
the Jimmy Chaga for sure.

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Crusty on the outside.

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Fluffy on the inside.

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. 
Peter Kourounis: Love it.

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Love it.

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Bryant Gillespie: Updates from me, man.

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I've been at home with my wife sick
all week, and I, I gotta say I've got

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a new found respect for everything
that she does on a daily basis.

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Mm.

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It's kind of one of those things
where it's like, you know, but you,

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you have no idea type of thing.

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, like, I see everything that she
does throughout the week and how

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she keeps our house hold together
and does everything for the kids.

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Uh, but, but like actually
doing all that and try to.

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Take care of the kids and your wife and
I still have some type of involvement

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in work is extremely difficult,
and she does it every single day.

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So I feel like I have to
give a shout out to my wife.

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I hope you feel better by
the time this is released.

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If not, we're gonna have a problem.

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But I, you're amazing.

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Um,

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Peter Kourounis: ah, you are amazing.

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You are, you're all amazing.

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You're all amazing.

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Your girls are amazing.

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You're amazing.

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You, you're a very generous guy.

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You, and you know what?

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You wouldn't be the man you
are today without the strength

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of a strong woman behind you.

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There

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Bryant Gillespie: you go.

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Behind every good man,
great woman is a great.

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Yeah, so what are we talking about today?

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We are talking about a question that
has come up over and over again from a

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lot of our owners that we've talked to,
either in our Facebook community for

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sign trap, owners, plug plug, or on some
of our mastermind calls, which is, Hey,

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I am in a small town, small-ish town.

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Depending on how you define
small, how do I grow my shop?

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How do I grow my business?

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And we've got a special guest
joining us today, one of my best

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friends in the whole state of Texas.

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Probably my best friend in the
state of Texas, Chris Flynn.

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Chris runs real graphics and they
have bought up just about every

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other printing and signed business
in their small town of Lufkin, Texas.

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Like, seriously, every time
I talk to him, he's bought

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another business there in town.

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So excited to jump into
that conversation with him.

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All right, so we're back
from technical difficulties.

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We've got my man Chris Flynn from Rio
Graphics in Lufkin, Texas joining us.

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Uh, as I mentioned, Chris is probably my
favorite dude in the state of Texas, and

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I know there's a ton of dudes down there.

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Chris Fleniken: Good to be here.

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Thanks for having me.

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Appreciate it.

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It's gonna be a lot of

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fun.

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Bryant Gillespie: Yeah, Chris.

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All right, man.

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So what's the origin story?

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Like, give us, give us the real graphics
story because every time I talk to

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you, you've bought another business or
you've expanded or no, you've, you've

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got all these different things going on.

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And how big is your team now?

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They're, they're

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Chris Fleniken: like, we're we
still hover around 25 people?

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Cause we, we'll get up there sometimes,
but I think 25 is a good average.

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Sometimes we might peak out, but 28 or so.

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Yeah, happy to share.

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So, uh, I love hearing in the group
all these comments about how people

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stumbled into the sign business.

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No one intentionally planned it.

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My story's kind of similar along par
with that as far as, you know, I was

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planning do, do youth ministry work.

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I had been impacted by a great
youth pastor growing up, and I was

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like, man, that's what I wanna do.

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Have fun with teenagers, hang
out and have fun on forever.

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And, and that's what I
kinda started out doing.

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And then along the path, you know,
different churches that I was involved

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with and working at Design came up
designing graphics and logos, making

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videos to getting things printed,
getting shirts printed, things like that.

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And so along the path, just
figured out stuff along the way to.

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Making things happen.

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I, I really enjoyed that part.

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And so years into it, I was still a
single youth guy, you know, having

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a good time doing the youth ministry
side, but needed to make a living.

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And so, uh, one of the youth
pastor buddies ma said some

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magic words to me one time.

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He said, Hey, how much would you charge
me to design a poster, an event poster

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for my group and print it for me?

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I was like, man, yeah.

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Heck yeah.

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25 bucks, man.

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I'll, I'll make you a poster.

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And it just kinda started the idea
of like, I could do this for other

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people, but it never was an idea
of like, I have a business one day.

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You know, it just was,
and it just happened.

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And so my passions kind of just tweaked
that way, you know, just enjoyed working

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with customers on projects and what,
you know, and in my first year, I was

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just, you know, side hustling and doing
this and that and, and they would, you

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know, throw the burden on me of like,
Hey, here's the, here's what I want.

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And then we'd make an event poster or
a flyer and then we'd go get shirts

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printed or whatever for whatever
event's going on and things like that.

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So I was just kind of
middleman in a lot of it.

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And that's kind of, how much
did you earn that first year?

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Yeah.

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Not enough to stay afloat, , you know?

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Uh, but yeah, so I like
throw like a number

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Bryant Gillespie: out at me.

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No, I really have no

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Chris Fleniken: clue.

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There was no books involved.

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It was like, write that check lit
and uh, you know, you got cat,

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you know, it was really simple.

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But that really did just start like
this new excite my cited passion.

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And so within that year, kind of was
starting a business and luckily I put

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the name real graphics on it because
I was gonna do like real design and a.

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Printing.

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I was so close on those and
luckily, graphics was a broad one,

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so it worked out for the future.

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Um, but that's kinda
how I stumbled into it.

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And then just kind of slowly got going.

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Um, you know, I rented a little
office space just because I

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bought a little poster printer
that was an antique at the time.

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Design Jet when you guys started 2007.

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End of 2007, I rented a little office
space and uh, I bought a 1995 HP Design

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Jet 3005 CP printer that was 10 or 12
years old, used many times before me.

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And, uh, anyway, but that kind
of helped me get limping along.

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At least I could had something
in the office to hit print on.

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Uh, but anyway, I started with
that and then was outsourcing.

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And so nowadays, like fast forward,
we do a lot of stuff in-house,

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but it comes from those pain
points that I had of outsourcing

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and just relying on someone else.

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And not that, I mean great vendors
is what got me here, but just.

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That was what it was all about.

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At first, I couldn't do anything
but printing a poster in-house.

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But yeah, I just had a
good time doing that.

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And then I, I would've
hustled it along too.

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I had a day job for a year
working at our local newspaper.

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I talked him into hiring me with this much
design experience and, uh, I enjoyed, I

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mean, it was making like newspaper ads and
it wasn't that exciting, but it was really

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good practice and it got me a little,
like fast and quick, but I would like plan

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meetings at my office at my lunch break.

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So I'd be like, you know, oh yeah, I can
talk to you about that shirt project.

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How about noon?

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And I'll see you at the office.

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And I'd rush over across the, you know,
down the street to my little design shop

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office where I had, you know, a little
desk and a little printer in the corner.

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That was it.

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And, uh, but it was, that's kinda
how I got started that first year.

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And I just kind of planned it around that.

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So every day I'd pretty much
have a noon and a five o'clock

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meeting, and then I'd work in the
evening getting the stuff done.

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But I was.

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Shirt maker, the signed printer, you know,
I just, vinyl cutters, you know, all that.

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00:10:35,855 --> 00:10:40,025
Do it all guy Spanish show for the
first while and then, um, but yeah,

239
00:10:40,030 --> 00:10:41,195
fast forward down the road, man.

240
00:10:41,795 --> 00:10:44,015
I had an intern along the way
that was really good help.

241
00:10:44,015 --> 00:10:46,655
Kind of a guy that came along, wanted
to learn some stuff, jumped in.

242
00:10:47,135 --> 00:10:49,055
Uh, eventually I paid him a
little something every week.

243
00:10:49,265 --> 00:10:53,825
Um, eventually I got an email from a
girl that was a design student and,

244
00:10:53,825 --> 00:10:55,265
um, wanted to get some experience.

245
00:10:55,265 --> 00:10:58,865
So this was 2010 and I'm like, man,
I got a lot of work going on, a lot

246
00:10:58,865 --> 00:11:00,335
of different projects at that time.

247
00:11:00,665 --> 00:11:03,545
And I was like, I can give
you experience but no pay.

248
00:11:04,025 --> 00:11:07,685
And the girl was desperate
and said, sure, she'd love it.

249
00:11:08,165 --> 00:11:10,835
And, uh, came in and she was fantastic.

250
00:11:10,925 --> 00:11:14,555
Like she really knew her, like knew more
than me when I said I needed the artwork

251
00:11:14,555 --> 00:11:19,265
like this and Vector and, you know, paths
welded together, fonts out outlined.

252
00:11:19,265 --> 00:11:21,155
She knew it all and it was amazing.

253
00:11:21,155 --> 00:11:22,385
And then her creativity.

254
00:11:23,765 --> 00:11:24,605
Way beyond me.

255
00:11:24,725 --> 00:11:27,995
Um, I, I like faked it to get
us going, but like she was a

256
00:11:28,625 --> 00:11:30,665
talented artist, talented designer.

257
00:11:30,725 --> 00:11:33,305
Um, by the end of the summer,
she's fallen in love with me

258
00:11:33,305 --> 00:11:34,565
and ended up marrying this girl.

259
00:11:34,835 --> 00:11:36,695
So I met my wife, uh, in the business.

260
00:11:36,905 --> 00:11:38,315
Um, so that was really amazing.

261
00:11:38,315 --> 00:11:40,565
So she was a huge asset
though, that really just took

262
00:11:40,565 --> 00:11:41,855
our design to the next level.

263
00:11:41,860 --> 00:11:45,605
And I think foundation of our success
really has been that really good design,

264
00:11:45,605 --> 00:11:49,895
creativity, um, overdelivering customers,
what they kinda come in expecting or

265
00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:54,185
asking for, um, if we can wow 'em with
the design, they're hook, they're gonna

266
00:11:54,185 --> 00:11:56,735
love getting the sign or whatever it be.

267
00:11:56,735 --> 00:11:58,205
And so we could kind of run from there.

268
00:11:58,625 --> 00:11:59,585
So question for you, dude.

269
00:11:59,825 --> 00:12:00,035
Yeah.

270
00:12:00,095 --> 00:12:03,065
Bryant Gillespie: If, if we play
this back for m or is she gonna be

271
00:12:03,065 --> 00:12:04,385
mad that you called her Desperate.

272
00:12:05,645 --> 00:12:08,615
Chris Fleniken: No, I mean,
desperate for some work.

273
00:12:08,915 --> 00:12:11,315
She said No, I, I'm just picking man.

274
00:12:11,705 --> 00:12:15,395
Yeah, no, she, she, she said, she's like,
she sent out all these emails and like no

275
00:12:15,395 --> 00:12:18,575
one emailed her back and I was the only
person to respond and say like, yeah, you

276
00:12:18,575 --> 00:12:19,985
could come and get some experience here.

277
00:12:20,315 --> 00:12:21,515
So it worked out.

278
00:12:21,515 --> 00:12:24,515
But, but like two weeks in I was like,
Hey, I gotta start paying something

279
00:12:24,515 --> 00:12:26,615
because like she really was helpful.

280
00:12:26,615 --> 00:12:29,915
I was expecting her just to
be a body in the shop, but,

281
00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:32,600
Have to teach along the way.

282
00:12:32,690 --> 00:12:35,750
You know, I didn't expect for her to
have such a great grasp on everything.

283
00:12:35,750 --> 00:12:37,190
So it was really, really great.

284
00:12:37,430 --> 00:12:39,500
Um, but then, and then it
just kind of fell in place.

285
00:12:39,500 --> 00:12:43,070
Cause like she went back to school for
a while and we actually did start dating

286
00:12:43,070 --> 00:12:46,370
and stuff long distance, but like other
people started following in my lap,

287
00:12:46,370 --> 00:12:48,920
basically like for great, talented people.

288
00:12:48,925 --> 00:12:51,410
Like another great designer
came in, joined the team.

289
00:12:51,500 --> 00:12:53,570
Um, from there, just other
good like production team.

290
00:12:53,570 --> 00:12:55,370
My brother started working
with me around that time.

291
00:12:55,370 --> 00:12:58,280
It was really great at the production
side of cranking out signage,

292
00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,560
weed and vinyl, installing vinyl.

293
00:13:00,740 --> 00:13:04,070
So we figured a lot of stuff out in those
early years, which was really fun and

294
00:13:04,070 --> 00:13:06,230
exciting, but exhausting at the same time.

295
00:13:06,230 --> 00:13:07,280
You guys know how that goes.

296
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,170
But that was kind of
the path we got going.

297
00:13:09,170 --> 00:13:12,110
And then every few years it just
seemed like we'd kind of get to another

298
00:13:12,110 --> 00:13:15,590
level of buying, piece of equipment
that would allow us to do more.

299
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,280
Eventually we'd maxed out our
little 2200 square foot space.

300
00:13:19,969 --> 00:13:23,329
Grew into and there was no more
space to grow into in that building.

301
00:13:23,329 --> 00:13:27,829
And 2016 we bought this, uh, building
right now and it was, uh, 13,000 square

302
00:13:27,829 --> 00:13:29,270
foot building We've added on a little bit.

303
00:13:29,599 --> 00:13:32,030
So we're at 15,000 square feet now.

304
00:13:32,030 --> 00:13:34,189
And that was a game changer
cause it really led us grow

305
00:13:34,189 --> 00:13:36,140
the business as we needed to.

306
00:13:36,170 --> 00:13:38,449
I mean, back in the old shop
days, if we needed to cut an

307
00:13:38,449 --> 00:13:40,099
aluminum panel sign down, it was.

308
00:13:40,565 --> 00:13:43,835
Set a table up outside,
run an extension cord.

309
00:13:44,105 --> 00:13:44,525
I mean, just

310
00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:45,215
Bryant Gillespie: I've, I've done that.

311
00:13:45,245 --> 00:13:48,845
I can't terrible tell you how terrible,
how, how many panels that we cut at half

312
00:13:48,875 --> 00:13:52,025
on a couple of saw horses out back of the,

313
00:13:52,685 --> 00:13:53,525
Chris Fleniken: the old shop.

314
00:13:54,005 --> 00:13:58,085
If I had standard operating procedures
back then, it would be pretty fun.

315
00:13:58,295 --> 00:14:03,215
You like first run the extension
cord, second hit the tall horses

316
00:14:03,695 --> 00:14:05,405
third, whatever, you know.

317
00:14:05,525 --> 00:14:06,915
Oh, rough man.

318
00:14:07,085 --> 00:14:09,355
It was good days blade.

319
00:14:09,900 --> 00:14:10,970
Uh, what was a acm?

320
00:14:10,970 --> 00:14:12,920
I don't even know if I
figured out what a ACM was.

321
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,670
. Four years later, man, there
was so many, like I went to my

322
00:14:17,130 --> 00:14:19,910
supplier one time to pick up stuff
cause I got a desperate pitch.

323
00:14:19,915 --> 00:14:23,030
So I had to drive a couple hours
to like go get something and I'm in

324
00:14:23,030 --> 00:14:24,110
there and I'm like, what is this?

325
00:14:24,710 --> 00:14:25,850
Oh, that's PVC board.

326
00:14:25,970 --> 00:14:26,780
I didn't know.

327
00:14:26,870 --> 00:14:30,290
I mean, like, you know, no one, there was
no sales rep in my area coming to say,

328
00:14:30,290 --> 00:14:31,550
Hey, these are the things you need to do.

329
00:14:31,550 --> 00:14:33,980
I just, if you didn't know
to ask for it or whatever.

330
00:14:33,980 --> 00:14:36,800
And their websites back
then, you know, really stunk.

331
00:14:37,010 --> 00:14:37,250
Man.

332
00:14:37,250 --> 00:14:39,290
I learned a ton just walking
through that warehouse.

333
00:14:39,290 --> 00:14:40,430
I was like, can you walk me around?

334
00:14:40,435 --> 00:14:42,350
Lemme just see what substrates you have.

335
00:14:42,350 --> 00:14:44,060
And it was light bulbs going off.

336
00:14:44,060 --> 00:14:46,790
I think that's seriously whenever
I found out about ACM panel by just

337
00:14:46,790 --> 00:14:48,560
seeing it, I'm like, I need this.

338
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:49,190
What is, you know?

339
00:14:49,550 --> 00:14:49,610
Yeah.

340
00:14:49,610 --> 00:14:53,720
So, man, I wish someone would've taught
me along the way, but figured out there

341
00:14:53,930 --> 00:14:55,010
are things that we know now, right?

342
00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:56,150
Yeah.

343
00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,850
So anyway, so that, that's
kinda the, the beginning.

344
00:14:59,675 --> 00:15:03,545
Uh, we're in Lufkin, uh, Lufkin's,
about a 50,000 people town.

345
00:15:03,785 --> 00:15:06,965
We're surrounded by the, in the county,
a lot more little cities around us.

346
00:15:07,235 --> 00:15:10,055
So we got about a hundred thousand
people in our one hour reach,

347
00:15:10,415 --> 00:15:13,595
uh, which has helped us to grow,
I think, in a town our size.

348
00:15:14,075 --> 00:15:16,985
And, um, well, one thing that we've
had to do is we've kind of grew

349
00:15:16,985 --> 00:15:20,385
on what I say, sideways in our
abilities to do more for our customers

350
00:15:20,615 --> 00:15:21,965
because there's not a lot of people.

351
00:15:22,580 --> 00:15:23,960
Are doing all these different things.

352
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,740
So if they can come to one shop, get more
things done, I think that's helped us

353
00:15:27,740 --> 00:15:30,200
to survive and grow through these years.

354
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,470
Because there's been times where
maybe a January, February where shirt

355
00:15:33,470 --> 00:15:36,590
business really slowed down, but at
least we were doing signage and all

356
00:15:36,590 --> 00:15:38,510
these other things to stay afloat.

357
00:15:38,515 --> 00:15:42,050
I remember one year we were doing
a lot of websites and luckily man,

358
00:15:42,055 --> 00:15:45,320
we did hardly any signage and very
little other stuff in December.

359
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,070
But we did several website builds and
it really helped carry us through.

360
00:15:49,070 --> 00:15:53,270
And so I think offering a lot of
stuff in our smaller rural area has

361
00:15:53,275 --> 00:15:57,230
been a big, big help to our survival
and growth through the years.

362
00:15:57,470 --> 00:15:59,690
So yeah, that's kinda how we got
started and everything was outsourced.

363
00:15:59,690 --> 00:16:03,470
And then basically we've become a pain
point, like t-shirts for instance,

364
00:16:03,470 --> 00:16:07,040
we would outsource seeing one guy
down the street, uh, did a good job.

365
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,460
But two got to a point where our
orders were getting bigger and

366
00:16:10,550 --> 00:16:13,610
more frequent and eventually we
had to do something about it.

367
00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,190
Started printing t-shirts
in my brother's garage.

368
00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:17,510
Um, eventually built a little.

369
00:16:17,974 --> 00:16:21,935
Affordable building shop behind our
office and that roughed us through

370
00:16:21,935 --> 00:16:24,814
a few more years until we were able
to move into the building right now.

371
00:16:25,055 --> 00:16:25,324
You know?

372
00:16:25,324 --> 00:16:28,204
But like a lot of things that limited
us in the shop we were in before when

373
00:16:28,204 --> 00:16:32,675
we started going was like, we didn't
have two 20 power to add any, like the

374
00:16:32,675 --> 00:16:35,765
latex printers we wanted, you know,
we didn't have space for it anyway.

375
00:16:36,005 --> 00:16:38,555
You know, laminator had
to be done elsewhere.

376
00:16:38,555 --> 00:16:40,594
I mean, it's just a lot
of pain points installs.

377
00:16:40,594 --> 00:16:44,795
We'd borrow a shop down the street to
go do some installs at and a tip shop.

378
00:16:44,844 --> 00:16:47,765
And so we just had to do a lot of
flexing to make things work and took

379
00:16:47,765 --> 00:16:49,655
a lot of energy to do simple task.

380
00:16:49,775 --> 00:16:51,515
We got this build bigger building.

381
00:16:51,515 --> 00:16:54,844
A lot of those things became more
routine and that to start growing

382
00:16:54,844 --> 00:16:56,165
and scaling up little bit better.

383
00:16:56,165 --> 00:16:58,204
So that was a huge help in our growth.

384
00:16:58,204 --> 00:17:01,385
And so now we offer, talk to us about

385
00:17:01,385 --> 00:17:04,534
Bryant Gillespie: what, give us
the, the whole scope of what you

386
00:17:04,534 --> 00:17:10,234
guys offer, what you guys offer
in house, because you guys do.

387
00:17:10,609 --> 00:17:14,720
Like, out of every shop that I've
talked to, you guys might do the

388
00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:16,909
most stuff in-house that I've ever

389
00:17:16,909 --> 00:17:17,209
Chris Fleniken: seen.

390
00:17:17,449 --> 00:17:20,179
So when you walk in, we've
got front sales team.

391
00:17:20,179 --> 00:17:24,169
So we have three or four sales reps, uh,
that are talking with customers, taking

392
00:17:24,169 --> 00:17:26,510
orders, boom, phone, email, or in person.

393
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:28,099
Um, and then you go back from there.

394
00:17:28,099 --> 00:17:29,600
We got production starts.

395
00:17:29,870 --> 00:17:33,590
We have an apparel department
running embroidery, sublimation,

396
00:17:33,949 --> 00:17:36,199
uh, D T G and screen printing.

397
00:17:36,409 --> 00:17:38,840
We've got a full small format print shop.

398
00:17:38,929 --> 00:17:42,770
So we're doing digital printing
and it's, I mean, I'd say a smaller

399
00:17:42,830 --> 00:17:44,570
operation, but just real versatile.

