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Learn how to build a better sign and
print shop from a few crusty sign

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guys who've made more mistakes than
they care to admit conversations

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and advice on pricing, sales,
marketing, workflow, growth, and more.

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You're listening to the better sign shop
podcast with your hosts, Peter Kourounis,

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Michael 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 printing,
grand format printer to the trade.

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GCI is not your average print shop.

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They pride themselves on
providing you a fast, stress

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free experience when outsourcing.

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Their no excuses mindset means no matter
the job, they'll have it done every time.

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No other vendor will go to the
lengths that GCI does to ensure

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you're a satisfied customer.

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To hear more about their approach
to business, hop back into the

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archives to episode 9, where the
guys and I interview owner TJ Bedak

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about top tier customer experience.

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If you're looking for a high quality trade
printer, for banners, mesh, coroplast, and

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more, TJ and his crew will have your back.

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For jobs big or small, GCI does them all.

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Check them out at PrintGCI.

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com.

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Hi guys, welcome back to the next
episode of the Better Sign Shop Podcast.

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I'm your host, Brian Gillespie.

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Uh, my two co hosts, Michael and
Peter are not here at the moment.

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So I figured I would go
ahead and kick this one off.

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Um, if you're watching the video feed,
you'll see this amazing mustache.

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Uh, yesterday was Halloween and I had
to commit fully to my, uh, costume.

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My wife dressed up as Taylor Swift.

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I was, of course.

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Uh, Travis Kelsey, uh, if you know
me, you know, I'm the furthest thing

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from an NFL football player, but, um,
anyway, you got to go all in sometimes.

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Uh, today we've got a,
another special guest with us.

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I really excited about this episode.

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All right, guys, we are back
with our special guest for today.

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Mr.

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Evan Zebley, Evan.

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Nice to have you on the podcast.

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Thanks.

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Nice

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to be here.

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I originally reached out to you
several months ago, maybe half a

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year at this point, because I saw
that you were posting a lot of really

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cool videos of like sign installs and
stuff that you were doing for clients.

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Um, I thought it would be a
great story to have you on and

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interview you about that, but.

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In that time, I think you've had a lot
of changes going on professionally, so,

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uh, maybe you want to jump in and just
give us some of your backstory and tell

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us about your journey in the industry.

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Sure.

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I mean, uh, it's, I guess the truncated
version, cause it's pretty eventful.

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I guess if anybody ever.

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Feels like they're not sure
they're doing the right thing.

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Uh, and they're comparing themselves
to old systems, which are, you

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know, the classic, you go into
a job, you work it for 30 years,

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you stay loyal to that company.

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I get that.

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And that's commendable.

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That was not the path for me.

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Uh, the last 10 years in the sign
business, the only way that I've.

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Been able to really move up
as they've been to move out.

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And that's what I've
been doing year by year.

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So I've had the great