400
00:17:44,570 --> 00:17:48,889
So notepads, envelope printing, we do a
lot of mailers, um, direct mail stuff.

401
00:17:48,889 --> 00:17:50,990
So we're preparing it, sending
it straight to the post office.

402
00:17:51,110 --> 00:17:52,760
I postcards all those great things in.

403
00:17:53,645 --> 00:17:54,395
Does everybody

404
00:17:54,395 --> 00:17:56,195
Bryant Gillespie: still
do NCR forms in Texas?

405
00:17:56,195 --> 00:17:59,015
Chris Fleniken: Man, they're
running like seriously?

406
00:17:59,015 --> 00:18:02,495
No, like right now they're running
numbered NCR forms and it's a

407
00:18:02,495 --> 00:18:04,355
big long run of so many thousand.

408
00:18:04,355 --> 00:18:06,875
And so they're like,
don't, don't stop anything.

409
00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:08,975
It's just they don't wanna
interrupt the numbering.

410
00:18:08,975 --> 00:18:10,745
So those are still running hot right now.

411
00:18:11,165 --> 00:18:13,085
Uh, that used to be bread and butter for

412
00:18:13,085 --> 00:18:16,475
Bryant Gillespie: us on some of the, like
the local businesses, like especially

413
00:18:16,475 --> 00:18:20,975
like the service businesses, like the
plumbers or the Yeah man contractors.

414
00:18:21,365 --> 00:18:25,805
Like, Hey, we gotta have the
three part number tickets because

415
00:18:25,805 --> 00:18:28,910
that's how everything is organized
in a, a capital somewhere.

416
00:18:29,285 --> 00:18:31,355
Chris Fleniken: Hey, we can even
bite it in a booklet for you, man.

417
00:18:31,355 --> 00:18:33,065
We can do just, we Gotcha.

418
00:18:33,485 --> 00:18:34,775
So yeah, stuff like that.

419
00:18:34,775 --> 00:18:37,505
The print shop's super great
and versatile, you know, all

420
00:18:37,505 --> 00:18:38,405
the way down to like threaten.

421
00:18:38,935 --> 00:18:42,505
Invitations for baby shower and
you know, dressing the envelopes,

422
00:18:42,510 --> 00:18:44,155
mailing 'em out, turnkey.

423
00:18:44,155 --> 00:18:45,655
So real versatile on that.

424
00:18:45,955 --> 00:18:47,965
Our signage department's
pretty wide in signage.

425
00:18:47,965 --> 00:18:52,285
We have the vehicle wraps, decals,
vehicle wraps for vehicles, signed

426
00:18:52,285 --> 00:18:55,735
production items like yard signs and
banners and those types of things.

427
00:18:55,885 --> 00:18:59,905
Um, and then also in that same areas,
the same fabrication, building the sign

428
00:18:59,910 --> 00:19:04,345
cabinets, installing channel letter sets,
doing installs for, uh, electrical signs.

429
00:19:04,525 --> 00:19:07,285
Um, we've finally actually done a
couple, uh, digital board signs.

430
00:19:07,285 --> 00:19:09,775
That was something we've been
growing into the last few years.

431
00:19:09,775 --> 00:19:12,535
And so, um, but yeah, so
pretty versatile little shop.

432
00:19:12,540 --> 00:19:16,045
We have engraving also in
signage, laser engraver, flatbed

433
00:19:16,045 --> 00:19:17,505
printers, uh, laminators.

434
00:19:18,695 --> 00:19:21,995
We had 10 foot wide roll printers
and do more banners in house.

435
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,115
We got a couple latex printers
to keep the vinyl getting printed

436
00:19:25,115 --> 00:19:26,284
and wraps and stuff like that.

437
00:19:26,705 --> 00:19:28,985
So, versatile shop, we're not the biggest.

438
00:19:28,985 --> 00:19:31,115
We're not, I mean, I love seeing
some of the bigger ones that just

439
00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,385
are running all these flatbeds and
running, you know, just all this.

440
00:19:34,385 --> 00:19:37,264
So, but we're very versatile
and so it's all about just

441
00:19:37,264 --> 00:19:37,415
Bryant Gillespie: kind.

442
00:19:37,415 --> 00:19:39,935
There's, there's hardly anything
you guys couldn't produce in.

443
00:19:40,850 --> 00:19:44,270
Chris Fleniken: So we do love
that 85 to 95%, depending on

444
00:19:44,270 --> 00:19:45,860
the month, is done in house.

445
00:19:45,865 --> 00:19:47,899
So very few like fabric display stuff.

446
00:19:47,899 --> 00:19:49,189
We, you know, we outsource that.

447
00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:50,810
Probably'll always outsource that.

448
00:19:50,929 --> 00:19:53,419
You know, every now and then there's
some unique printing products of

449
00:19:53,419 --> 00:19:57,350
like foil printing, um, some things
like, uh, specialty, you know,

450
00:19:57,350 --> 00:19:59,300
laminations of paper products.

451
00:19:59,300 --> 00:20:00,679
We might outsource those jobs.

452
00:20:01,159 --> 00:20:04,580
But yeah, we love being able to kind
of keep a, a hold on all the quality,

453
00:20:04,580 --> 00:20:09,780
the pricing, the stuff, but the
downside, and I mean, Peter, you, you

454
00:20:09,780 --> 00:20:13,250
could definitely go off of this one
for me, but is all the headaches that

455
00:20:13,254 --> 00:20:14,389
come with that, you know what I mean?

456
00:20:14,389 --> 00:20:17,179
I've heard you guys comment about
some of the beauty of sending some

457
00:20:17,179 --> 00:20:20,149
things out, let someone else do it,
focus on what they're good at, you

458
00:20:20,149 --> 00:20:22,340
know, but kinda been in that struggle.

459
00:20:22,340 --> 00:20:23,810
So yeah, it's just been good.

460
00:20:23,810 --> 00:20:24,620
And I think just.

461
00:20:25,700 --> 00:20:29,360
I think our town, maybe it's not just me,
but I, I swear we're a last minute Lufkin.

462
00:20:29,900 --> 00:20:32,120
You know, it just seems like
everything's always outta rush.

463
00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:32,720
You know what I mean?

464
00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,220
Like the Christmas parade, we know it's
coming in December every year, but all

465
00:20:37,220 --> 00:20:41,630
week has been, could you print me the,
you know, and it's like, so to have those

466
00:20:41,630 --> 00:20:44,690
abilities in house, it is awesome to be
able to come through with customers and,

467
00:20:45,110 --> 00:20:48,050
and it's not a big deal to like, Hey,
you know what, what's six more sheets of

468
00:20:48,050 --> 00:20:49,670
quarter running on that printer today?

469
00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:51,230
It's, it's great, it's good.

470
00:20:51,590 --> 00:20:55,010
But if we didn't have that ability
in house, we would be in a tight

471
00:20:55,010 --> 00:20:57,140
spot and have to say no a lot more.

472
00:20:57,470 --> 00:21:01,100
So I do love that, but I think
I'm getting the gray hair from.

473
00:21:01,715 --> 00:21:04,835
Keeping all those things going
and there's not three pieces of

474
00:21:04,835 --> 00:21:06,065
equipment that could break down today.

475
00:21:06,065 --> 00:21:09,665
There's 20, you know, so there's
so many more things that could go

476
00:21:09,665 --> 00:21:11,555
wrong and, and problems to overcome.

477
00:21:11,555 --> 00:21:13,436
And so that's kinda, I, I don't think

478
00:21:13,441 --> 00:21:15,515
Bryant Gillespie: that's,
um, that last minute deal.

479
00:21:15,515 --> 00:21:17,765
I don't, I don't think
that's a Lufkin problem.

480
00:21:17,945 --> 00:21:19,115
No, just, I just tell

481
00:21:19,115 --> 00:21:22,835
Chris Fleniken: you, I think that's
why the sign shop groups have been

482
00:21:22,835 --> 00:21:26,675
such good therapy this last year is
just like, okay, you know, and I'm not

483
00:21:26,675 --> 00:21:29,105
the only one or we've done that too.

484
00:21:29,110 --> 00:21:33,125
And so it's been kinda good to hear
some other guys' stories and and relate.

485
00:21:33,695 --> 00:21:33,935
Bryant Gillespie: Yeah.

486
00:21:33,935 --> 00:21:37,895
Especially in the industry that's pr you
know, traditionally kind of closed off,

487
00:21:37,895 --> 00:21:41,405
you know, that's, that's where we're
having a lot of fun with this on the,

488
00:21:41,410 --> 00:21:43,295
the podcast and the group and everything.

489
00:21:43,300 --> 00:21:47,285
I know Peter and I and Michael, like
this has been, yeah, probably the

490
00:21:47,285 --> 00:21:50,105
highlight of my sign career, I would say.

491
00:21:50,110 --> 00:21:53,315
Getting to just talk shop with
everybody every single day.

492
00:21:53,375 --> 00:21:53,585
Yeah.

493
00:21:53,590 --> 00:21:53,795
Yeah.

494
00:21:54,215 --> 00:21:56,345
Chris Fleniken: But, and I love that
the signage community seems to be

495
00:21:56,345 --> 00:21:58,275
a lot more opening and helping and.

496
00:21:59,590 --> 00:22:02,810
Probably plenty critical, but
maybe a little supportive.

497
00:22:03,290 --> 00:22:06,350
But like apparel side, like, I
don't think screen printers, like,

498
00:22:06,470 --> 00:22:07,880
they don't share tips as much.

499
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,550
They're not like, I don't
think as much is a signage.

500
00:22:10,550 --> 00:22:12,020
So I mean, we do a little bit of both.

501
00:22:12,020 --> 00:22:15,350
And so I'm, you know, you know,
different groups and stuff and you, but

502
00:22:15,370 --> 00:22:17,570
Peter Kourounis: you wanna know
why I, I have a theory on this

503
00:22:17,570 --> 00:22:18,710
and I actually believe you.

504
00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:21,560
Uh, not only I believe you, I agree
with you and you're in the screen

505
00:22:21,565 --> 00:22:24,830
printing business, which I came
from Bryant's part of, you know,

506
00:22:24,835 --> 00:22:26,780
you, you, you dabbled in it as well.

507
00:22:27,110 --> 00:22:31,820
There's really not too many
ways to skin this cat, right?

508
00:22:32,450 --> 00:22:35,540
You have to burn screens, you
have to get a silk screen machine.

509
00:22:35,570 --> 00:22:36,590
You have to dry it.

510
00:22:36,980 --> 00:22:41,480
If you can't figure it out, you
shouldn't be in the business, right?

511
00:22:42,950 --> 00:22:45,950
From a design perspective, setting
up your processes, setting up your,

512
00:22:45,955 --> 00:22:50,030
your, your spot colors, burning
those screens, it's all the same.

513
00:22:50,389 --> 00:22:51,979
Nobody does it differently.

514
00:22:52,010 --> 00:22:54,800
Maybe some people do it
a bit more efficiently.

515
00:22:55,100 --> 00:22:57,469
They have larger shops, better equipment.

516
00:22:57,530 --> 00:22:58,070
Okay.

517
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:02,570
But I'm not gonna talk to you about how
to set up your shop and compete with me.

518
00:23:03,110 --> 00:23:03,320
Yeah.

519
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:03,620
Right?

520
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:05,479
Chris Fleniken: Yeah,
because it's the same,

521
00:23:05,959 --> 00:23:07,820
Peter Kourounis: becau uh, I'll
take this from a pricing course.

522
00:23:07,824 --> 00:23:09,649
It's the same unit of work, right?

523
00:23:10,010 --> 00:23:10,189
Yeah.

524
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:11,010
It's

525
00:23:11,510 --> 00:23:12,800
Bryant Gillespie: the
same medium every time.

526
00:23:12,860 --> 00:23:14,239
You know, like it's, yeah, yeah.

527
00:23:14,300 --> 00:23:17,449
It's, it's kind of freeing because
hey, you know, you're printing on a

528
00:23:17,449 --> 00:23:22,280
garment and depending on your pallet
size, it's like, Hey, we're not

529
00:23:22,284 --> 00:23:27,649
gonna do anything other than like
12 by 16 or 14 by 20 or something

530
00:23:27,649 --> 00:23:30,350
on a a t-shirt or a bag or a hoodie.

531
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:36,449
So those constraints are, are definitely
cool on the design side, where you're

532
00:23:36,449 --> 00:23:40,760
kind of working against and you come
up with different ways to decorate a

533
00:23:40,764 --> 00:23:43,340
shirt or, you know, make it stand out.

534
00:23:43,399 --> 00:23:45,590
But yeah, process wise, it's.

535
00:23:46,054 --> 00:23:48,754
Peter Kourounis: It's, I could buy, I
could buy the shirts from the same place.

536
00:23:48,844 --> 00:23:51,485
I can buy my ink from the same place.

537
00:23:51,814 --> 00:23:52,054
Yeah.

538
00:23:52,084 --> 00:23:55,584
You know, so from, in a lot, in a lot of
areas, when you're in a, when you're a

539
00:23:55,590 --> 00:23:57,965
shirt shop, it's all about efficiency.

540
00:23:58,115 --> 00:24:01,625
Can you, how quickly can you pump
out a shirt for a customer to pay,

541
00:24:01,685 --> 00:24:07,024
uh, a price That's probably pretty
consistent in almost every market.

542
00:24:07,385 --> 00:24:07,475
Mm-hmm.

543
00:24:07,715 --> 00:24:07,865
. Right?

544
00:24:08,495 --> 00:24:08,584
True.

545
00:24:08,584 --> 00:24:12,185
I could buy the shirts the same place,
I could get the ink from the same place.

546
00:24:12,274 --> 00:24:12,665
Okay.

547
00:24:12,935 --> 00:24:17,824
So that's why I believe that there
isn't a lot of help in that industry

548
00:24:18,334 --> 00:24:20,074
because it's very consistent.

549
00:24:20,314 --> 00:24:21,905
Learn it, watch a YouTube video.

550
00:24:21,935 --> 00:24:26,855
Almost everybody does it the same way
in the sign business and everybody

551
00:24:26,855 --> 00:24:29,735
here knows this, but so I might
be stating the obvious, but there

552
00:24:29,945 --> 00:24:31,355
are so many ways to skin a cat.

553
00:24:31,564 --> 00:24:36,024
I could show you an image of a sign
and we all can come up with probably

554
00:24:36,030 --> 00:24:37,685
a dozen ways that that could be made.

555
00:24:38,074 --> 00:24:40,115
And that's also what fluctuates the price.

556
00:24:40,355 --> 00:24:42,725
That's also what fluctuates the workflow.

557
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,320
The costs, the labor factor.

558
00:24:45,530 --> 00:24:47,629
So there's a lot more moving
parts in this business.

559
00:24:47,629 --> 00:24:51,620
And, and before we kind of dump, jump
into it here, Chris, I, I, I kind of

560
00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:54,560
wanna go back to the beginning part
of this conversation, if we may.

561
00:24:54,830 --> 00:24:58,010
You know, Bryant gave you a
really great introduction, but

562
00:24:58,490 --> 00:24:59,629
we never really touched it.

563
00:25:00,050 --> 00:25:06,500
What businesses other than this one do you
own and how do you afford that time to do

564
00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:06,830
Chris Fleniken: it all?

565
00:25:07,190 --> 00:25:10,340
Working on the time part sign
business was the main thing.

566
00:25:10,340 --> 00:25:11,060
Got going.

567
00:25:11,180 --> 00:25:14,000
I've always thought the storage
unit business was interesting.

568
00:25:14,629 --> 00:25:17,000
And so when a customer came in as.

569
00:25:18,064 --> 00:25:20,375
2011, 12, somewhere in that range.

570
00:25:20,705 --> 00:25:24,245
And, uh, was talking to my wife about
some si a logo and some signage for

571
00:25:24,245 --> 00:25:25,774
the sign, bus, uh, storage business.

572
00:25:25,774 --> 00:25:28,745
They were gonna start up, bought
a property, blah, blah, blah.

573
00:25:28,985 --> 00:25:32,044
That wasn't existing business,
but he was gonna make it a go.

574
00:25:32,195 --> 00:25:35,135
And, um, so she made the comment to
him, like my husband's always mentioned,

575
00:25:35,135 --> 00:25:36,395
he wanted to do storage business.

576
00:25:37,205 --> 00:25:39,905
That would be a cool industry to get
into or whatever, made some comment.

577
00:25:40,205 --> 00:25:42,875
Well, the guy called back was like,
Hey, have you printed the signs yet?

578
00:25:43,205 --> 00:25:44,615
She's like, no's said, hold off.

579
00:25:45,034 --> 00:25:46,805
I, I found something
else I wanna do instead.

580
00:25:46,810 --> 00:25:49,355
I think I just wanna get out
from underneath this property.

581
00:25:49,625 --> 00:25:50,795
Would y'all be interested?

582
00:25:50,795 --> 00:25:52,655
And so went, looked at
it and it was perfect.

583
00:25:52,655 --> 00:25:57,514
It was 52 units, an old property that
just wasn't in an active business

584
00:25:57,514 --> 00:25:59,014
and hadn't been for like 10 years.

585
00:25:59,375 --> 00:26:01,445
And so we bought that, turned
it into storage unit business.

586
00:26:01,445 --> 00:26:05,795
It's been good for us and a good diverse
option, you know, to have along the way.

587
00:26:06,095 --> 00:26:09,935
And then, um, I bought the building
that we used to be, uh, rent from.

588
00:26:09,935 --> 00:26:10,985
We bought that whole little building.

589
00:26:10,985 --> 00:26:11,975
So it's three different tenants.

590
00:26:11,975 --> 00:26:13,565
So I got a little
commercial building there.

591
00:26:13,925 --> 00:26:16,024
Uh, we upkeep and, and, and rent out.

592
00:26:16,024 --> 00:26:17,555
It stays nice and rented.

593
00:26:17,885 --> 00:26:19,445
Uh, some to some great businesses.

594
00:26:19,835 --> 00:26:21,514
Bought an ice house in 2020.

595
00:26:21,665 --> 00:26:23,495
You know, the vending machine, ice houses.

596
00:26:23,645 --> 00:26:23,915
Um,

597
00:26:23,945 --> 00:26:25,445
Bryant Gillespie: how much
paper do you have, Pete?

598
00:26:25,445 --> 00:26:26,014
You could be here.

599
00:26:27,020 --> 00:26:31,800
Chris Fleniken: What I'm trying,
I'm trying, I've got a lot of

600
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:32,160
Peter Kourounis: goats.

601
00:26:32,165 --> 00:26:34,160
I'm like, wow, this guy
went to storage unit.

602
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:35,960
I'm like, okay, let's
keep going about that.

603
00:26:35,990 --> 00:26:36,890
Let's do some research

604
00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:37,100
Bryant Gillespie: there.

605
00:26:37,340 --> 00:26:41,540
So the, the ice house, and I
didn't even know this was a thing.

606
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:42,110
Yeah.

607
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:43,340
They don't have this in, they're

608
00:26:43,340 --> 00:26:44,180
Chris Fleniken: not your area.

609
00:26:44,185 --> 00:26:44,390
Yeah.

610
00:26:44,395 --> 00:26:49,460
So basically it's like a free standing,
you know, 10 by probably 20 little

611
00:26:49,550 --> 00:26:53,240
building structure that basically has
a big ice machine in there and a big

612
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,400
bin and it dispenses bags of ice out.

613
00:26:55,730 --> 00:26:57,110
So it's an ice vending machine.

614
00:26:57,170 --> 00:26:58,580
Um, I always thought they were cool.

615
00:26:58,580 --> 00:27:01,850
Made a comment to a local guy
about like, Hey, do you own

616
00:27:01,850 --> 00:27:03,320
the machine on your property?

617
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:04,610
I think that's really a neat business.

618
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:06,500
And he basically was
like, no, I don't own it.

619
00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:07,720
I just lease the property.

620
00:27:08,274 --> 00:27:11,514
I know the guy who does, and next
thing I know, he comes to see me

621
00:27:11,514 --> 00:27:14,365
at my office, like, talks me into,
Hey, you wanna buy this from me?

622
00:27:14,784 --> 00:27:16,825
. And I was a sucker and jumped in.

623
00:27:16,825 --> 00:27:20,335
I thought it would be a great, you know,
again, a diverse option to jump into.

624
00:27:20,425 --> 00:27:25,165
Um, we did start a Lufkin Real
Estate magazine back in 2012,

625
00:27:25,405 --> 00:27:28,435
and it was basically, there was
just not a printed publication of

626
00:27:28,524 --> 00:27:30,475
real estate listings in our area.

627
00:27:30,595 --> 00:27:31,735
Um, and that was really good.

628
00:27:31,735 --> 00:27:34,585
It went for a while, I think, till 2017.

629
00:27:34,705 --> 00:27:37,705
Um, so I tried, I've tried several
things that didn't really take off

630
00:27:37,710 --> 00:27:41,875
and do much, but, but yeah, as far
as businesses, we still got, um, the

631
00:27:41,879 --> 00:27:43,794
storage unit business is, is, is good.

632
00:27:44,125 --> 00:27:47,004
Um, the ice house is up and down
depending how things are rolling.

633
00:27:47,034 --> 00:27:49,705
We love Hot Summers and we sell
a lot of ice during the summer.

634
00:27:50,004 --> 00:27:51,205
Let's see, let's see.

635
00:27:51,205 --> 00:27:52,195
That's not that bad.

636
00:27:52,790 --> 00:27:56,570
Now I bought some businesses
along the way,  and merged in.

637
00:27:56,639 --> 00:27:57,919
I was, wait, I was waiting, dude.

638
00:27:58,310 --> 00:28:02,169
So before, I was always thinking
why would someone buy an existing

639
00:28:02,175 --> 00:28:03,200
business when you could start it?

640
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,500
And I guess because I had started
a few things, it just made sense

641
00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:08,780
of just like get it off the ground
and running the way you want it.

642
00:28:08,899 --> 00:28:12,620
You don't have overhead of buying
something, you know, preexisting.

643
00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:13,129
You don't.

644
00:28:13,534 --> 00:28:17,925
I don't, I just, it didn't seem like
a really great fit until it was 2015.

645
00:28:18,044 --> 00:28:21,225
I made a little goal list and like one
of the biggest items on there, and a

646
00:28:21,225 --> 00:28:23,205
big pain point we had was em embroidery.

647
00:28:23,294 --> 00:28:25,364
I mean, it just continued
to grow as a demand.

648
00:28:25,370 --> 00:28:28,245
We were outsourcing this great
person locally that was doing it

649
00:28:28,245 --> 00:28:31,875
at our house, but again, the orders
were getting bigger, more frequent.

650
00:28:31,875 --> 00:28:35,175
I didn't have control on pricing,
turnaround times, quantity,

651
00:28:35,324 --> 00:28:36,915
uh, quality, uh, was good.

652
00:28:36,915 --> 00:28:38,895
But so I just didn't have
any control, any of that.

653
00:28:39,135 --> 00:28:41,685
So the goal was like, how
do I get into embroidery?

654
00:28:41,889 --> 00:28:42,910
Doing it ourselves.

655
00:28:42,940 --> 00:28:43,870
I didn't have the space.

656
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:49,150
And I get a phone call early 2016,
mid 2016 from a girl and she's like,

657
00:28:49,150 --> 00:28:50,680
Hey, I'm calling you about two things.

658
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:54,879
One, my boss has an embroidery business
and he's wanting to retire and sell.

659
00:28:54,970 --> 00:28:58,150
Um, and two, I'm gonna be looking
for a job soon, wondering if

660
00:28:58,155 --> 00:28:59,200
you'd have any work for me.

661
00:28:59,260 --> 00:29:02,110
And it was a, a great
deal that fell into place.

662
00:29:02,110 --> 00:29:07,450
The guy had the thema embroidered machines
that I was researching and looking into.

663
00:29:07,450 --> 00:29:11,139
He hadn't started the process
of, um, large format sublimation

664
00:29:11,139 --> 00:29:12,790
for like sport jerseys.

665
00:29:12,970 --> 00:29:15,760
So kinda had that going a little bit
as a side thing he was trying to go

666
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:19,870
to, but just kinda was done it for 20
years more and was just ready to retire.

667
00:29:19,870 --> 00:29:22,480
And that deal was really great.

668
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,690
So basically the money that I
bought the business for, there was

669
00:29:25,690 --> 00:29:27,490
enough equipment and business there.

670
00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:28,835
To pay for itself.

671
00:29:29,045 --> 00:29:32,075
And I rented his building until he
got a bigger one a year later, and

672
00:29:32,075 --> 00:29:33,335
it just really worked out great.

673
00:29:33,515 --> 00:29:37,475
Another thing that came along the
way was in 2017, we had outsourced to

674
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,905
this other local print shop for years.

675
00:29:40,025 --> 00:29:42,755
Um, and so they were great for
like the quicks things, the smaller

676
00:29:42,755 --> 00:29:46,535
quantities, the odd quantities, uh,
just like unique projects that could

677
00:29:46,535 --> 00:29:48,305
always send that eastex printing.

678
00:29:48,695 --> 00:29:51,995
So, and we had talked about buying
that shop for a couple years

679
00:29:51,995 --> 00:29:53,105
and it just never made sense.

680
00:29:53,105 --> 00:29:54,065
We didn't have the space.

681
00:29:54,065 --> 00:29:58,025
It, the overhead, having a second
location was a big thing to get overcome.

682
00:29:58,265 --> 00:30:00,755
Well, when we bought this
big building room, now we had

683
00:30:00,905 --> 00:30:02,105
plenty of space at that time.

684
00:30:02,105 --> 00:30:03,515
Like we didn't know how
we were gonna fill it.

685
00:30:03,575 --> 00:30:06,455
And when the owner came over and we
were just chatting, I was showing him

686
00:30:06,460 --> 00:30:09,665
the new space little tour, he's like,
man, you gotta buy the print shop.

687
00:30:10,525 --> 00:30:12,965
You could put it in this part
of the building and you know, so

688
00:30:12,965 --> 00:30:14,014
he kinda opened my eyes to that.

689
00:30:14,014 --> 00:30:15,215
I'm like, well, crap, you're right.

690
00:30:15,245 --> 00:30:18,425
We could . And so we kinda
worked the deal in a few months

691
00:30:18,514 --> 00:30:19,775
and we bought that business.

692
00:30:19,775 --> 00:30:21,575
He came to work with us, the whole team.

693
00:30:21,905 --> 00:30:24,935
We basically downsized it from
a 5,000 square foot building.

694
00:30:24,935 --> 00:30:28,295
They were in to our 3,500
square foot area we had for it.

695
00:30:28,504 --> 00:30:29,764
And it was great.

696
00:30:29,764 --> 00:30:32,165
And so again, it just
fell into place again.

697
00:30:32,525 --> 00:30:36,245
We were already outsourcing to 'em at
least a couple thousand dollars a month.

698
00:30:36,275 --> 00:30:38,915
So I financed a little
business loan there.

699
00:30:39,275 --> 00:30:43,085
Again, the customers that followed, we
were able to offer them more services.

700
00:30:43,085 --> 00:30:43,385
Then.

701
00:30:43,385 --> 00:30:45,875
It wasn't just about printing,
Hey, who's doing your t-shirts?

702
00:30:45,875 --> 00:30:48,155
We'd love to do that, uh, websites.

703
00:30:48,155 --> 00:30:51,785
And we were able to pick up other types of
jobs from those, those current customers.

704
00:30:51,790 --> 00:30:55,504
So that was another deal that
really just worked in, was great.

705
00:30:55,565 --> 00:30:57,754
A few years later, after
that was embroidery.

706
00:30:57,785 --> 00:30:58,805
Um, no, I'm sorry, engraving.

707
00:30:59,195 --> 00:30:59,795
We were outsourcing.

708
00:30:59,795 --> 00:31:01,685
Engraving to a girl did a good job.

709
00:31:01,685 --> 00:31:03,395
But again, we just
didn't have that control.

710
00:31:04,055 --> 00:31:07,445
We were able to hire her and buy her
business and equipment, kind of bring

711
00:31:07,450 --> 00:31:11,825
it under the same roof, and that helped
us again, go from just doing some

712
00:31:11,825 --> 00:31:15,274
embroidery jobs every month to just,
we're constantly running at a machine.

713
00:31:15,274 --> 00:31:16,475
So it's been really cool.

714
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:18,965
Little things like that that've
kind of fell in place and so like,

715
00:31:18,965 --> 00:31:22,715
it's just changed my attitude to why
buy a existing business and their

716
00:31:22,715 --> 00:31:25,825
problems and their old stuff to it.

717
00:31:25,825 --> 00:31:29,885
It can work out really well just
depending on, I guess, the reputation, the

718
00:31:29,885 --> 00:31:31,945
following and what, what you're getting.

719
00:31:32,435 --> 00:31:36,125
So that's kind of helped us also, I think,
grow faster in some areas instead of just

720
00:31:36,125 --> 00:31:37,835
getting things started and figured out.

721
00:31:37,835 --> 00:31:42,514
We were able to kinda start out kinda a
little bit elevated up and so it's worked

722
00:31:42,725 --> 00:31:44,555
here, we're figuring it out as we go.

723
00:31:45,575 --> 00:31:50,135
Bryant Gillespie: here, we're, yeah,
you've built like a miniature empire, I

724
00:31:50,135 --> 00:31:54,335
will say miniature, like you, you, I mean,
I'm proud of, they basically own the, it's

725
00:31:54,335 --> 00:31:57,485
not, you own the town of Lufkin, Texas.

726
00:31:57,545 --> 00:31:58,175
Chris Fleniken: No, sir.

727
00:31:58,180 --> 00:32:01,055
If there's any Lufkin nights listening,
they're, they're laughing right now.

728
00:32:01,060 --> 00:32:02,764
Like, what the crap are you talking about?

729
00:32:03,665 --> 00:32:07,925
? But, but I am, I, I do wanna, like, I am
proud of the progress and it's because

730
00:32:07,925 --> 00:32:11,225
of this great team members that's come
along, you know, like, I don't know

731
00:32:11,435 --> 00:32:14,405
hardly anything about the prep shop, but
there's two great people over there that

732
00:32:14,405 --> 00:32:16,715
know it in and out, you know, embroidery.

733
00:32:17,105 --> 00:32:19,955
Like that's an area that
I can't run that machine.

734
00:32:19,955 --> 00:32:23,495
I, I understand a lot of it, but there's
people over there that are passionate.

735
00:32:23,495 --> 00:32:24,034
They love it.

736
00:32:24,034 --> 00:32:26,675
They brag about, you know, how
smooth these stitches came out

737
00:32:26,675 --> 00:32:29,345
and, you know, it's great to see
them being passionate about the

738
00:32:29,345 --> 00:32:30,514
areas that they're really good at.

739
00:32:30,514 --> 00:32:31,715
And that's allowed us to be.

740
00:32:32,075 --> 00:32:33,765
To this point, as good as we've been.

741
00:32:33,995 --> 00:32:36,065
So we're figuring it
out, but that, that's the

742
00:32:36,285 --> 00:32:36,445
Bryant Gillespie: key.

743
00:32:36,515 --> 00:32:37,005
Yeah.

744
00:32:37,055 --> 00:32:40,985
So obviously the topic is, uh, and,
and you've seen this in some of the

745
00:32:40,990 --> 00:32:45,545
mastermind calls and some of the,
the sign shop community for, for

746
00:32:45,545 --> 00:32:50,405
owners that we've got, but a, a lot
of people are in similar positions

747
00:32:50,405 --> 00:32:51,875
where they're not in a major market.

748
00:32:51,875 --> 00:32:55,505
Like Pete Peter's probably gonna pitch
you a franchise after we get done

749
00:32:55,505 --> 00:32:59,825
here because you need to d diversify
your business portfolio even further.

750
00:33:00,335 --> 00:33:05,705
But , nevertheless, there's a,
a lot of shop owners that are in

751
00:33:05,705 --> 00:33:09,575
the, in a similar situation where,
Hey, we're not in a major market.

752
00:33:09,735 --> 00:33:16,445
There's I, you know, small-ish towns
I'll, I'll say, and there could be

753
00:33:16,450 --> 00:33:21,035
local competition or competition from
out of town, but a lot of it there is

754
00:33:21,035 --> 00:33:25,445
just like, how do I, how do I capture
more of the market or expand and, you

755
00:33:25,450 --> 00:33:27,665
know, so how do I grow in a small town?

756
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:32,720
What, what would you say that your
competitive advantage is like?

757
00:33:33,170 --> 00:33:36,230
Like why would customer, why are
customers working with you guys?

758
00:33:36,290 --> 00:33:40,250
Because I, I feel like that's the,
like the, the crux of the issue for

759
00:33:40,250 --> 00:33:40,610
Chris Fleniken: me.

760
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:41,360
Right.

761
00:33:41,900 --> 00:33:44,840
No, I, I, I think really one thing
that got us off on the right foot

762
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:46,640
was just a strong creative team.

763
00:33:47,090 --> 00:33:50,030
I think we can, we do
really well on the creative.

764
00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,750
Um, I think constantly I'll hear
good comments as far as like, I

765
00:33:53,750 --> 00:33:57,050
know there's plenty other places in
town that print t-shirts, but your

766
00:33:57,050 --> 00:34:00,830
designers always just really knock it
outta the park with the creative part.

767
00:34:00,980 --> 00:34:04,490
So I think having the
creativity right is good.

768
00:34:04,490 --> 00:34:04,670
I mean, I.

769
00:34:05,389 --> 00:34:06,620
First shop our size.

770
00:34:06,620 --> 00:34:11,149
Way back when having one or two graphic
designers on the team was pretty rare

771
00:34:11,149 --> 00:34:12,409
when I would talk to other shops.

772
00:34:12,409 --> 00:34:15,980
And so, again, not that I was a genius
to plan it that way, it just happened.

773
00:34:16,340 --> 00:34:19,219
But I think getting that design
right and standing out with a

774
00:34:19,310 --> 00:34:21,350
great design was a big deal.

775
00:34:21,500 --> 00:34:22,699
And that, that's helped us a lot.

776
00:34:22,699 --> 00:34:24,679
I think another thing is
embracing the community.

777
00:34:25,250 --> 00:34:27,949
I think we've just naturally done
a good job of just supporting

778
00:34:27,949 --> 00:34:29,480
and being there in our community.

779
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:30,080
You know?

780
00:34:30,170 --> 00:34:30,380
Yeah.

781
00:34:30,380 --> 00:34:33,500
We got involved with the Chamber and
other resources that are in place, but

782
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,719
I think just jumping in like, like this
weekend is the lighting of Rudolph.

783
00:34:39,170 --> 00:34:39,350
All right.

784
00:34:39,350 --> 00:34:40,520
So I'm gonna tell you
something about Lufkin.

785
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,070
Lufkin, uh, part of our
industry in our area.

786
00:34:43,070 --> 00:34:43,429
What?

787
00:34:44,420 --> 00:34:46,040
Hold off the lighting of Rudolph.

788
00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:46,699
Okay.

789
00:34:47,330 --> 00:34:48,150
Lot of timber in our.

790
00:34:49,100 --> 00:34:49,939
Hold on.

791
00:34:49,939 --> 00:34:52,040
I'm gonna tell you this is
unique and crazy and I wish I

792
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:53,179
had something here to show you.

793
00:34:53,659 --> 00:34:58,160
So another big industry is Lufkin
Industries here, an old, old hundred year

794
00:34:58,189 --> 00:35:01,279
company and they make oil pumping units.

795
00:35:01,580 --> 00:35:06,439
And many, many years ago, one of the
employees took one of their pumping units.

796
00:35:06,444 --> 00:35:11,000
It's this weird shape structure and,
uh, basically made it look like a, a

797
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,259
reindeer, put a head on it, put lights
on it, and made it, and basically ru

798
00:35:15,350 --> 00:35:17,750
Rudolph the oil field pumping unit.

799
00:35:17,990 --> 00:35:21,049
And so it's a tradition in Lufkin of this.

800
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:22,229
Um, this is great.

801
00:35:22,229 --> 00:35:25,129
This is every fantastic
a title for this episode.

802
00:35:25,700 --> 00:35:27,020
It's, it's really fun.

803
00:35:27,020 --> 00:35:27,830
It's really cool.

804
00:35:28,069 --> 00:35:31,160
Um, and so like one thing, again,
embracing the community, we're

805
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:32,720
setting up a tent next to it.

806
00:35:32,990 --> 00:35:33,919
We're giving away.

807
00:35:34,315 --> 00:35:39,605
Check this Free kid tattoos, temporary
tattoos that say, have a Lufkin Christmas.

808
00:35:40,115 --> 00:35:44,255
We are, uh, we, we designed a custom,
uh, coloring book and it's like,

809
00:35:44,585 --> 00:35:47,795
I think again, the same title of
like The Great Lufkin Christmas or

810
00:35:47,795 --> 00:35:48,995
some kind of cool title like that.

811
00:35:49,205 --> 00:35:52,025
And it just talks about the things that
we have in our community, you know,

812
00:35:52,055 --> 00:35:55,115
that we have an ice skating rink that's
opening up for the first time this year.

813
00:35:55,445 --> 00:35:58,895
Um, so it's like, you know, we wrote
this little coloring book story.

814
00:35:59,195 --> 00:36:00,036
Uh, we're gonna give 'em that.

815
00:36:00,041 --> 00:36:03,545
And then we got these, um, crayon
boxes printed with our logo on it.

816
00:36:03,545 --> 00:36:05,045
We're giving out crayon,
then coloring books.

817
00:36:05,435 --> 00:36:09,065
Uh, so doing fun stuff like
that I think goes a long way.

818
00:36:09,155 --> 00:36:12,335
You know, people wanna do business
with people they know, and so

819
00:36:12,365 --> 00:36:15,275
when, when they can connect with
you is people in the community,

820
00:36:15,605 --> 00:36:16,895
you know, it's not just a company.

821
00:36:16,955 --> 00:36:19,295
I think it just, it,
it really helps a lot.

822
00:36:19,295 --> 00:36:23,525
And I think also just again, having
those good people on our team, Has built

823
00:36:23,525 --> 00:36:26,255
those relationships and connections
with people and it's gone really far.

824
00:36:26,255 --> 00:36:28,384
So they're not coming into
a company, they're coming to

825
00:36:28,384 --> 00:36:30,065
see Josh about another order.

826
00:36:30,065 --> 00:36:34,415
They're coming in to talk about their
design with Zach because man, he, he did

827
00:36:34,415 --> 00:36:36,395
that logo and it's just been so great.

828
00:36:36,395 --> 00:36:39,335
Or he did that first vehicle wrap
design for him and, and you know,

829
00:36:39,339 --> 00:36:43,295
so I think that's just been really
a big deal about rooting in and,

830
00:36:43,295 --> 00:36:44,345
and embracing things like that.

831
00:36:44,464 --> 00:36:46,895
Um, and we've done other little
things that's come along the way.

832
00:36:46,895 --> 00:36:50,495
I remember a long time ago there was
a big deal, it was kinda silly, but

833
00:36:50,855 --> 00:36:55,005
something about in God we trust stickers
run all the police vehicles in our area.

834
00:36:55,895 --> 00:36:58,955
And there was some kind of conflict
about they didn't wanna use city money

835
00:36:58,985 --> 00:37:01,174
to put that vinyl on the cars, you know?

836
00:37:01,174 --> 00:37:04,745
So we heard about it and so we just
said, we'll put vinyl on the police

837
00:37:04,750 --> 00:37:07,265
cars for you and we won't charge you.

838
00:37:07,265 --> 00:37:07,805
It's no big deal.

839
00:37:07,805 --> 00:37:08,645
We can donate that.

840
00:37:08,645 --> 00:37:12,455
And so it was a big deal and we
made stickers and then people

841
00:37:12,455 --> 00:37:14,915
were coming saying, Hey, can I
get a another one of those in God?

842
00:37:14,915 --> 00:37:16,625
We trust stickers for my personal vehicle.

843
00:37:16,625 --> 00:37:20,525
And we made them like crazy one
year and it was just, You know,

844
00:37:20,525 --> 00:37:23,585
just kinda serving the community
and something relevant at the time.

845
00:37:23,855 --> 00:37:26,375
And it was really cool for us
because we made a lot of connections

846
00:37:26,375 --> 00:37:27,785
throughout that, uh, as well.

847
00:37:27,785 --> 00:37:31,235
So I think just being open to what's
going on and jumping in where you can

848
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:33,065
and giving back is gonna go a long way.

849
00:37:33,395 --> 00:37:33,575
Yeah.

850
00:37:33,725 --> 00:37:35,015
Bryant Gillespie: I'm gonna,
I'm gonna hold this up.

851
00:37:35,225 --> 00:37:36,395
I'm not sure if you guys can read it.

852
00:37:36,755 --> 00:37:37,505
It says luck.

853
00:37:37,835 --> 00:37:41,645
Like I, I heard you talking about all the,
the businesses that you bought, right.

854
00:37:41,645 --> 00:37:43,445
And I, I don't, I don't remember where.

855
00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:48,259
Heard this idea of like your luck surface
area, maybe on a podcast, maybe some

856
00:37:48,265 --> 00:37:53,390
book that I read, but like, it's good
to think about luck as not like luck.

857
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:55,730
Like, hey, just, it's gonna happen.

858
00:37:55,790 --> 00:37:57,109
Just like coincidence.

859
00:37:57,620 --> 00:38:00,890
It's about like moving
and being out there.

860
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:05,000
And when you do that, when you
participate in your community, you're

861
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,129
increasing that luck surface area.

862
00:38:07,129 --> 00:38:13,009
So if I've got more surface area
that we cover, oh hey, lightning

863
00:38:13,009 --> 00:38:17,299
can strike here or there, here or
there, and like listening to you talk

864
00:38:17,305 --> 00:38:20,000
about all these different businesses
that you bought and it's just like,

865
00:38:20,029 --> 00:38:22,140
oh, it just happened to do this.

866
00:38:22,250 --> 00:38:25,540
I feel like you're downplaying
it, obviously, honestly.

867
00:38:25,544 --> 00:38:29,750
Like, hey, like, it's like, oh, this,
this happened and this hap this just,

868
00:38:30,020 --> 00:38:32,089
I walked in at the perfect time.

869
00:38:32,095 --> 00:38:32,480
You know?

870
00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:33,890
And that's looking back at it.

871
00:38:33,890 --> 00:38:37,399
Maybe it seems that way, but to
me, like listening to you talk,

872
00:38:37,399 --> 00:38:38,899
like I, I'm seeing a pattern.

873
00:38:39,575 --> 00:38:42,305
Not sure if you're seeing the same
kind of pattern, Pete, where it's like,

874
00:38:42,305 --> 00:38:49,325
hey, we run into a challenge or like,
Hey, we, we outsource the product.

875
00:38:49,595 --> 00:38:51,065
Things are going great for a while.

876
00:38:51,065 --> 00:38:56,105
We kind of overwhelm that particular
outsourcer, or we need more control.

877
00:38:56,585 --> 00:39:00,485
And then it's just like, okay, like, hey,
we're gonna bring that into the fold.

878
00:39:00,815 --> 00:39:05,195
And that's, it seems like that's the,
the strategy that you guys have employed

879
00:39:05,285 --> 00:39:05,945
Chris Fleniken: successfully.

880
00:39:06,455 --> 00:39:06,695
Yeah.

881
00:39:06,755 --> 00:39:07,685
Appreciate you saying that.

882
00:39:07,685 --> 00:39:11,645
I mean, but I, you gotta put in the time,
you know, I mean, like, you could look and

883
00:39:11,645 --> 00:39:15,545
say like, man, I wish my business would
fall in place, like real graphics did.

884
00:39:15,575 --> 00:39:18,365
But like, dude, we've busted
it and we put in the time.

885
00:39:18,815 --> 00:39:22,805
And so I think maybe that hard work
kinda aligns with opportunity and that's

886
00:39:22,805 --> 00:39:24,905
where that intersection of luck comes in.

887
00:39:24,905 --> 00:39:27,545
But we gotta hustle it and work
it, you know, to make it happen.

888
00:39:27,605 --> 00:39:30,695
And it's not been easy, but
yeah, it's, it's worked out.

889
00:39:31,085 --> 00:39:31,565
Free kid

890
00:39:31,835 --> 00:39:32,195
Bryant Gillespie: tattoos.

891
00:39:32,195 --> 00:39:32,795
I love it, man.

892
00:39:33,575 --> 00:39:34,865
The, the, what is it?

893
00:39:35,075 --> 00:39:38,315
Rudolph the light, the
Rudolph, the oil field.

894
00:39:39,424 --> 00:39:41,105
Chris Fleniken: It's really
like Rudolph, the Pumping unit.

895
00:39:41,525 --> 00:39:42,875
Um, pumping unit.

896
00:39:42,904 --> 00:39:43,145
Okay.

897
00:39:43,145 --> 00:39:43,295
Yeah.

898
00:39:43,295 --> 00:39:47,015
But the pumping unit is like an
oil filled type product thing.

899
00:39:48,230 --> 00:39:51,020
So, and the other thing I really
think really is training and getting

900
00:39:51,020 --> 00:39:52,279
a really good team underneath you.

901
00:39:52,279 --> 00:39:55,790
Cause I do feel for some of the
sign shop guys that it's, they're

902
00:39:55,790 --> 00:39:57,080
still the core of it, you know?

903
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,310
And I know they're just wearing
thin, running hard and like if, if

904
00:40:01,310 --> 00:40:04,279
they're sick or there's something
goes on, like there's so much that

905
00:40:04,279 --> 00:40:05,690
doesn't get done because of that.

906
00:40:06,170 --> 00:40:08,420
And that's a tough load to
carry and I think everyone

907
00:40:08,420 --> 00:40:09,650
has to carry it for a season.

908
00:40:09,650 --> 00:40:12,799
But I think quick as you can, you
know, is to train up the people

909
00:40:12,799 --> 00:40:14,299
that can carry those loads.

910
00:40:14,305 --> 00:40:16,640
And if they're out, there's
another person to help.

911
00:40:16,940 --> 00:40:20,720
Is it a Boy Scout thing or an an
Army military thing of one is none.

912
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,910
Two is one or something like that.

913
00:40:23,180 --> 00:40:24,950
You know, like that's kind of true.

914
00:40:24,950 --> 00:40:29,360
Like if you've got one, one person
that can do that, and if they leave

915
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:31,009
or they're out, you're in trouble.

916
00:40:31,009 --> 00:40:35,120
And that's one thing that we're constantly
facing and still facing now, is just what

917
00:40:35,125 --> 00:40:38,780
happens when that one person leaves and
they knew this much stuff that no one

918
00:40:38,780 --> 00:40:40,580
else knew, it could put you in a bind.

919
00:40:41,030 --> 00:40:43,310
Uh, and it has, I'm not talking
like we have that figured out,

920
00:40:43,310 --> 00:40:44,300
but those are some pain points.

921
00:40:44,300 --> 00:40:48,470
So I just hope time shop owners can try
to start investing in their team and

922
00:40:48,470 --> 00:40:52,250
building 'em up and getting the right
people in places because you need 'em.

923
00:40:52,370 --> 00:40:53,060
You really do.

924
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,310
You're not gonna be able to
keep up with everything forever.

925
00:40:55,520 --> 00:40:55,850
What was that

926
00:40:55,850 --> 00:40:56,980
Bryant Gillespie: transition like for you?

927
00:40:57,230 --> 00:41:00,440
Because, you know, now I know
you're still, you're, you're still

928
00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,620
very involved in the business
and the community, but you're.

929
00:41:04,250 --> 00:41:08,300
You know, like if, if you take
two or three days off, I, I'm

930
00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:09,650
assuming things run just fine.

931
00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:10,760
Like it's, it's, yeah.

932
00:41:11,180 --> 00:41:12,230
Not the end of the world.

933
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:16,340
And I know that's, that's a different
case for a lot of sign shop owners

934
00:41:16,340 --> 00:41:17,930
that are, are in small towns.

935
00:41:17,930 --> 00:41:21,560
It's like, Hey, I, if I walk away
from the, the shop for two days,

936
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,740
like something bad's gonna happen or
we're gonna have to shut the doors.

937
00:41:24,740 --> 00:41:28,100
Or you know, even if you're just
running into a situation like I'm in

938
00:41:28,100 --> 00:41:32,930
this week, like, hey, if yeah, hey, my
wife and kids are at home sick and I've

939
00:41:32,930 --> 00:41:34,430
gotta be there to take care of them.

940
00:41:34,490 --> 00:41:37,010
Like, you know, are
things gonna run smoothly?

941
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:41,930
So maybe speak a little bit about
like, that transition for you.

942
00:41:41,930 --> 00:41:43,670
Like what year was that?

943
00:41:43,670 --> 00:41:45,350
Were you in the business?

944
00:41:45,350 --> 00:41:49,160
Were you kind of like, Hey, I
gotta make this, and you know, what

945
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,590
were some of the pain points that
you had as you went through it?

946
00:41:51,770 --> 00:41:51,980
Pl

947
00:41:51,980 --> 00:41:55,540
Chris Fleniken: please don't think I
got this figured out, but I don't think

948
00:41:55,540 --> 00:41:59,930
I've got, I'm kind of a control person,
but I don't think I'm terrible on.

949
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:01,310
Letting things go.

950
00:42:01,310 --> 00:42:03,470
So like, I'm, I'm okay with
like releasing the reins and

951
00:42:03,470 --> 00:42:04,670
saying, Hey, you focus on this.

952
00:42:05,060 --> 00:42:08,420
So I think naturally that's kind of been
a part of my connection with the team.

953
00:42:08,420 --> 00:42:10,880
It's just, you know, letting you
do your thing and then maybe I

954
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:11,960
might coach you along the way.

955
00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:16,160
So I think gradually there's been a,
a fair bit of empowering and letting

956
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,190
other people do things that, you know,
I think maybe, oh, I could probably

957
00:42:19,190 --> 00:42:21,890
do that better, but hey, I need
you to learn and grow in that area.

958
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,410
So that's kinda happened along
the, on the way, and I think

959
00:42:24,410 --> 00:42:25,790
that again helped us a lot.

960
00:42:26,210 --> 00:42:30,530
But man, it just, you do carry so
much as a, an owner or founder or,

961
00:42:30,535 --> 00:42:31,910
or even the leader of a company.

962
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,990
And man, it kinda led to
some burnout for me in 2020.

963
00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:37,880
Just started really struggling
with different things.

964
00:42:38,525 --> 00:42:42,275
In a different way, you know, where it was
just, it was really wearing on me in 2021.

965
00:42:42,645 --> 00:42:45,515
It, it was just kind of hit me at
some breaking points of just like,

966
00:42:45,515 --> 00:42:46,625
man, I gotta make some changes.

967
00:42:46,925 --> 00:42:49,895
Because there was a lot of those
things where that custom quote is

968
00:42:49,895 --> 00:42:53,525
waiting on me, that special project
that I, I'm gonna have to figure

969
00:42:53,525 --> 00:42:55,805
some out, you know, is waiting on me.

970
00:42:55,810 --> 00:42:59,045
And it was just always that if I don't
get this done, it's not getting done.

971
00:42:59,045 --> 00:43:01,805
And there was a lot that
would bottleneck at me.

972
00:43:01,925 --> 00:43:05,495
And so I again just reached out to some
team members and like, man, I need some

973
00:43:05,495 --> 00:43:07,685
help and I need y'all to kind of carry.

974
00:43:07,685 --> 00:43:11,255
And my operations manager now
just really stepped up to help.

975
00:43:11,465 --> 00:43:15,875
That was like the lifesaver of it because
then now I don't have the same feeling of.

976
00:43:16,355 --> 00:43:18,135
That customer's waiting on me directly.

977
00:43:18,135 --> 00:43:22,595
I still need to lead, I still need to
set, you know, goals and problem solve

978
00:43:22,595 --> 00:43:24,785
and, and use my skills in, in those areas.

979
00:43:24,785 --> 00:43:27,725
But it's not on the daily of
like, yes, if I was sick tomorrow,

980
00:43:28,255 --> 00:43:31,475
everyone could run this place just
the same and we're gonna be fine.

981
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,655
And so I kind of did an analogy
talk with the team about, you know,

982
00:43:34,655 --> 00:43:37,715
we built from just this little one
man boat, you know, where we could

983
00:43:37,775 --> 00:43:39,275
scoot along and get things done.

984
00:43:39,275 --> 00:43:40,685
And I was figuring it out as we went.

985
00:43:40,925 --> 00:43:43,625
We were quick to navigate and
turn and pivot and do what we

986
00:43:43,625 --> 00:43:45,545
needed to do to get them to grow.

987
00:43:45,545 --> 00:43:47,795
And then we kind of got to be
a little bigger ship, needed

988
00:43:47,795 --> 00:43:49,085
more team members involved.

989
00:43:49,085 --> 00:43:51,185
And then I told 'em like, now
we're, we're more of a bigger

990
00:43:51,185 --> 00:43:54,005
vessel that we need apartments, we
need someone in the engine room.

991
00:43:54,005 --> 00:43:57,305
We need someone, you know, doing these
different areas and doing them well.

992
00:43:57,425 --> 00:44:00,095
And I said, I've been here trying to
keep a hand on the steering wheel.

993
00:44:00,215 --> 00:44:03,725
You know, keep, keep us, you know,
afloat is what we kinda, the term we

994
00:44:03,730 --> 00:44:05,375
used a lot during that covid season.

995
00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:08,640
And I was, I told him, I was like,
well, I'm tired of just keep it afloat.

996
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:11,850
Like if we're gonna be going
forward, we wanna be growing forward.

997
00:44:12,090 --> 00:44:16,020
And so that's been our theme since then
this last year was we're growing forward.

998
00:44:16,025 --> 00:44:17,730
I don't wanna be afloat anymore.

999
00:44:17,735 --> 00:44:19,080
Bryant Gillespie: Maybe,
maybe that's the episode title

1000
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:19,590
Chris Fleniken: right there.

1001
00:44:19,710 --> 00:44:23,310
Well, it's just been the truth of like,
where I was and like, I think a lot of

1002
00:44:23,310 --> 00:44:27,060
the team was just like, you know, I don't
wanna have the same struggles month after

1003
00:44:27,060 --> 00:44:31,610
month, and so let's make changes to, to,
to be growing for, I can't stop saying it.

1004
00:44:31,615 --> 00:44:35,130
And um, but anyway, I told my team is
like, I need to get my hand off the

1005
00:44:35,130 --> 00:44:38,820
steering wheel on the daily things
and move up to the, the lookout

1006
00:44:38,820 --> 00:44:41,940
tower and figure out where we're
going, how we're gonna get there.

1007
00:44:42,030 --> 00:44:45,360
You know, let's get a growth mentality
and let's put processes and things

1008
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,260
in place that we need to be a, a
more of a firm solid foundation.

1009
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:51,120
And, you know, appointed Melissa.

1010
00:44:51,125 --> 00:44:52,950
Like, Hey, she's gonna be having
her hands on the steering wheel

1011
00:44:52,950 --> 00:44:54,150
now and y'all support her.

1012
00:44:54,450 --> 00:44:56,370
And so as a team, we just evolved a.

1013
00:44:57,110 --> 00:44:59,990
September a year ago, uh, was
kinda where that started and it's

1014
00:44:59,990 --> 00:45:01,610
just been a new chapter for us.

1015
00:45:01,610 --> 00:45:03,020
We're not outta the woods.

1016
00:45:03,020 --> 00:45:07,580
We are still post covid struggles and
every month has got different challenges,

1017
00:45:07,580 --> 00:45:09,680
so it is not free sailing at all.

1018
00:45:09,685 --> 00:45:12,380
But as an owner, that's where
things really changed for me

1019
00:45:12,380 --> 00:45:14,120
because I was just, man, I was.

1020
00:45:14,630 --> 00:45:16,100
It was struggle, you know, it was tough.

1021
00:45:16,100 --> 00:45:18,710
Like putting your hand on the door
to walk into work was just like

1022
00:45:18,980 --> 00:45:21,560
something, I didn't realize what
it was, but it was anxiety of just

1023
00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:23,090
like, oh, I dunno what's about me?

1024
00:45:23,090 --> 00:45:24,250
I don't, you know, I had a great morning.

1025
00:45:24,510 --> 00:45:30,860
You know, I, what's so that's
point I, and thankfully things and

1026
00:45:30,950 --> 00:45:36,440
team was really load out and it's
been a different world for me now.

1027
00:45:36,500 --> 00:45:37,130
Alright, so let,

1028
00:45:37,130 --> 00:45:39,620
Peter Kourounis: let, let, let's kind
of take that and run with it here.

1029
00:45:39,650 --> 00:45:43,820
You know, we got a lot of listeners out
there that are going to love your story

1030
00:45:43,820 --> 00:45:47,690
and love how you got started, but now
that you're, you're seasoned, right?

1031
00:45:47,690 --> 00:45:48,980
You've been doing this a long time.

1032
00:45:48,985 --> 00:45:51,290
This is your, this is your
baby, this is your shop.

1033
00:45:51,530 --> 00:45:53,540
Still working on the time
aspect, like you said.

1034
00:45:53,630 --> 00:45:54,890
What can they take from this?

1035
00:45:54,890 --> 00:45:56,450
What, what processes?

1036
00:45:56,930 --> 00:45:58,370
I'm gonna put you on the spot here Chris.

1037
00:45:58,370 --> 00:46:01,160
Maybe something that Bryant here has
helped you with, so I don't know, but

1038
00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:06,650
what processes have you put in place
for your shop, for your shop size

1039
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,870
that our listeners might be able to

1040
00:46:08,870 --> 00:46:09,560
Chris Fleniken: get benefit from?

1041
00:46:10,130 --> 00:46:14,509
Man, the last year has been a lot
of exploring what are the steps

1042
00:46:14,509 --> 00:46:16,160
we need to take to be more solid.

1043
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:20,509
I'm not the best implementer, I'm
not the best at carrying things out.

1044
00:46:20,509 --> 00:46:24,680
Bryant has come along as a consultant,
but also as a doer and put some things

1045
00:46:24,685 --> 00:46:26,630
in place for us and things in shop box.

1046
00:46:26,630 --> 00:46:27,620
That's been really helpful.

1047
00:46:28,009 --> 00:46:31,520
Bringing up pain points and brainstorming
with him on like, okay, this is a problem.

1048
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:32,480
We're getting wrong a lot.

1049
00:46:32,660 --> 00:46:34,490
What's gonna be a better flow for that?

1050
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:39,319
But I will say a struggle just honestly
has been just the overwhelming wideness.

1051
00:46:39,380 --> 00:46:42,650
And again, I think of a lot of this
because this, the wideness of our shop

1052
00:46:42,650 --> 00:46:47,450
abilities, because it's like, I feel like
every department needs so much attention

1053
00:46:47,750 --> 00:46:50,930
and I have felt like my attention
and my energies have been spread by

1054
00:46:50,930 --> 00:46:52,910
like what problems the loudest today.

1055
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,120
So I'll say as a failure
that I have not mastered yet.

1056
00:46:56,900 --> 00:46:59,120
Focusing in like, this
part needs to be better.

1057
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:00,710
Let's get it and move on to this area.

1058
00:47:00,740 --> 00:47:01,910
Um, so I'm trying to do that.

1059
00:47:01,910 --> 00:47:04,850
Bryant has helped me, like we've jumped
in and tackled a lot of apparel products

1060
00:47:04,855 --> 00:47:08,390
in Shop box that were just wonky and kind
of, you know, and we focus like, hey,

1061
00:47:08,395 --> 00:47:12,140
let's get these five really main products
we use and let's get them really good so

1062
00:47:12,140 --> 00:47:15,950
my sales reps are smoother, production
will get better information and so on.

1063
00:47:15,950 --> 00:47:19,550
And so like that little improvement we
focus on for a month or two really has

1064
00:47:19,555 --> 00:47:21,980
made a good change of, uh, difference.

1065
00:47:21,980 --> 00:47:26,000
So I do envy someone that maybe is just
a sign shop or apparel shop that could

1066
00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:30,660
like laser focus and maybe get more
accomplished quicker because I constantly

1067
00:47:30,665 --> 00:47:35,090
feel like I get pulled to, okay, now paper
printing prices are a problem and paper's

1068
00:47:35,090 --> 00:47:37,940
outta stock and prices keep shooting up.

1069
00:47:38,029 --> 00:47:39,440
We've gotta recalculate that.

1070
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:42,590
And so I need to shift my attention there
and help kinda dive in on that spot.

1071
00:47:42,830 --> 00:47:46,520
So that's not something I'm master,
that's something I'm trying to work on.

1072
00:47:47,029 --> 00:47:49,370
Bryant Gillespie: Yeah, it's almost
like the one stop shop approach is

1073
00:47:49,370 --> 00:47:50,690
kind of like a double edged sword.

1074
00:47:51,185 --> 00:47:56,105
It's, it's like, hey, it's great
for growth because, and, and we went

1075
00:47:56,105 --> 00:47:57,845
through this same thing in our shop.

1076
00:47:57,845 --> 00:47:59,255
Like we were in a small town.

1077
00:47:59,255 --> 00:48:05,315
We did printing, we did large format,
we did signs, we did screen printing,

1078
00:48:05,315 --> 00:48:07,205
we did embroidery, we did wraps.

1079
00:48:07,355 --> 00:48:08,525
You know, we did it all.

1080
00:48:08,530 --> 00:48:11,105
A lot of it we did under one roof.

1081
00:48:11,505 --> 00:48:12,815
A lot of it we would outsource.

1082
00:48:12,815 --> 00:48:14,135
You know, our mix was different.

1083
00:48:14,135 --> 00:48:20,435
It was probably like 60 40, 70 30,
you know, 70% in-house, 60% in-house.

1084
00:48:21,065 --> 00:48:25,565
But you know, when you have that
many products and that, I'll go

1085
00:48:25,565 --> 00:48:26,885
back to that word surface area.

1086
00:48:26,885 --> 00:48:29,975
When you've got all that surface
area to cover, it's a lot.

1087
00:48:30,105 --> 00:48:35,705
Especially in, you know, even, even
at 25 employees, that's, you know,

1088
00:48:35,705 --> 00:48:38,975
if you've got five, six different
departments, that's, you know, it's

1089
00:48:38,975 --> 00:48:45,065
still not a lot per department to run
essentially what's its own business unit.

1090
00:48:45,665 --> 00:48:45,785
And

1091
00:48:46,065 --> 00:48:48,065
Chris Fleniken: I will say like with
team wise, I mean the goal would

1092
00:48:48,225 --> 00:48:52,025
be to be real cross trained, so
that way if this person's out sick,

1093
00:48:52,025 --> 00:48:54,635
hey, we can pull this person from
this department to help fill in.

1094
00:48:54,815 --> 00:48:59,285
We haven't mastered that, but we, we try
to let people train in all departments

1095
00:48:59,285 --> 00:49:02,405
just to get an idea so that if they
needed to fill in it would be an option.

1096
00:49:02,765 --> 00:49:06,575
But again, every department is pretty
signage, probably has six or eight people.

1097
00:49:06,965 --> 00:49:08,975
Um, apparel has three or four.

1098
00:49:09,335 --> 00:49:14,015
A print shop has two to maybe two and
a half if there's someone else helping.

1099
00:49:14,435 --> 00:49:19,295
Um, and then sales reps, there's usually
about three to four primary sales reps

1100
00:49:19,595 --> 00:49:22,444
and then designers about five or six.

1101
00:49:22,625 --> 00:49:23,194
Uh, normal.

1102
00:49:23,194 --> 00:49:25,654
We got one web guy keeps
our digital stuff going.

1103
00:49:26,165 --> 00:49:28,475
So there's not a lot in every department.

1104
00:49:28,475 --> 00:49:30,004
It's not like a mass team.

1105
00:49:30,365 --> 00:49:32,555
So sign production stuff,
yard signs and banners.

1106
00:49:32,555 --> 00:49:34,774
There's mainly two people that
are keeping those things going.

1107
00:49:34,984 --> 00:49:37,774
So if one's out, there's another, but
if you need a third set of hands, we

1108
00:49:37,774 --> 00:49:39,245
got to rob from somewhere to help.

1109
00:49:39,515 --> 00:49:42,935
So that's kinda the flow of our
team and how that kinda looks.

1110
00:49:42,935 --> 00:49:46,024
But yeah, so I think getting those
things in place, uh, one thing if

1111
00:49:46,024 --> 00:49:48,575
I could do it different and if I
would've known that, hey, this is how

1112
00:49:48,575 --> 00:49:51,875
we're gonna look like in five or 10
years, I think laying a foundation

1113
00:49:51,875 --> 00:49:56,645
of those procedures and processes
and, and, and a training structure.

1114
00:49:57,020 --> 00:49:58,640
We would be a different company today.

1115
00:49:58,910 --> 00:50:01,339
You know, if we had the standard,
you know, cause right now if we

1116
00:50:01,339 --> 00:50:04,040
get a new person, our training
isn't, isn't very structured.

1117
00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:08,480
So they get trained this month differently
than someone got trained nine months ago.

1118
00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:11,930
You know, just because of the work
on on hand or what's going on.

1119
00:50:12,020 --> 00:50:13,580
And so that's tough.

1120
00:50:13,700 --> 00:50:17,450
So I think if I could do it again,
getting more firm things at place

1121
00:50:17,450 --> 00:50:20,899
on a, like a foundational level
would really help us a lot better.

1122
00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:21,620
And I,

1123
00:50:21,620 --> 00:50:24,020
Bryant Gillespie: but I feel
like that's always a, a tough one

1124
00:50:24,020 --> 00:50:25,759
though because it's like changes.

1125
00:50:25,879 --> 00:50:26,240
Yeah.

1126
00:50:26,270 --> 00:50:26,569
Yeah.

1127
00:50:26,575 --> 00:50:28,009
It changes and it's, it's very

1128
00:50:28,009 --> 00:50:28,459
Chris Fleniken: fluid.

1129
00:50:28,580 --> 00:50:30,140
New machine, new process.

1130
00:50:30,145 --> 00:50:32,810
And, and that's one thing, I mean,
we do have a few things in place

1131
00:50:32,810 --> 00:50:35,779
of, of standard operatings that
are, have been pretty crucial.

1132
00:50:35,779 --> 00:50:39,259
But it is kind of funny sometimes it's
like, no, we don't save PDFs anymore.

1133
00:50:39,259 --> 00:50:42,500
We have to save an S for that
new program for this new printer.

1134
00:50:42,500 --> 00:50:47,029
Or the RIP software takes a, it's just,
there's always those tweaks along the way

1135
00:50:47,029 --> 00:50:48,410
that it's like you didn't get the memo.

1136
00:50:49,730 --> 00:50:51,169
We have that struggle often.

1137
00:50:51,169 --> 00:50:54,500
But yeah, trying to keep everybody on the
same page and trained in the same way.

1138
00:50:55,040 --> 00:50:56,270
Balancing act we're to work.

1139
00:50:57,035 --> 00:51:00,485
I think a lot of the problems we
make are from lack of training,

1140
00:51:00,935 --> 00:51:03,695
you know, from the sales rep
taking an order in a certain way.

1141
00:51:03,755 --> 00:51:05,735
You know, if they would've been
trained a little bit deeper to

1142
00:51:05,740 --> 00:51:09,845
understand our routing abilities or
to understand, you know, know that

1143
00:51:10,205 --> 00:51:11,915
PVC sign doesn't weather outside.

1144
00:51:11,915 --> 00:51:13,385
Well, they wouldn't have sold it that way.

1145
00:51:13,595 --> 00:51:17,525
We had a job the other day get
laminated Coroplast, and I'm like,

1146
00:51:18,095 --> 00:51:20,165
why are we laminating cor sign?

1147
00:51:20,170 --> 00:51:20,495
You know?

1148
00:51:20,495 --> 00:51:23,855
But like, well the customer, you know,
we were talking and, and I told 'em

1149
00:51:23,860 --> 00:51:26,555
the lamination, you know, protects
from scratches and that way their,

1150
00:51:26,555 --> 00:51:32,405
their, their yard sign doesn't get
lam, uh, scratched  like, oh gosh.

1151
00:51:32,405 --> 00:51:36,275
You know, training, you know, is a key.

1152
00:51:36,275 --> 00:51:38,915
And then like, I was also talking
to the, the production team about

1153
00:51:38,915 --> 00:51:42,395
like, did y'all not question
why we're laminating yard signs?

1154
00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:43,085
You know what I mean?

1155
00:51:43,085 --> 00:51:45,935
Like, well, we just thought it was weird,
but we were just getting the order done.

1156
00:51:45,940 --> 00:51:47,675
It said it and said it on the order sheet.

1157
00:51:47,765 --> 00:51:48,085
Okay.

1158
00:51:49,260 --> 00:51:49,870
Anyway.

1159
00:51:50,030 --> 00:51:50,240
Yeah.

1160
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:51,080
Fun stuff, man.

1161
00:51:51,290 --> 00:51:51,500
Bryant Gillespie: Yeah.

1162
00:51:51,560 --> 00:51:55,370
So going back to like Pete's question
about like the process changes,

1163
00:51:55,370 --> 00:52:00,020
like, like what, like what's one
change that you guys, like, one

1164
00:52:00,510 --> 00:52:01,730
specific change that you've made?

1165
00:52:02,060 --> 00:52:04,040
Like I, I don't want to hear
the stuff that we've worked on

1166
00:52:04,045 --> 00:52:05,270
together because that's boring.

1167
00:52:05,630 --> 00:52:07,940
I mean, it's, it is cool, but
it's, you know, it's boring

1168
00:52:07,940 --> 00:52:09,230
for the context of this one.

1169
00:52:09,230 --> 00:52:13,130
Like what's, what's one big
change or a, a specific change.

1170
00:52:13,130 --> 00:52:16,100
It doesn't have to be a big change
that's made like a big impact for

1171
00:52:16,100 --> 00:52:19,970
you on the business or, you know,
as an owner that you guys have

1172
00:52:19,970 --> 00:52:21,170
done over the last year or two.

1173
00:52:21,260 --> 00:52:21,380
I'll

1174
00:52:21,670 --> 00:52:23,360
Chris Fleniken: tell you, I've
struggled with nailing that

1175
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:24,920
question with a great answer.

1176
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:28,820
But another thing that's another work
in is trying to create a little bit

1177
00:52:28,820 --> 00:52:33,980
of levels of leadership because for a
while it was me and then a lot of team

1178
00:52:33,980 --> 00:52:38,720
members, and then we kind of did have
a couple department leads, um, that

1179
00:52:38,720 --> 00:52:40,160
could kind of help take on some stuff.

1180
00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:41,150
So I think.

1181
00:52:41,660 --> 00:52:42,799
What they were working on.

1182
00:52:42,799 --> 00:52:45,440
That's still kind of working progress,
is trying to kind of put these good

1183
00:52:45,440 --> 00:52:48,799
leaders in place at different levels
so that way they're your go-to.

1184
00:52:49,250 --> 00:52:52,879
So when you know when a production team
member has a struggle with this, they

1185
00:52:52,879 --> 00:52:54,529
know, Hey, lemme go talk to this person.

1186
00:52:54,830 --> 00:52:58,609
Okay, we're still having a problem,
then let's go to this manager.

1187
00:52:58,970 --> 00:53:00,379
And again, usually that was me.

1188
00:53:00,384 --> 00:53:01,670
And now that would be Melissa.

1189
00:53:01,759 --> 00:53:04,640
And then Melissa, if there's still a
problem that they haven't overcome or

1190
00:53:04,640 --> 00:53:07,970
we need a special troubleshoot, hey,
I'm happy to get involved and help.

1191
00:53:07,970 --> 00:53:09,650
But that has helped a lot because my day.

1192
00:53:10,380 --> 00:53:14,370
Hijacked, you know, and I know a lot of
owners have to relate to, you had a plan

1193
00:53:14,370 --> 00:53:17,430
to something you were about to do for
the next two hours, and, and that's out

1194
00:53:17,430 --> 00:53:20,190
the window because you're, you're trying
to fix a printer or something else.

1195
00:53:20,190 --> 00:53:23,970
So to have more people, you know, not
under you, but just in, in, in line,

1196
00:53:23,975 --> 00:53:27,900
that can help, I think would go a long
way and protect the owner's attention

1197
00:53:27,900 --> 00:53:29,460
and, and focus a little bit better.

1198
00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:30,299
So we're trying to do that.

1199
00:53:30,299 --> 00:53:35,220
I think another thing goes to proper
delegation, you know, because like a

1200
00:53:35,220 --> 00:53:38,730
guy told me a really great acronym for
delegation, and I just, I've loved it.

1201
00:53:38,730 --> 00:53:42,240
I can't regurgitate it right now, but it
basically was like different levels of,

1202
00:53:42,420 --> 00:53:44,759
you know, there's gonna be someone that
comes to you, Hey, what do I do with this?

1203
00:53:44,765 --> 00:53:46,410
And you're gonna say, go and do this.

1204
00:53:46,890 --> 00:53:47,340
Exactly.

1205
00:53:47,450 --> 00:53:50,580
Then there's gonna be another one where
it's like, what do you think we should do?

1206
00:53:51,060 --> 00:53:51,960
Okay, that's a good one.

1207
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:53,040
Why don't you try that.

1208
00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:54,120
Let me know how it goes.

1209
00:53:54,210 --> 00:53:55,560
Another level of.

1210
00:53:56,135 --> 00:53:57,755
Hey, I think you can figure it out.

1211
00:53:57,945 --> 00:53:58,955
Go and figure it out.

1212
00:53:58,955 --> 00:54:01,715
Try whatever you think's best
and let me know how it turns out.

1213
00:54:01,805 --> 00:54:04,355
And then there's that final
level of, go figure it out.

1214
00:54:04,475 --> 00:54:05,225
I trust you.

1215
00:54:05,225 --> 00:54:05,975
You got it.

1216
00:54:06,245 --> 00:54:09,065
Don't even tell me how it turns out cause
I know you're gonna take care of it.

1217
00:54:09,215 --> 00:54:10,715
Working down that path, you know?

1218
00:54:10,715 --> 00:54:13,865
And so I think it's easier just like,
oh, just let me fix it and get it done.

1219
00:54:13,895 --> 00:54:15,515
You're not letting that
person grow at all.

1220
00:54:15,635 --> 00:54:18,425
You're, you know, they're not gonna grow
the next time that problem comes up,

1221
00:54:18,425 --> 00:54:20,045
it's coming right back to you again.

1222
00:54:20,105 --> 00:54:22,385
So if you could start working with
that team member as far as with

1223
00:54:22,385 --> 00:54:25,655
those different levels and building
trust and confidence in them.

1224
00:54:25,775 --> 00:54:27,575
Cause I've had a lot of people say
like, oh, I didn't wanna make that

1225
00:54:27,575 --> 00:54:29,915
call cause I didn't wanna, you
know, make the wrong, wrong move.

1226
00:54:29,915 --> 00:54:31,055
Or I didn't wanna mess that up.

1227
00:54:31,505 --> 00:54:32,285
And I'm like, you know what?

1228
00:54:32,285 --> 00:54:35,825
I'd rather you mess that up and let's
figure something out so that way next

1229
00:54:35,825 --> 00:54:37,415
time you're that much more prepared.

1230
00:54:37,745 --> 00:54:41,765
So I think trying to con constantly
build up your team in that way

1231
00:54:41,765 --> 00:54:43,895
could be a big help going forward.

1232
00:54:43,895 --> 00:54:47,405
So that way I'm not  with so
many service level things that.

1233
00:54:48,080 --> 00:54:49,820
You should have been able to
figure that out on your own.

1234
00:54:49,820 --> 00:54:52,400
I'm building them up in confidence and
they know that, you know, and then they

1235
00:54:52,400 --> 00:54:54,170
might report back, Hey, I did try this.

1236
00:54:54,170 --> 00:54:55,400
It didn't work, but I did this.

1237
00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:55,850
It worked.

1238
00:54:56,120 --> 00:54:57,020
You know, just letting you know.

1239
00:54:57,050 --> 00:54:57,740
And I love that.

1240
00:54:57,770 --> 00:54:59,330
Hey, thanks for keeping me in the loop.

1241
00:54:59,420 --> 00:55:00,410
Glad you figured it out.

1242
00:55:00,410 --> 00:55:02,720
Glad that printer's back going,
glad that customer's happy

1243
00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:04,310
with the fix or whatever it be.

1244
00:55:04,430 --> 00:55:06,650
I think that's good because I do
think just knowing a lot, some

1245
00:55:06,655 --> 00:55:10,040
other sign shop owners, they make
that final decision every day.

1246
00:55:10,040 --> 00:55:11,060
Everything has to go to them.

1247
00:55:11,240 --> 00:55:11,840
That's tough.

1248
00:55:11,910 --> 00:55:12,720
That's tough.

1249
00:55:13,100 --> 00:55:13,340
Bryant Gillespie: Yeah.

1250
00:55:13,470 --> 00:55:14,060
I, I love that.

1251
00:55:14,060 --> 00:55:15,530
Four levels of delegation thing.

1252
00:55:15,680 --> 00:55:18,500
I've, I've not heard it phrased
like that, but yeah, it definitely

1253
00:55:18,880 --> 00:55:20,060
resonates with me a hundred percent.

1254
00:55:20,060 --> 00:55:20,120
Yeah.

1255
00:55:20,210 --> 00:55:25,355
Like, Hey, you've got, hey, like when
somebody starts out, There, you don't

1256
00:55:25,355 --> 00:55:28,025
give them a lot of leeway or mm-hmm.

1257
00:55:28,430 --> 00:55:28,985
you can't.

1258
00:55:29,075 --> 00:55:32,135
And there's some people that jump in
at like a different level of that.

1259
00:55:32,135 --> 00:55:36,305
You know, like, hey, your operations
manager's coming in at like, Hey,

1260
00:55:36,305 --> 00:55:40,115
you, you've already done something
similar in a different position.

1261
00:55:40,385 --> 00:55:43,625
Like, now you're gonna step in and I'm
gonna hand some of the reins off to you.

1262
00:55:43,625 --> 00:55:48,155
But, you know, I still have to make
sure we're effectively communicating

1263
00:55:48,155 --> 00:55:50,705
and a kind of high level strategy stuff.

1264
00:55:50,705 --> 00:55:52,745
So yeah, I, I definitely like that,

1265
00:55:52,835 --> 00:55:54,815
Chris Fleniken: that, well, here's
another thought too though that I think

1266
00:55:55,265 --> 00:55:59,435
I've been guilty of, and I, I try to
consciously not do it, is kinda like,

1267
00:55:59,435 --> 00:56:04,685
jump your ranks as far as me going to a, a
production team member and tell 'em to do

1268
00:56:04,685 --> 00:56:07,715
something one way when maybe someone else
had already said, you know what I mean?

1269
00:56:07,715 --> 00:56:09,065
Like, respect that.

1270
00:56:09,095 --> 00:56:11,025
Well, hey, what did
Melissa tell you to do?

1271
00:56:11,615 --> 00:56:13,745
Okay, then, you know, go back to that.

1272
00:56:13,805 --> 00:56:15,904
Let's go, well, hey, did you
already talk to Melissa about this?

1273
00:56:15,995 --> 00:56:17,315
Okay, go see what she thinks.

1274
00:56:17,315 --> 00:56:18,545
If y'all need help, come, lemme know.

1275
00:56:18,605 --> 00:56:18,935
You know?

1276
00:56:19,205 --> 00:56:23,075
And keeping that order in place is,
is very healthy because we've had

1277
00:56:23,075 --> 00:56:26,615
that happen where team member wants
to just jump straight to me and then

1278
00:56:26,975 --> 00:56:28,384
gotta kinda reiterate, well, cool.

1279
00:56:28,384 --> 00:56:31,175
Did you already troubleshoot that
with the, with the department lead?

1280
00:56:31,235 --> 00:56:33,005
Then y'all go talk about it.

1281
00:56:33,005 --> 00:56:34,625
I bet you could figure that out.

1282
00:56:34,654 --> 00:56:36,245
If not, let Melissa know.

1283
00:56:36,250 --> 00:56:36,815
I bet she could.

1284
00:56:36,815 --> 00:56:37,325
You know what I mean?

1285
00:56:37,325 --> 00:56:40,325
And just keeping that in check and
kind of training the team to, to

1286
00:56:40,325 --> 00:56:42,134
lean on one another I think would be.

1287
00:56:42,725 --> 00:56:46,295
I really think good thing to get, get
down in that process of delegation.

1288
00:56:46,565 --> 00:56:49,835
Cause I think it's too easy for a
sign shop owner or, or even a manager

1289
00:56:49,835 --> 00:56:52,775
to come in and just kinda override
something that, uh, you know, someone

1290
00:56:52,780 --> 00:56:56,105
else had already put in place and,
and that you lose authority there.

1291
00:56:56,195 --> 00:56:58,355
You know, they're, they're gonna
think, why do I even bother gonna

1292
00:56:58,355 --> 00:57:01,715
that person and Chris is gonna tell me
something different anyway, you know,

1293
00:57:01,715 --> 00:57:04,145
so try not to make those mistakes.

1294
00:57:04,145 --> 00:57:06,575
Like I said, I know I've done it
and I've tried to be cautious of

1295
00:57:06,845 --> 00:57:09,365
not overriding that some, something
that someone else has already.

1296
00:57:09,665 --> 00:57:10,085
It takes a

1297
00:57:10,085 --> 00:57:13,055
Bryant Gillespie: lot of self-awareness
to, to catch yourself doing that.

1298
00:57:13,265 --> 00:57:17,645
I, I mean, I, I'm guilty of it in the past
as well, like, hey, like, oh, I'm gonna

1299
00:57:17,645 --> 00:57:19,415
jump in and, oh, I'm gonna take this one.

1300
00:57:19,415 --> 00:57:20,135
Don't worry about it.

1301
00:57:20,135 --> 00:57:20,435
Chris Fleniken: I got it.

1302
00:57:20,515 --> 00:57:20,715
Yeah.

1303
00:57:21,095 --> 00:57:22,835
So I try not to, so, yeah.

1304
00:57:22,835 --> 00:57:25,535
Anyway, so any sign shop owners,
man, try to get outta that

1305
00:57:25,535 --> 00:57:26,975
daily stuff as quick as you can.

1306
00:57:26,975 --> 00:57:30,125
Not because you're, you wanna avoid
it, but just because then you can

1307
00:57:30,125 --> 00:57:33,545
focus on those bigger picture things,
you can make sure that we're firing

1308
00:57:33,545 --> 00:57:37,355
in on all cylinders and everybody's
supported and good because if I'm just.

1309
00:57:37,910 --> 00:57:41,240
Taking customer orders, we're
never gonna get really past that.

1310
00:57:41,570 --> 00:57:45,470
You know, this level, we're not gonna
grow where we potentially canned and

1311
00:57:45,470 --> 00:57:47,360
should and or you're gonna be like me.

1312
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:50,060
And I think for million and years, I
just neglected a lot of the foundational

1313
00:57:50,060 --> 00:57:53,780
things I needed in place, you know, so
we probably could be a lot healthier

1314
00:57:53,785 --> 00:57:57,320
as a company than we are now, but a
lot of things we're kinda loosey goosey

1315
00:57:57,320 --> 00:57:58,790
and just winging it along the way.

1316
00:57:58,850 --> 00:58:03,590
Now another thing that Brian, you helped
get in place in 2019 was the connection to

1317
00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:06,350
the Sprint CFO guys, uh, Tyler and Brian.

1318
00:58:06,410 --> 00:58:09,410
Like, man, that was a game changer
for us because I had an accountant.

1319
00:58:09,560 --> 00:58:13,670
Yeah, my taxes were good and my books
were somewhat balanced, but these

1320
00:58:13,675 --> 00:58:17,360
guys came in and started dialing in
my margins and my departs and, you

1321
00:58:17,360 --> 00:58:18,710
know, where's my labor cost going?

1322
00:58:18,710 --> 00:58:21,410
Not just in general, but to each area.

1323
00:58:21,410 --> 00:58:25,050
And those types of things were
really, really big, big help.

1324
00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:28,010
Bryant Gillespie: Yeah, that's a big,
um, that's, that's one that I've, I've

1325
00:58:28,010 --> 00:58:31,850
talked to a lot of shop owners about
is like, you think that a, like your

1326
00:58:31,850 --> 00:58:36,350
typical CPA accountant, Like, they
just wanna do your taxes, honestly.

1327
00:58:36,350 --> 00:58:39,740
Like, Hey, I just want to make sure
you're compliant with the government.

1328
00:58:39,759 --> 00:58:43,339
And I did, you know, but, but, but
like the expectation from like the

1329
00:58:43,345 --> 00:58:47,240
business owner side, or even, and,
and I was guilty of this too, when

1330
00:58:47,240 --> 00:58:51,290
I started my own business, was my
accountant's gonna be involved and give

1331
00:58:51,290 --> 00:58:53,779
me advice on what I should do here?

1332
00:58:53,930 --> 00:58:55,189
Should I buy that equipment?

1333
00:58:55,189 --> 00:58:59,089
Or, you know, what, what are we
gonna project sales at for next year?

1334
00:58:59,089 --> 00:59:00,500
So, can I hire somebody?

1335
00:59:00,770 --> 00:59:04,700
And that's a really, like, that's
not the job of an accountant.

1336
00:59:04,790 --> 00:59:05,140
Chris Fleniken: No.

1337
00:59:05,629 --> 00:59:06,500
If you find that.

1338
00:59:06,500 --> 00:59:07,069
Wow.

1339
00:59:07,459 --> 00:59:07,700
Yeah.

1340
00:59:07,899 --> 00:59:08,939
Cause you're right.

1341
00:59:08,939 --> 00:59:10,790
I would've loved to have
that along the years.

1342
00:59:10,790 --> 00:59:11,839
Like that would've been great.

1343
00:59:12,350 --> 00:59:12,799
No.

1344
00:59:13,129 --> 00:59:13,620
Yeah.

1345
00:59:13,625 --> 00:59:13,850
Yeah.

1346
00:59:13,850 --> 00:59:14,720
So definitely club

1347
00:59:14,720 --> 00:59:15,290
Bryant Gillespie: for those guys.

1348
00:59:15,290 --> 00:59:16,790
Chris Fleniken: We'll,
so those team members.

1349
00:59:16,850 --> 00:59:17,029
Yeah.

1350
00:59:17,029 --> 00:59:21,259
That Tyler's link in the, the shoes
man, that, that's been a game changer.

1351
00:59:21,560 --> 00:59:23,000
And they've been right about a lot.

1352
00:59:23,004 --> 00:59:26,029
Like, Hey Chris, you're gonna
run low on cash in next month.

1353
00:59:26,035 --> 00:59:27,620
And you know, it's like, Yep.

1354
00:59:27,620 --> 00:59:28,160
They were right.

1355
00:59:28,165 --> 00:59:29,900
You know, they, they,
they could see the trends.

1356
00:59:29,900 --> 00:59:33,230
They were helping me notice things,
and they had also identified problems

1357
00:59:33,230 --> 00:59:37,070
as far as just even in our bookkeeping
of this, margin's not right if

1358
00:59:37,070 --> 00:59:40,340
you're selling it for this and your
labor's, you know, and we found some

1359
00:59:40,340 --> 00:59:41,870
things outta place and fixed it.

1360
00:59:41,875 --> 00:59:44,390
And so it's been really cool
collaborating with those guys.

1361
00:59:44,660 --> 00:59:44,670
Awesome.

1362
00:59:45,850 --> 00:59:46,550
It, it seems

1363
00:59:46,580 --> 00:59:46,700
like

1364
00:59:46,700 --> 00:59:50,630
Bryant Gillespie: you don't have
any problem whatsoever, like, or

1365
00:59:50,630 --> 00:59:55,250
any ego in like, Hey, somebody
else is, can figure this out.

1366
00:59:55,340 --> 00:59:58,070
And like, letting that, giving
that person the space to do it.

1367
00:59:58,100 --> 01:00:01,430
Like you said, youve done that with
your team, your operations manager with

1368
01:00:01,550 --> 01:00:04,460
Tyler and the guys at print, c f o.

1369
01:00:04,490 --> 01:00:08,930
Like, was there, was there ever a time
where you were like maybe in the, at

1370
01:00:08,930 --> 01:00:12,770
the start of the business where you were
wound a little held on a little tighter?

1371
01:00:12,770 --> 01:00:15,710
Or is that just like a muscle
that you've developed like.

1372
01:00:16,460 --> 01:00:17,660
Chris Fleniken: Let's call that a muscle.

1373
01:00:17,660 --> 01:00:18,880
That's a good way to put it.

1374
01:00:18,880 --> 01:00:20,420
Cause yeah, I mean everyone has that.

1375
01:00:20,750 --> 01:00:23,960
I don't, don't even know if it's would
be ego-driven, but more just like control

1376
01:00:23,960 --> 01:00:27,140
nurturing, you know, like, Hey, I was
the only one doing this and if you're

1377
01:00:27,140 --> 01:00:29,960
not doing it that same way, you know, you
could start having problems or you know,

1378
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:33,290
and someone could have a little ego as
far as like, that's not the way I showed

1379
01:00:33,290 --> 01:00:36,380
you to do it, but to be open to see like,
Hey, you know what, that does make sense.

1380
01:00:36,380 --> 01:00:39,110
Let's adapt and doing it that
way and taking others ideas.

1381
01:00:39,110 --> 01:00:43,160
I whatever you can do to empower other
team members, I think's the goal because

1382
01:00:43,310 --> 01:00:45,050
I can't be in all departments at once.

1383
01:00:45,050 --> 01:00:48,560
So if they have the idea, Chris
would do it like this and they

1384
01:00:48,565 --> 01:00:50,120
can evolve and make it better.

1385
01:00:50,120 --> 01:00:51,320
That's, that's awesome.

1386
01:00:51,620 --> 01:00:55,460
Another quote that I've heard my
pastor say and I love is like,

1387
01:00:55,490 --> 01:00:57,650
you produce what you reiterate.

1388
01:00:58,040 --> 01:01:00,960
You keep what you celebrate and
you deserve what you tolerate.

1389
01:01:01,160 --> 01:01:01,850
And that's been so.

1390
01:01:02,615 --> 01:01:06,035
So when we find a team member doing
something right, let's praise that.

1391
01:01:06,035 --> 01:01:07,234
Let's encourage that.

1392
01:01:07,234 --> 01:01:08,825
Let's celebrate that.

1393
01:01:08,825 --> 01:01:10,774
Hey, that is exactly how we wanna do it.

1394
01:01:11,254 --> 01:01:13,265
You know, let's produce what we reiterate.

1395
01:01:13,265 --> 01:01:14,705
Let's reiterate the important things.

1396
01:01:14,705 --> 01:01:16,475
Hey, because our customer matters.

1397
01:01:16,475 --> 01:01:17,855
We do not wanna let this go out.

1398
01:01:17,915 --> 01:01:21,875
Or because this might be a problem, let's
go ahead and run that by the customer.

1399
01:01:21,875 --> 01:01:24,754
Let's not surprise them with the
change or you know, whatever it be.

1400
01:01:24,754 --> 01:01:27,274
You can reiterate those things so
that way our team knows to make the

1401
01:01:27,274 --> 01:01:28,595
right decision in that right way.

1402
01:01:28,654 --> 01:01:32,285
And when it does not go right, whenever
it's like, what were they thinking?

1403
01:01:32,345 --> 01:01:34,595
Usually we could look at that
situation and say, you know what?

1404
01:01:34,600 --> 01:01:37,835
We kind of deserve it because
we've tolerated this for so long.

1405
01:01:37,955 --> 01:01:41,045
When that happens or that attitude
comes out, it's because we've

1406
01:01:41,045 --> 01:01:42,815
let it get sloppy, that area.

1407
01:01:42,935 --> 01:01:46,444
And so I've also kind of embraced
that little saying and, and, and

1408
01:01:46,444 --> 01:01:49,595
tried to use that to again, The team.

1409
01:01:49,775 --> 01:01:52,445
And I think another thing we could
kind of even mention is a big deal

1410
01:01:52,445 --> 01:01:55,535
is creating opportunity in your team,
because you're always gonna have just

1411
01:01:55,535 --> 01:01:59,135
staff members if they're just there
to do a task or a job, if there's

1412
01:01:59,135 --> 01:02:01,385
opportunities for them to dial in.

1413
01:02:01,385 --> 01:02:04,445
And I've heard you guys talk about this
on a recent podcast, and I think that's

1414
01:02:04,445 --> 01:02:08,285
really importantly, including your team
members in and the decisions, Hey, why

1415
01:02:08,285 --> 01:02:09,755
do you guys think this was a problem?

1416
01:02:09,755 --> 01:02:11,915
What can we do different
involving their opinions?

1417
01:02:11,915 --> 01:02:15,395
I think it's awesome and it
makes them feel value, but also

1418
01:02:15,395 --> 01:02:16,645
shows that they are valuable.

1419
01:02:16,650 --> 01:02:20,015
And from there, you're probably gonna get
some really good ideas to move forward.

1420
01:02:20,015 --> 01:02:21,335
So creating those opportunities.

1421
01:02:21,335 --> 01:02:24,455
And then also we try to create
opportunities in our pay scale.

1422
01:02:24,545 --> 01:02:26,945
So like our production team, we
put something in place a few years

1423
01:02:26,945 --> 01:02:32,915
ago to where they're paid, uh,
production bonus on as they work.

1424
01:02:32,920 --> 01:02:33,335
I didn't, I didn't

1425
01:02:33,335 --> 01:02:35,255
Bryant Gillespie: have this in my
notes, but I'm glad you brought it up

1426
01:02:35,255 --> 01:02:37,265
because I, I, I, it's not the norm.

1427
01:02:37,555 --> 01:02:39,335
I, I definitely wanna dive into

1428
01:02:39,335 --> 01:02:39,485
Chris Fleniken: it.

1429
01:02:39,525 --> 01:02:40,085
Well, it.

1430
01:02:40,580 --> 01:02:44,680
There was another company in town
that is amazing and we, we work

1431
01:02:44,685 --> 01:02:47,299
for them a lot, but also glean
really great ideas from them.

1432
01:02:47,299 --> 01:02:50,569
And one of the things that they put in
place was for their service technicians.

1433
01:02:50,575 --> 01:02:54,470
They were paid kind of almost as their
own little business owners of their

1434
01:02:54,470 --> 01:02:57,830
truck, you know, and hey, they created
opportunities for them to earn more.

1435
01:02:57,834 --> 01:03:00,200
And, you know, as they made more
efficient moves, they could,

1436
01:03:00,290 --> 01:03:01,339
you know, generate more income.

1437
01:03:01,339 --> 01:03:02,480
And we love that idea.

1438
01:03:02,484 --> 01:03:05,390
So we adapted it in a small way
of just, okay, hey, you're, you're

1439
01:03:05,390 --> 01:03:08,540
getting paid to show up and do your
quality job and give us your, you

1440
01:03:08,540 --> 01:03:09,859
know, your, your excellent work.

1441
01:03:10,370 --> 01:03:13,339
But on top of that, here's a
production bonus that comes every

1442
01:03:13,339 --> 01:03:14,990
month by the work you produce.

1443
01:03:15,020 --> 01:03:16,819
So if we have a call
back, we have a problem.

1444
01:03:16,819 --> 01:03:20,779
We gotta reprint that amount of
funds goes out of the budget.

1445
01:03:20,810 --> 01:03:21,950
Like you're not gonna bonus.

1446
01:03:22,745 --> 01:03:25,445
Shared order because we had this
problem or we missed a deadline,

1447
01:03:25,505 --> 01:03:26,855
quality was maybe a not to par.

1448
01:03:26,855 --> 01:03:29,825
We gave a discount, you know, so that
could get disqualified from that.

1449
01:03:29,825 --> 01:03:32,645
But if everything went great,
customer's happy, we hit the deadline.

1450
01:03:32,675 --> 01:03:34,685
We got 10 orders done this
week instead of eight.

1451
01:03:34,805 --> 01:03:38,375
You know, they're receiving a small
percentage of those jobs per team.

1452
01:03:38,465 --> 01:03:41,435
Um, it also kind of creates the
teamwork of like, hey, the screen print

1453
01:03:41,435 --> 01:03:44,615
department, they wanna crank out these
orders together because we've been,

1454
01:03:44,675 --> 01:03:46,715
we bo they bonus off the same amount.

1455
01:03:46,805 --> 01:03:50,765
Uh, sales reps, the order, the reason
they wanna crank those orders in and make

1456
01:03:50,765 --> 01:03:53,795
sure they're going through production
smoothly and correctly is because they get

1457
01:03:53,795 --> 01:03:57,035
a percentage on all the orders that they
put through shop box, things like that.

1458
01:03:57,035 --> 01:04:00,919
So, Again, we don't have it perfected, but
that is something we put in place with the

1459
01:04:00,919 --> 01:04:04,609
hopes that our team would have opportunity
to, you know, their paycheck could

1460
01:04:04,609 --> 01:04:06,230
reflect the hard work they're putting in.

1461
01:04:06,230 --> 01:04:08,540
And they would also feel a little
pain of like, man, we messed

1462
01:04:08,540 --> 01:04:10,189
up in that big shirt order.

1463
01:04:10,669 --> 01:04:13,040
I didn't make a bonus off that
because we had to reprint or we

1464
01:04:13,040 --> 01:04:14,450
had to fix or discount, whatever.

1465
01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:16,430
So that's something I hope to grow again.

1466
01:04:16,435 --> 01:04:19,459
What is we, we launched
it in January, 2020.

1467
01:04:19,640 --> 01:04:21,709
January, 2020 was one of our best months.

1468
01:04:21,709 --> 01:04:24,350
February was one of our
second best months in March.

1469
01:04:24,350 --> 01:04:27,500
Everything kind of came crumbling
and so we kept that in place.

1470
01:04:27,500 --> 01:04:31,040
This time, even though profits are
not what we near hoped, it's been

1471
01:04:31,040 --> 01:04:34,819
more of survival mode since, but we
kept it in there because that's just

1472
01:04:34,819 --> 01:04:39,080
important I think for the team to
have a feeling of kinda ownership

1473
01:04:39,080 --> 01:04:40,549
in their work and their ability.

1474
01:04:40,549 --> 01:04:43,310
And we, we try to preach to like, Hey,
you're not coming to do a job, you're

1475
01:04:43,310 --> 01:04:44,899
coming to bring value to the company.

1476
01:04:45,020 --> 01:04:47,240
Um, so don't just come to be here, but.

1477
01:04:47,930 --> 01:04:52,460
Engage, leave, empty leave knowing,
man, I, I gave some quality work today.

1478
01:04:52,520 --> 01:04:56,060
I poured into this project, or that
I brought my skills, my, you know, my

1479
01:04:56,060 --> 01:04:57,980
creativity or whatever their role is.

1480
01:04:57,980 --> 01:05:01,970
You know, like I want them to feel
proud of what they leave and proud

1481
01:05:01,970 --> 01:05:05,270
when they see that sign on the wall
or the truck driving down the road or

1482
01:05:05,270 --> 01:05:08,270
whatever it be, you know, like, and
so anyway, we wanna try to celebrate

1483
01:05:08,270 --> 01:05:11,060
those things with them and create the
opportunities that they can learn and

1484
01:05:11,060 --> 01:05:12,950
grow and like doing what they're doing.

1485
01:05:13,100 --> 01:05:15,890
So that's something we've tried to
do constantly, but, but also like,

1486
01:05:16,100 --> 01:05:17,060
back to the creating opportunities.

1487
01:05:17,060 --> 01:05:19,190
We've had several team
members move different places.

1488
01:05:19,190 --> 01:05:22,279
Like, we had one guy that
started as a helper right out.

1489
01:05:22,819 --> 01:05:26,450
He wasn't even outta college, he was
on academic probation from college,

1490
01:05:26,450 --> 01:05:28,520
from slacking around a little bit.

1491
01:05:28,880 --> 01:05:31,910
Came in as a, as a helper, you
know, really great hard worker.

1492
01:05:31,970 --> 01:05:33,470
Then he started working
on a production team.

1493
01:05:33,470 --> 01:05:38,089
Then he was our, kind of our lead
sign production guy for a year or two.

1494
01:05:38,150 --> 01:05:39,650
But he always wanted to
be a graphic designer.

1495
01:05:39,830 --> 01:05:41,569
Uh, that's what he was
starting to go to school for.

1496
01:05:41,870 --> 01:05:44,810
And so we made efforts to move
this valuable team member from

1497
01:05:44,810 --> 01:05:47,029
one role to a creative role.

1498
01:05:47,360 --> 01:05:49,100
Because that was kind of
where his passion was.

1499
01:05:49,100 --> 01:05:52,490
We had another guy that also was
in signage and was a super great

1500
01:05:52,490 --> 01:05:56,660
installer, super great operator
leader in that area, but he's super

1501
01:05:56,660 --> 01:06:00,110
creative and he did great video editing
for church and different things.

1502
01:06:00,110 --> 01:06:03,920
He had these skills and so we painfully,
you know, tried to navigate him away

1503
01:06:03,920 --> 01:06:06,320
from that and got him in a creative
role where he could, you know,

1504
01:06:06,380 --> 01:06:08,210
use his gifts and talents better.

1505
01:06:08,360 --> 01:06:11,420
So I think just wanting the best
for your people is another big thing

1506
01:06:11,425 --> 01:06:14,930
because we've made some painful moves
that I wish that person was still in

1507
01:06:14,930 --> 01:06:19,040
that role, but they thrive over there
and that's good, uh, for them as well.

1508
01:06:19,040 --> 01:06:20,000
I think that's important.

1509
01:06:20,090 --> 01:06:24,140
So moving people around I think has
been, and again, not everyone can, I

1510
01:06:24,140 --> 01:06:26,660
mean some people just, I need you there.

1511
01:06:26,660 --> 01:06:30,110
So stay there for a while, but when
we can, we try to like get them

1512
01:06:30,110 --> 01:06:33,530
opportunities to, to change it up and
do different things and I think that

1513
01:06:33,530 --> 01:06:36,860
helps keep them engaged and that way
it's not just a job, this is opportunity.

1514
01:06:36,865 --> 01:06:37,580
It's my career.

1515
01:06:37,580 --> 01:06:40,040
This is, you know, I'm
a valuable team member.

1516
01:06:40,045 --> 01:06:41,030
I'm needed here.

1517
01:06:41,090 --> 01:06:42,960
And hopefully they could
be and do the best.

1518
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:44,060
I

1519
01:06:44,060 --> 01:06:46,910
Bryant Gillespie: love that approach
that you mentioned career, right?

1520
01:06:47,150 --> 01:06:52,280
Like a lot of a, like not the owner or
manager, but like a lot of the production

1521
01:06:52,280 --> 01:06:59,060
employees are probably, are, are calling
this a, a job in other shops and you're

1522
01:06:59,065 --> 01:07:02,600
trying to instill that, hey, there's
something bigger than we're working on

1523
01:07:02,600 --> 01:07:04,760
here and this is a, a career for you guys.

1524
01:07:04,910 --> 01:07:07,850
So Pete, I'm gonna open the floor
for you, dude, because I know you

1525
01:07:07,850 --> 01:07:12,050
got like a couple, I know you've been
sitting on like a pointed question

1526
01:07:12,050 --> 01:07:14,060
or two before we wrap this thing up.

1527
01:07:14,390 --> 01:07:14,660
Yeah,

1528
01:07:14,660 --> 01:07:16,970
Peter Kourounis: well, I mean, we, I was
really enjoying everything that Chris was

1529
01:07:16,975 --> 01:07:20,540
saying, so I wanted to let him kind of,
as I like to say, ramble on a little bit

1530
01:07:20,810 --> 01:07:24,560
But thanks you, you covered
a lot of really great topics.

1531
01:07:24,950 --> 01:07:30,380
I think the, the, the biggest question
for me is, is not going to be something

1532
01:07:30,380 --> 01:07:34,930
that I think is gonna be hard for you to
answer, but like, what do you see yours?

1533
01:07:34,935 --> 01:07:36,200
How, how do you see yourself?

1534
01:07:36,770 --> 01:07:42,859
In terms of time, like if you had time
where, where is your time best used in

1535
01:07:42,859 --> 01:07:44,990
your life and your businesses right now?

1536
01:07:45,470 --> 01:07:48,109
Chris Fleniken: I learned from a,
there was a little seminar as that

1537
01:07:48,115 --> 01:07:50,480
and they, they, it's kinda like
personality profiles, but they were

1538
01:07:50,484 --> 01:07:53,720
talking about different, know your area
of strengths and, and running that.

1539
01:07:53,720 --> 01:07:57,950
And part of that was this visionary
and I, they called it something else.

1540
01:07:57,950 --> 01:08:00,649
It was like a visionary profile and
then there was like a manager operator,

1541
01:08:00,649 --> 01:08:02,089
someone who implements things.

1542
01:08:02,149 --> 01:08:04,970
And then there were a couple
others and I totally identified

1543
01:08:04,970 --> 01:08:05,810
with that visionary one.

1544
01:08:05,810 --> 01:08:10,700
And again, I'm, sometimes that term seems
a little cocky, but I am a good idea guy.

1545
01:08:10,790 --> 01:08:15,080
So when you got a problem in a shop, I
mean in my, in our little area, I love

1546
01:08:15,439 --> 01:08:17,479
coming out with the problem solve of that.

1547
01:08:17,479 --> 01:08:18,830
You know, Hey, you know what, this is it.

1548
01:08:18,830 --> 01:08:20,120
You've already tried this,
you've already tried that.

1549
01:08:20,179 --> 01:08:22,910
I do love kind of tackling some
of those special things like that.

1550
01:08:22,969 --> 01:08:25,910
And I think I'm can bring value to
the company in that type of area.

1551
01:08:26,029 --> 01:08:29,854
I think setting big goals, Is a big
part of it, you know, like if we can,

1552
01:08:29,974 --> 01:08:32,764
I mean, like, we're gonna say doing
what we're doing unless someone cast

1553
01:08:32,764 --> 01:08:36,455
out this new idea, Hey, what, what if
we in five years had this going on?

1554
01:08:36,455 --> 01:08:37,955
Or a different location or whatever.

1555
01:08:37,955 --> 01:08:41,825
So I hope that I can find my time
wisely to navigate us towards

1556
01:08:41,825 --> 01:08:44,854
bigger things and new ideas because
that will keep the team general

1557
01:08:44,944 --> 01:08:46,925
generally more excited and engaged.

1558
01:08:47,194 --> 01:08:51,215
Because yeah, I mean like everyone's gonna
kinda get dull by doing the same routine.

1559
01:08:51,304 --> 01:08:51,484
Yeah.

1560
01:08:51,865 --> 01:08:52,024
Ok.

1561
01:08:52,024 --> 01:08:52,026
So,

1562
01:08:52,205 --> 01:08:54,154
Peter Kourounis: so, so
you're more of a visionary.

1563
01:08:54,154 --> 01:08:59,255
You wanna explore those opportunities,
kind of solidify those cracks before

1564
01:08:59,255 --> 01:09:01,144
they become deterrent in the future.

1565
01:09:01,144 --> 01:09:01,444
Right.

1566
01:09:01,654 --> 01:09:02,045
Take risks.

1567
01:09:02,314 --> 01:09:05,615
And the only reason why you could do that
and the obvi, it's an obvious statement,

1568
01:09:05,615 --> 01:09:08,045
but the only reason you could do that
is because you're not in your business.

1569
01:09:08,045 --> 01:09:09,274
You're working on your business.

1570
01:09:09,274 --> 01:09:13,925
You are the leader, the coach,
the consultant, the trainer.

1571
01:09:14,014 --> 01:09:17,524
Those are areas where I'm hearing,
and you may not be saying them,

1572
01:09:17,920 --> 01:09:20,800
Based off of what you've said, I'm
making really great assumptions that

1573
01:09:20,800 --> 01:09:22,779
this is where your expertise lies.

1574
01:09:22,870 --> 01:09:27,700
As a shop owner, your responsibility
is not designing or quoting or selling

1575
01:09:27,760 --> 01:09:29,950
or even installing or fabricating.

1576
01:09:29,980 --> 01:09:35,410
It's more training, guiding consulting,
looking for those areas of weakness and

1577
01:09:35,410 --> 01:09:37,450
then shoring up those inefficiencies.

1578
01:09:37,870 --> 01:09:41,649
You know, I'm speaking to a, I was
speaking to a specific sign shop

1579
01:09:41,680 --> 01:09:43,930
on new sign shop owner earlier.

1580
01:09:43,930 --> 01:09:44,109
This.

1581
01:09:44,990 --> 01:09:47,330
Who is quite the opposite of you, Chris?

1582
01:09:47,420 --> 01:09:50,750
I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna mention
his name or, or his shop, but he

1583
01:09:50,750 --> 01:09:54,860
just bought this business from a,
from an experienced sign shop owner

1584
01:09:54,860 --> 01:09:56,630
who is very involved in the system.

1585
01:09:56,929 --> 01:09:57,889
Very involved.

1586
01:09:57,889 --> 01:09:59,480
In fact, everything was up here.

1587
01:09:59,809 --> 01:10:04,099
He had told me that all of his pricing
was listed on laminated sheets.

1588
01:10:04,490 --> 01:10:05,599
And I'm like, oh dude.

1589
01:10:05,599 --> 01:10:07,670
Like we need to fix this problem.

1590
01:10:07,670 --> 01:10:11,210
You know, let me ex, let me introduce
you to like a shop management tool.

1591
01:10:11,269 --> 01:10:13,700
And you know, you have
side shop owners out there.

1592
01:10:13,700 --> 01:10:16,940
Chris let, like, let's not forget
that we all started this way.

1593
01:10:16,940 --> 01:10:21,710
This gentleman is just coming in and
learning everything about this industry.

1594
01:10:21,710 --> 01:10:24,259
He doesn't know how to make signs,
he doesn't know how to design signs.

1595
01:10:24,530 --> 01:10:29,599
And when I'm talking to him and I'm
working through all of those, uh, building

1596
01:10:29,599 --> 01:10:34,690
blocks, One of the things that always
comes back in our conversations is

1597
01:10:34,690 --> 01:10:36,640
that you have to build the foundation.

1598
01:10:36,700 --> 01:10:39,250
You have, this is what you're
going to build the engine.

1599
01:10:39,460 --> 01:10:44,920
You're, you're gonna build your engine
no matter who you sell this to or who

1600
01:10:44,920 --> 01:10:50,350
gets hired, or hey, if you want to
go on a two week vacation, no matter

1601
01:10:50,350 --> 01:10:55,450
what happens, the engine is always
capable of running and that is what

1602
01:10:55,720 --> 01:10:58,000
people are now building their shops on.

1603
01:10:58,000 --> 01:11:01,720
So that's what I like when I'm listening
to you, is that you've built this engine,

1604
01:11:01,960 --> 01:11:04,420
you've, you didn't start this way, right?

1605
01:11:04,510 --> 01:11:04,660
Mm-hmm.

1606
01:11:04,905 --> 01:11:06,700
, you, you, you, you said it yourself.

1607
01:11:06,705 --> 01:11:10,660
You know, you made that first poster
for $25 because you said, Hey, yeah,

1608
01:11:10,660 --> 01:11:12,340
sure I can use an extra couple of bucks.

1609
01:11:13,210 --> 01:11:17,020
For me hearing your story, learning
a little bit more about how you

1610
01:11:17,020 --> 01:11:19,270
kind of grew into this, making it.

1611
01:11:20,770 --> 01:11:26,560
Making it exciting, but most importantly,
building the foundation, building

1612
01:11:26,560 --> 01:11:28,030
your, you've built your engine.

1613
01:11:28,030 --> 01:11:31,780
In fact, one might say that your
engine is built and Bryant is helping

1614
01:11:31,780 --> 01:11:34,510
you supercharge that engine, right?

1615
01:11:34,510 --> 01:11:38,680
Like you're adding all sorts of tweaks
to it because you continue to be

1616
01:11:38,680 --> 01:11:44,200
involved in the business enough where
you can explore those inefficiencies

1617
01:11:44,200 --> 01:11:45,910
to make that engine better.

1618
01:11:46,420 --> 01:11:49,450
So when I asked you earlier about
like what processes you have, like

1619
01:11:49,450 --> 01:11:51,520
that's all part of the engine.

1620
01:11:52,090 --> 01:11:53,110
That's all part of it.

1621
01:11:53,410 --> 01:11:56,230
You know, one might say,
you built the system.

1622
01:11:56,320 --> 01:11:57,280
What does an engine need?

1623
01:11:57,280 --> 01:11:58,780
It needs gasoline to run.

1624
01:11:58,810 --> 01:12:01,240
So that, in my mind,
that's marketing, right?

1625
01:12:01,270 --> 01:12:07,160
So what does a shop do of your size,
marketing wise to attract its customers?

1626
01:12:07,420 --> 01:12:09,970
That's a question I'd like,
uh, that I wanted to ask.

1627
01:12:09,975 --> 01:12:11,800
I kind of took the long way to ask it, but

1628
01:12:12,010 --> 01:12:13,300
Chris Fleniken: no, thanks for the recap.

1629
01:12:13,400 --> 01:12:14,680
I mean, you really did say that, right?

1630
01:12:14,680 --> 01:12:14,860
And.

1631
01:12:15,515 --> 01:12:15,935
You're right.

1632
01:12:15,965 --> 01:12:18,425
Peter Kourounis: But yeah, you know,
you need, every engine needs gasoline,

1633
01:12:18,425 --> 01:12:20,435
every engine needs gas to run, right?

1634
01:12:20,435 --> 01:12:24,185
So we look at that in marketing
dollars and marketing ideas.

1635
01:12:24,185 --> 01:12:28,595
So what, uh, for a shop your size,
what are you doing to attract new

1636
01:12:28,985 --> 01:12:29,105
Chris Fleniken: business?

1637
01:12:29,735 --> 01:12:34,415
So mine's gonna be having a
solid pance presence online.

1638
01:12:34,415 --> 01:12:37,085
A lot of those foundational
things are in place, right?

1639
01:12:37,565 --> 01:12:42,305
But we're not super aggressive there
because luckily for so far all the

1640
01:12:42,310 --> 01:12:46,835
business that we've grown from has come in
the front door, called us or emailed it.

1641
01:12:46,865 --> 01:12:49,085
So we haven't really gone out
and asked for a lot of work.

1642
01:12:49,085 --> 01:12:52,745
So that's what energizes me to think
what are the possibilities out there?

1643
01:12:52,835 --> 01:12:57,125
If we went out to actually ask for more
work, we actually like pursue some leads.

1644
01:12:57,125 --> 01:13:00,785
We followed up with existing and older
customers and asked them, Hey, we'd

1645
01:13:00,785 --> 01:13:01,955
love to have your shirt business.

1646
01:13:01,955 --> 01:13:03,935
And we're not doing any of that right now.

1647
01:13:04,265 --> 01:13:07,415
So I think for the future of us
to have an outside sales con.

1648
01:13:07,835 --> 01:13:10,415
Point person would be a
pretty cool, powerful team

1649
01:13:10,415 --> 01:13:11,825
member that had in the future.

1650
01:13:12,155 --> 01:13:16,325
But for now we are just managing the
stuff coming in, which again, I don't

1651
01:13:16,325 --> 01:13:19,085
want it to sound in the wrong way cause
we're super grateful, but like what a

1652
01:13:19,505 --> 01:13:22,565
blessing to have plenty of work coming in
that we've continued to grow every year.

1653
01:13:22,865 --> 01:13:26,315
I haven't fueled a lot of gasoline
on the fire for that, but we've got,

1654
01:13:26,315 --> 01:13:27,995
we have stayed consistent there.

1655
01:13:27,995 --> 01:13:29,585
Yes, I'm gonna have
some Google ads running.

1656
01:13:29,885 --> 01:13:32,735
We've ran a billboard just for
fun before we have our wrap

1657
01:13:32,735 --> 01:13:33,935
vehicles that are out there.

1658
01:13:34,145 --> 01:13:36,215
And that constantly
brings us great attention.

1659
01:13:36,335 --> 01:13:38,795
I mean, I was, I was pumping gas the
other day and I got in one of our, I

1660
01:13:38,795 --> 01:13:43,250
was in one of our work vehicles and
it just, The guy just starts chatting

1661
01:13:43,250 --> 01:13:46,310
to me about his business and all this,
and I'm just thinking like, what other

1662
01:13:46,610 --> 01:13:50,210
opportunity would come this way if you
did not have that wrap vehicle there?

1663
01:13:50,210 --> 01:13:52,730
That he's not only talking about
wanting to wrap his construction

1664
01:13:52,730 --> 01:13:54,740
company truck, but y'all print business.

1665
01:13:54,800 --> 01:13:56,900
I mean, it's just brings
so much opportunity.

1666
01:13:56,900 --> 01:14:00,890
So our wrap vehicles have been a great
help to stay in the area and relevant.

1667
01:14:00,890 --> 01:14:01,310
I love it.

1668
01:14:01,310 --> 01:14:03,680
Whenever I get comments I'm
like, man, I saw you guys' truck

1669
01:14:03,680 --> 01:14:05,360
way out in Jasper yesterday.

1670
01:14:05,390 --> 01:14:06,590
What are y'all doing out there?

1671
01:14:06,590 --> 01:14:09,180
And so it's been good seeing
those on the street and, and,

1672
01:14:09,200 --> 01:14:10,370
and know kinda keeping people.

1673
01:14:10,985 --> 01:14:12,995
Thinking of us, uh, to, to that, to that

1674
01:14:12,995 --> 01:14:15,965
Peter Kourounis: point, to that
point, I always talk to my, I always

1675
01:14:15,965 --> 01:14:19,925
talk to my, uh, my consultant, my
clients that I consult with, my sign

1676
01:14:19,930 --> 01:14:23,165
shop owners that I consult with,
and I always bring up that story.

1677
01:14:23,195 --> 01:14:26,315
We actually talk, uh, it was ama
uh, I'm not sure if the episode

1678
01:14:26,315 --> 01:14:30,155
is out yet, but that episode that
we did about raps with, um, Bryan,

1679
01:14:30,275 --> 01:14:32,105
Dana Antonelli, yeah, thank you.

1680
01:14:32,105 --> 01:14:33,095
I couldn't recall his name.

1681
01:14:33,095 --> 01:14:33,785
Dana Antonelli.

1682
01:14:33,934 --> 01:14:37,894
When we release, I was, I was like,
oh man, this is gonna be my jam right

1683
01:14:37,894 --> 01:14:39,515
here, because I can't wait to think.

1684
01:14:39,515 --> 01:14:40,985
I was just thinking about this story.

1685
01:14:41,045 --> 01:14:42,305
I had a little shop, right?

1686
01:14:42,309 --> 01:14:45,425
I just got started my first
year, and my father, he says,

1687
01:14:45,430 --> 01:14:46,805
Pete, you need a billboard.

1688
01:14:46,865 --> 01:14:50,735
He says, here's a $900
van I found on Craigslist.

1689
01:14:50,885 --> 01:14:51,785
You should just wrap it.

1690
01:14:52,265 --> 01:14:56,165
Just wrap it and park it on the side of
your building and watch what would happen.

1691
01:14:56,165 --> 01:14:56,825
I'll never forget that.

1692
01:14:56,825 --> 01:14:58,965
This is like before
wraps became like a, a.

1693
01:14:59,495 --> 01:15:00,605
You know, like almost every

1694
01:15:00,605 --> 01:15:02,565
Chris Fleniken: shot cut
vinyl layered up or no?

1695
01:15:02,565 --> 01:15:02,965
Was it?

1696
01:15:02,965 --> 01:15:03,365
No, no.

1697
01:15:03,645 --> 01:15:04,165
Peter Kourounis: It was a real wrap.

1698
01:15:04,165 --> 01:15:05,435
It was a real wrap.

1699
01:15:05,555 --> 01:15:06,425
It was a real rap.

1700
01:15:06,695 --> 01:15:09,455
But before RAPS were like they were today.

1701
01:15:09,485 --> 01:15:09,845
Yeah.

1702
01:15:09,845 --> 01:15:10,125
Right.

1703
01:15:10,145 --> 01:15:10,205
Yeah.

1704
01:15:10,205 --> 01:15:12,005
Like almost every shot does raps now.

1705
01:15:12,095 --> 01:15:15,695
I still remember the very first rap I've
ever done, which was like, I remember

1706
01:15:15,700 --> 01:15:17,555
jumping up for joy, like got a rap.

1707
01:15:17,595 --> 01:15:18,085
Yeah.

1708
01:15:18,695 --> 01:15:21,275
You know, somebody gave
me $5,000 to do a wrap.

1709
01:15:21,275 --> 01:15:23,975
You know, I still remember that to
like, it was like it was yesterday.

1710
01:15:23,975 --> 01:15:27,965
But the importance for those
shops out there that are

1711
01:15:27,970 --> 01:15:29,255
not looking at it like this.

1712
01:15:29,735 --> 01:15:32,885
That's a really simple way of
just branding yourself, right?

1713
01:15:32,885 --> 01:15:37,865
Keep a truck parked right outside, maybe
park it on the side of a, a building an

1714
01:15:37,865 --> 01:15:42,965
intersection, a an empty or a deserted
parking lot and just keep it there.

1715
01:15:42,970 --> 01:15:45,095
Park it there, get your name out there.

1716
01:15:45,365 --> 01:15:49,865
It's a really simple way of attracting,
I wouldn't even say new business, it's

1717
01:15:49,865 --> 01:15:51,425
just a way of getting the brand out there.

1718
01:15:51,425 --> 01:15:52,955
Brand awareness, right?

1719
01:15:52,985 --> 01:15:55,055
Like keeping your brand consistent.

1720
01:15:55,055 --> 01:15:56,675
They drove past it on Main Street.

1721
01:15:56,680 --> 01:16:00,785
Now they're driving down Douglasville
Road or whatever you want to call your

1722
01:16:00,785 --> 01:16:02,885
road on, and now they see your shop.

1723
01:16:02,885 --> 01:16:04,565
That's two touch points, right?

1724
01:16:04,565 --> 01:16:09,275
So doing something just like that, it's
a really great tip for the small sign

1725
01:16:09,275 --> 01:16:14,375
shop owner, the small guys that are
out there that are like doing 250 to

1726
01:16:14,375 --> 01:16:20,255
$500,000 a year in sale that are looking
for like added ways of, of really trying

1727
01:16:20,260 --> 01:16:22,144
to get, you know, the brand out there.

1728
01:16:22,150 --> 01:16:25,555
Maybe they don't wanna
spend $500 a month on.

1729
01:16:26,405 --> 01:16:29,165
I don't know a billboard
advertising Google.

1730
01:16:29,165 --> 01:16:29,405
No, I get it.

1731
01:16:29,585 --> 01:16:31,264
Chris Fleniken: You know,
but if you spent, uh, if

1732
01:16:31,264 --> 01:16:34,205
Peter Kourounis: you spent $900 and
did it yourself and wrapped your own

1733
01:16:34,205 --> 01:16:36,605
vehicle, that's gonna last a lifetime.

1734
01:16:36,605 --> 01:16:39,335
That's gonna, well, maybe not a lifetime,
but you know, it's gonna last a lot

1735
01:16:39,340 --> 01:16:45,245
longer than a, than a monthly ad and
a magazine or, you know, a diner ad,

1736
01:16:45,245 --> 01:16:47,285
a billboard for a couple of weeks.

1737
01:16:47,554 --> 01:16:50,855
I mean, even Bryant knows you
can advertise in like magazines

1738
01:16:51,184 --> 01:16:53,255
and maybe the impressions

1739
01:16:53,255 --> 01:16:54,005
Chris Fleniken: are not great.

1740
01:16:54,455 --> 01:16:54,665
Peter Kourounis: Yeah.

1741
01:16:55,235 --> 01:17:00,304
You know, maybe there's some digital
mar magazines out there that want

1742
01:17:00,304 --> 01:17:02,764
your advertising, but they suck.

1743
01:17:02,945 --> 01:17:03,304
You know?

1744
01:17:03,304 --> 01:17:05,345
So where, where is your money best?

1745
01:17:05,345 --> 01:17:06,815
You, best being spent?

1746
01:17:06,875 --> 01:17:11,554
You know, I mean, for, for us,
season sign Shop guys, we've

1747
01:17:12,175 --> 01:17:13,505
advertised everywhere, right?

1748
01:17:13,565 --> 01:17:17,465
We've, we've done the diner
mats, we've done the sponsorship

1749
01:17:17,465 --> 01:17:18,455
of the little leagues.

1750
01:17:18,845 --> 01:17:18,905
Yeah.

1751
01:17:18,905 --> 01:17:23,045
We've done the sponsorships on
the Light Up Your Rudolph event.

1752
01:17:23,540 --> 01:17:26,269
Okay, we're do, we're
handing out little things.

1753
01:17:26,275 --> 01:17:30,800
I remember, I still remember one of
my first trade shows, I routed out

1754
01:17:30,800 --> 01:17:37,219
over 500 corrugated plastic guitars
to hand out, you know, like just to

1755
01:17:37,400 --> 01:17:38,870
people like, gimme, gimme, gimme.

1756
01:17:38,870 --> 01:17:40,250
Yeah, that's awesome guitars.

1757
01:17:40,490 --> 01:17:42,590
But it was just a cutout piece of coro.

1758
01:17:42,679 --> 01:17:45,980
It was, it was cool looking, but
people would recognize you and I

1759
01:17:45,980 --> 01:17:48,260
can't, and I sold franchises that way.

1760
01:17:48,290 --> 01:17:51,860
So there's so many things that
a sign shop owner can do to

1761
01:17:51,889 --> 01:17:53,660
pour gasoline into their engine.

1762
01:17:53,660 --> 01:17:55,670
But Chris, I'm bringing
this right back to you.

1763
01:17:55,700 --> 01:18:00,800
And my last question here and, and please,
I'm gonna caution you if you could be

1764
01:18:00,800 --> 01:18:01,820
Chris Fleniken: specific.

1765
01:18:02,375 --> 01:18:04,655
Peter Kourounis: For those listeners,
I mean, I'm gonna ask you a pretty

1766
01:18:04,655 --> 01:18:07,035
simple question, but be specific.

1767
01:18:07,565 --> 01:18:09,305
Give them a tip, help them out here.

1768
01:18:09,305 --> 01:18:14,315
Let's be, let's be really great sign
shop owners here and, and pass along some

1769
01:18:14,315 --> 01:18:17,315
really great advice for that Next sign.

1770
01:18:17,315 --> 01:18:17,735
Shop owner.

1771
01:18:17,740 --> 01:18:20,435
You got a great system
built of processes, right?

1772
01:18:20,435 --> 01:18:24,365
You mentioned you use shop box, you
have, you do some marketing, right?

1773
01:18:24,665 --> 01:18:25,675
Here's the question.

1774
01:18:26,195 --> 01:18:28,415
When a lead comes in, okay?

1775
01:18:28,475 --> 01:18:30,275
When a lead comes in of any kind, no.

1776
01:18:30,275 --> 01:18:30,725
Doesn't matter.

1777
01:18:30,725 --> 01:18:34,055
How, tell our listeners
what happens in your shop?

1778
01:18:34,790 --> 01:18:35,600
Who answers

1779
01:18:35,600 --> 01:18:36,200
Chris Fleniken: the lead?

1780
01:18:36,320 --> 01:18:37,670
How does it get processed?

1781
01:18:37,970 --> 01:18:38,690
How quickly

1782
01:18:38,690 --> 01:18:40,070
Peter Kourounis: do you
turn into an estimate?

1783
01:18:40,130 --> 01:18:43,910
Walk us through the front end of
your process so our listeners can

1784
01:18:43,910 --> 01:18:46,760
learn a little bit of something,
how to do it in correctly

1785
01:18:46,760 --> 01:18:47,300
Chris Fleniken: in their shop.

1786
01:18:47,660 --> 01:18:49,280
Well, figuring things out.

1787
01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:52,640
But right now, yeah, if you, if if a
website order comes in, we've try to

1788
01:18:52,670 --> 01:18:56,300
be there and, you know, order come in
through Facebook or any kind of online

1789
01:18:56,300 --> 01:18:59,540
deal, it funnels through a couple
email accounts we have ready, so that

1790
01:18:59,540 --> 01:19:01,130
way we know kind of how it came in.

1791
01:19:01,160 --> 01:19:04,970
So yes, front desk will receive it,
share it with a, a sales rep, just kinda

1792
01:19:04,970 --> 01:19:06,410
depending on who would be best fit.

1793
01:19:06,500 --> 01:19:09,200
Uh, then they'll reach
back out, make connection.

1794
01:19:09,205 --> 01:19:10,490
Hey, how can we prepare a quote?

1795
01:19:10,490 --> 01:19:11,480
What are these details?

1796
01:19:11,540 --> 01:19:13,880
Uh, we also have five, and I
don't mind sharing this, but I

1797
01:19:13,880 --> 01:19:17,480
have five top questions that our
sales reps kind of run through.

1798
01:19:17,540 --> 01:19:19,850
Um, it's basically, and I've heard y'all
kind of mention some of this stuff.

1799
01:19:19,850 --> 01:19:22,640
It's like talking about budget, talking
about timeframe, talking about scope of

1800
01:19:22,640 --> 01:19:26,000
work, you know, expectations, how, you
know, how long we want this to last.

1801
01:19:26,270 --> 01:19:30,440
Gathering those top five things would
let them give the best educated quote.

1802
01:19:30,530 --> 01:19:33,980
Generally, we're gonna give them a
good, better, best, or at least a.

1803
01:19:34,429 --> 01:19:35,570
Good and better option.

1804
01:19:35,660 --> 01:19:39,110
Um, so sometimes they might ask for a
cor plus sign, but by the time we kind of

1805
01:19:39,110 --> 01:19:41,000
retrieve the goal of it, what's it for?

1806
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:42,559
It might evolve to something different.

1807
01:19:42,769 --> 01:19:46,130
And so hopefully we give that customer,
Hey, this is what you asked for.

1808
01:19:46,130 --> 01:19:48,950
Maybe here's even a better option if
you want it to last a little longer.

1809
01:19:49,009 --> 01:19:52,009
Or, Hey, yes, our, our basic
t-shirts start at six bucks a piece.

1810
01:19:52,009 --> 01:19:54,980
But if you are wanting one of those
fashion tees that are tribal in that

1811
01:19:54,980 --> 01:19:58,160
people really don't wanna take off,
here's an option that costs this much.

1812
01:19:58,219 --> 01:20:01,309
Um, so hopefully we provide those
options in pricing, pass it.

1813
01:20:01,309 --> 01:20:05,480
Then from there we get the order, go
through the deposit step, assign it to a

1814
01:20:05,480 --> 01:20:07,940
design team member to provide the mockups.

1815
01:20:08,030 --> 01:20:11,330
Um, and then from there approval, it
gets assigned at dip production due

1816
01:20:11,330 --> 01:20:14,719
date and passed into the production
stage state to go down that flow.

1817
01:20:15,019 --> 01:20:16,190
So that's kind of the flow.

1818
01:20:16,190 --> 01:20:17,371
So hopefully we're fielding that.

1819
01:20:18,035 --> 01:20:22,625
Again, I don't think we have it perfect,
but man, to lose a lead is so bad.

1820
01:20:22,684 --> 01:20:25,684
I mean, that one person's gonna be
disappointed and they're gonna tell

1821
01:20:25,684 --> 01:20:27,995
way more people than that happy
customer that was taken care of.

1822
01:20:27,995 --> 01:20:30,485
So it's very important to make
sure we're receiving it because

1823
01:20:30,485 --> 01:20:31,684
if not, we're wasting all that.

1824
01:20:31,684 --> 01:20:35,075
We, we, we wrap that vehicle, we,
we sponsor that little league ad

1825
01:20:35,075 --> 01:20:38,675
and all this stuff to get this,
this opportunity and we missed it.

1826
01:20:38,764 --> 01:20:42,005
And so I just feel like if we had to
be good stewards of those opportunities

1827
01:20:42,005 --> 01:20:45,184
and do it well, and that's kinda why we
haven't really ventured out to ask for

1828
01:20:45,184 --> 01:20:48,755
more work is cause we're still trying
to make sure we polish and take care

1829
01:20:48,755 --> 01:20:50,014
of these customers that are coming in.

1830
01:20:50,075 --> 01:20:53,974
We also run a 25% repeat
customer rate, which is great.

1831
01:20:54,245 --> 01:20:56,014
I'd love to see that grow in that.

1832
01:20:56,014 --> 01:20:59,255
I'd love to just nurture those
accounts better, nurture those

1833
01:20:59,684 --> 01:21:00,394
customers, reach back out.

1834
01:21:00,394 --> 01:21:01,595
Hey, how was your experience?

1835
01:21:01,625 --> 01:21:05,255
I think there's opportunities that we have
to do that better that I'd love to see us

1836
01:21:05,260 --> 01:21:09,755
grow in, but we've gotta receive that well
because one of the worst things we get is.

1837
01:21:10,475 --> 01:21:12,425
People say about other
places, well, I reached out.

1838
01:21:12,425 --> 01:21:13,295
I never got a quote.

1839
01:21:13,325 --> 01:21:16,565
Or they did, they showed up and
surveyed, but they never came

1840
01:21:16,565 --> 01:21:19,925
back and gave me some options or
didn't call me back or whatever.

1841
01:21:19,925 --> 01:21:22,205
And that's something I don't
want people to say about us.

1842
01:21:22,415 --> 01:21:23,815
So we've gotta do everything we can to.

1843
01:21:24,380 --> 01:21:26,750
Be one of those that they're
telling the shop down the road,

1844
01:21:27,140 --> 01:21:29,870
Those guys never got back
with me and that's terrible.

1845
01:21:29,870 --> 01:21:33,440
So we're doing our best, but we've been
blessed with a lot of work coming in.

1846
01:21:33,650 --> 01:21:36,620
So yes, I wanna do a good job of
fielding it and taking care of them.

1847
01:21:36,890 --> 01:21:37,309
Awesome

1848
01:21:37,309 --> 01:21:37,400
Peter Kourounis: man.

1849
01:21:37,400 --> 01:21:38,570
Thank you so much for that.

1850
01:21:38,570 --> 01:21:39,140
Chris Fleniken: Appreciate it.

1851
01:21:39,230 --> 01:21:44,030
Hey, another thing that I've got going
on today is a tour, and I don't know how

1852
01:21:44,030 --> 01:21:48,380
many other shop sign shop owners open
their shops up, but we do several tours

1853
01:21:48,380 --> 01:21:51,530
a year for like schools to leadership.

1854
01:21:51,530 --> 01:21:56,210
Lufkin is like a leadership program in
our local, uh, chamber that comes through.

1855
01:21:56,480 --> 01:21:59,510
There's also a high school program of
these kids that are in the leadership

1856
01:21:59,510 --> 01:22:03,050
program that come and so we have a
talk, we we tour around the shop,

1857
01:22:03,050 --> 01:22:04,550
they screen for their own t-shirt.

1858
01:22:04,550 --> 01:22:07,309
Sometimes we'll make a vinyl sticker
or something, but like we just open

1859
01:22:07,309 --> 01:22:08,960
the doors and let them kind of see.

1860
01:22:08,960 --> 01:22:11,540
And it always is such a
positive, you know, takeaway.

1861
01:22:11,540 --> 01:22:12,410
Yeah, I, I wish

1862
01:22:12,410 --> 01:22:15,200
Peter Kourounis: more and more people,
I wish more and more people did that.

1863
01:22:15,200 --> 01:22:16,550
I think that's an excellent thing.

1864
01:22:16,555 --> 01:22:18,559
I would encourage you to even look beyond.

1865
01:22:19,025 --> 01:22:22,835
What you're currently doing, just from a
recruitment perspective, you know, like

1866
01:22:22,835 --> 01:22:28,236
kids in school, they remember meeting,
you know, the governor, the mayor, , you

1867
01:22:28,241 --> 01:22:32,105
know, they, that that's what inspires
people in the next generation to be

1868
01:22:32,195 --> 01:22:35,045
in politics or, or, or in education.

1869
01:22:35,045 --> 01:22:38,165
When they, when they, you said it
yourself at a young age, you learn

1870
01:22:38,165 --> 01:22:40,025
from a, a, you know, a youth pastor.

1871
01:22:40,264 --> 01:22:40,325
Yeah.

1872
01:22:40,325 --> 01:22:43,565
And that's how, that's why you knew that
that was something that you wanted to do.

1873
01:22:43,625 --> 01:22:44,735
So I love that.

1874
01:22:44,825 --> 01:22:47,674
I, I personally, I wish I did that.

1875
01:22:47,674 --> 01:22:52,745
I, I had, I had not really thought of
the idea, but opened houses, Sign, uh,

1876
01:22:52,745 --> 01:22:56,615
like a sign shop, open house, getting
people to touch things, play with things.

1877
01:22:56,615 --> 01:22:58,415
It's such a creative industry.

1878
01:22:58,445 --> 01:23:00,544
You could do almost
anything that you want.

1879
01:23:00,544 --> 01:23:03,785
You can have them build little ra
glow in the dark reindeer if you

1880
01:23:03,785 --> 01:23:06,365
want, you know, around this time,
around this time of the year.

1881
01:23:06,370 --> 01:23:07,804
I mean, it'd be so cool.

1882
01:23:07,985 --> 01:23:10,355
I encourage you to really explore that.

1883
01:23:10,504 --> 01:23:13,235
Even come back to us with
like, Hey, how is this doing?

1884
01:23:13,235 --> 01:23:13,955
Film it.

1885
01:23:14,254 --> 01:23:16,085
Throw it up on social media.

1886
01:23:16,115 --> 01:23:17,615
Get it out there in pr.

1887
01:23:17,615 --> 01:23:21,995
Like I personally love that, love that
I would tell every sign shop to do.

1888
01:23:22,684 --> 01:23:22,955
Chris Fleniken: And here.

1889
01:23:22,955 --> 01:23:27,065
Another thing though, the flip side of it
is, yeah, it brings a burden to the team.

1890
01:23:27,065 --> 01:23:29,165
They gotta make sure their areas
are clean and things like that.

1891
01:23:29,165 --> 01:23:32,044
And I ask 'em all to have something
running in all the departments so

1892
01:23:32,044 --> 01:23:35,105
that way we're cutting something
on the table, we're flatbed.

1893
01:23:35,214 --> 01:23:35,825
Yeah, you

1894
01:23:35,825 --> 01:23:36,144
Peter Kourounis: gotta prep it.

1895
01:23:36,205 --> 01:23:37,325
You gotta prep it, right?

1896
01:23:37,504 --> 01:23:38,165
You gotta make sure

1897
01:23:38,724 --> 01:23:42,004
Chris Fleniken: dec you point at
them and you say, Hey, this is the

1898
01:23:42,544 --> 01:23:43,834
operator who runs this machine.

1899
01:23:43,985 --> 01:23:45,184
Tell us about what it does.

1900
01:23:45,544 --> 01:23:48,934
Or here, here's the screen printer, tell
us how we're gonna screen print our shirt

1901
01:23:48,934 --> 01:23:51,245
today and let them shine for a minute.

1902
01:23:51,250 --> 01:23:54,094
And that's a cool thing that they
get to like show off, Hey, this is

1903
01:23:54,094 --> 01:23:55,745
my skill, this is how I know to do,

1904
01:23:55,804 --> 01:23:58,985
Peter Kourounis: let them use the
power washer and clean a screen

1905
01:23:58,985 --> 01:24:02,344
and you know, let, let them
throw, like start folding shirts.

1906
01:24:02,584 --> 01:24:03,125
I agree.

1907
01:24:03,129 --> 01:24:03,544
I agree.

1908
01:24:03,544 --> 01:24:06,605
I would absolutely do it
in any shop of any kind.

1909
01:24:06,785 --> 01:24:08,044
Show how you do things.

1910
01:24:08,075 --> 01:24:09,754
Show how you make the magic happen.

1911
01:24:10,330 --> 01:24:13,570
You know, even in a small shop,
and we're a small town like yours,

1912
01:24:13,630 --> 01:24:18,100
or a large community like mine,
that is needed in this business.

1913
01:24:18,130 --> 01:24:23,800
The youth in the industry needs to
know what they can do in this career.

1914
01:24:23,890 --> 01:24:27,790
They could be designers, they could be
foreman, they could be installers, they

1915
01:24:27,790 --> 01:24:31,780
could work with their hands, they could
be, you know, they could be bookkeepers.

1916
01:24:31,780 --> 01:24:34,060
They could do anything
that they want in industry.

1917
01:24:34,240 --> 01:24:37,810
That is why I love it so much, because
you could wear many different hats.

1918
01:24:38,140 --> 01:24:42,310
You could be a business background, a
marketing background, a design background.

1919
01:24:42,310 --> 01:24:45,130
You could be a contractor,
you could be a manager.

1920
01:24:45,220 --> 01:24:48,130
You could do anything you want,
and the kids, the youth of

1921
01:24:48,130 --> 01:24:49,780
this generation need to know.

1922
01:24:49,900 --> 01:24:53,440
So I would, Chris, anybody who's
listening out there needs to take

1923
01:24:53,440 --> 01:24:55,570
your advice and get that done.

1924
01:24:55,840 --> 01:24:59,350
Start put bringing in your Chamber
of Commerces, your networking

1925
01:24:59,350 --> 01:25:00,640
groups, bring it all in.

1926
01:25:00,940 --> 01:25:03,310
And I'm not even talking about
business owners, like just.

1927
01:25:03,724 --> 01:25:04,925
You could do it with anybody.

1928
01:25:04,925 --> 01:25:05,465
An open house.

1929
01:25:05,495 --> 01:25:05,585
Yes.

1930
01:25:06,065 --> 01:25:06,125
Yeah.

1931
01:25:06,130 --> 01:25:08,465
You know, it doesn't have to
be kids, it could be anyone.

1932
01:25:08,465 --> 01:25:09,184
So yeah, man.

1933
01:25:09,215 --> 01:25:10,894
Way to end it on a positive note.

1934
01:25:10,894 --> 01:25:11,855
I love that.

1935
01:25:11,945 --> 01:25:13,865
I encourage others to do that.

1936
01:25:13,894 --> 01:25:17,554
Thank you so much for being here,
Chris, it was great to hear your story.

1937
01:25:17,554 --> 01:25:22,804
I love having you on, uh, look forward to
seeing you again on our Mastermind calls.

1938
01:25:23,585 --> 01:25:27,184
Uh, and, and Brian, why don't
you wrap it up here and, and

1939
01:25:27,184 --> 01:25:28,925
then, you know, close us out.

1940
01:25:29,285 --> 01:25:29,554
Guys.

1941
01:25:29,559 --> 01:25:30,575
Chris Fleniken: Thanks
for letting me ramble.

1942
01:25:30,575 --> 01:25:31,295
I've enjoyed it.

1943
01:25:31,715 --> 01:25:35,434
Bryant Gillespie: Oh, man, I, I knew this
was gonna be a slam dunk conversation,

1944
01:25:35,434 --> 01:25:36,815
so I appreciate you joining us, man.

1945
01:25:37,385 --> 01:25:38,554
Chris Fleniken: Oh, wait,
Brian, new like that.

1946
01:25:38,554 --> 01:25:39,635
Chris guy can talk.

1947
01:25:39,639 --> 01:25:40,535
He'll fill an hour.

1948
01:25:40,535 --> 01:25:43,094
Easy man.

1949
01:25:43,235 --> 01:25:43,955
Hey, hey.

1950
01:25:45,094 --> 01:25:48,875
Bryant Gillespie: Honestly, like
you've been, um, a, a great inspiration

1951
01:25:48,875 --> 01:25:54,815
to me as well and a good friend,
and like hearing you like Flex and,

1952
01:25:54,815 --> 01:25:59,315
and like, not even Flex, but just
share some of your experiences.

1953
01:25:59,795 --> 01:26:01,745
Like, I, I knew you had all this in you.

1954
01:26:01,835 --> 01:26:04,445
I, this is gonna be tremendously
helpful for all of our listeners.

1955
01:26:04,445 --> 01:26:10,985
I, I know it will be because like you've
been through this over, over 15 years or

1956
01:26:10,985 --> 01:26:12,695
so that you've been running this business.

1957
01:26:12,785 --> 01:26:19,355
I mean, and it's, you know, the takeaway
for me is like when you truly enjoy what

1958
01:26:19,355 --> 01:26:24,215
you're doing and you value what service
you're providing is a, a sign shop or a

1959
01:26:24,219 --> 01:26:29,255
print shop or a wrap shop to your local
community like that pays dividends.

1960
01:26:29,285 --> 01:26:35,165
So if you're in a, a small town and
you're looking to grow, And you're

1961
01:26:35,165 --> 01:26:36,815
asking, how can I grow in a small town?

1962
01:26:36,815 --> 01:26:38,015
You're asking the wrong question.

1963
01:26:38,315 --> 01:26:38,525
Right?

1964
01:26:38,525 --> 01:26:41,345
The question is, how can
I help my small town grow?

1965
01:26:41,675 --> 01:26:41,885
Yeah.

1966
01:26:41,915 --> 01:26:45,575
How can I help the other business
owners in my small town grow their

1967
01:26:45,575 --> 01:26:47,255
businesses and be more successful?

1968
01:26:47,615 --> 01:26:51,305
Because to me, to like distill down
everything that you've said, like

1969
01:26:51,305 --> 01:26:55,805
that's the takeaway here is basically
you guys came in with creative on the

1970
01:26:55,805 --> 01:27:00,725
front end and outdid anything that
they were getting from other sign

1971
01:27:00,725 --> 01:27:04,625
or print shops that were just there
to provide a sign or provide print.

1972
01:27:04,955 --> 01:27:09,785
Like you guys are actually investing in
that small business that's coming to you.

1973
01:27:09,815 --> 01:27:12,815
Like, Hey, we we're gonna make
sure your design looks great.

1974
01:27:13,325 --> 01:27:16,145
We're gonna make sure that we
help you put the pieces together.

1975
01:27:16,145 --> 01:27:19,295
Like, Hey, you may come to us for a
banner because you're trying to open

1976
01:27:19,295 --> 01:27:21,815
a, a new location, but guess what?

1977
01:27:21,815 --> 01:27:24,005
We've got flyers that we can do for you.

1978
01:27:24,010 --> 01:27:24,145
Mm-hmm.

1979
01:27:24,225 --> 01:27:26,075
, like, we're going to give
you the whole package.

1980
01:27:26,285 --> 01:27:27,830
So that's the takeaway for me.

1981
01:27:28,445 --> 01:27:31,655
How do you grow in a, a
small shop or a small town?

1982
01:27:32,405 --> 01:27:34,085
How can you grow your small town?

1983
01:27:34,115 --> 01:27:37,505
How can you help other business
owners in your small town?

1984
01:27:37,595 --> 01:27:38,635
Chris, that's awesome, Chris.

1985
01:27:38,705 --> 01:27:45,635
Um, if you guys want to check out Chris
and Real graphics, it's real graphics.com.

1986
01:27:45,965 --> 01:27:48,005
I, I don't want to flood
you with calls, but I know.

1987
01:27:48,005 --> 01:27:48,184
No,

1988
01:27:48,184 --> 01:27:48,695
Chris Fleniken: I enjoyed it.

1989
01:27:48,695 --> 01:27:51,905
Yeah, it's been a great meeting
part of the community and connecting

1990
01:27:51,905 --> 01:27:52,985
with more and more owners.

1991
01:27:52,985 --> 01:27:54,965
It's been really
encouraging, so it's awesome.

1992
01:27:55,025 --> 01:27:57,485
And there's this Me Too therapy
that's been really helpful, you

1993
01:27:57,485 --> 01:27:59,765
know, to hear other people talk
about things and be like, ah, me too.

1994
01:28:00,125 --> 01:28:01,144
I'm not alone, you know?

1995
01:28:01,144 --> 01:28:03,724
So I've enjoyed, uh, the
connection with you guys.

1996
01:28:03,724 --> 01:28:06,635
So thanks so much and keep doing
what you're doing all's good.

1997
01:28:06,640 --> 01:28:07,775
All right, thanks Chris.

1998
01:28:08,255 --> 01:28:08,705
Bryant Gillespie: Bye guys.

1999
01:28:08,885 --> 01:28:09,245
Appreciate it.

2000
01:28:09,245 --> 01:28:09,515
Guys.

2001
01:28:10,535 --> 01:28:10,805
If you

2002
01:28:10,805 --> 01:28:13,835
Chris Fleniken: liked this episode,
make sure you hit subscribe to get

2003
01:28:13,835 --> 01:28:18,695
all the latest episodes and check out
our website, better sign shop.com.

2004
01:28:19,385 --> 01:28:22,684
Get free resources and helpful
tools on growing your shop.

2005
01:28:23,045 --> 01:28:24,035
Thanks for listening.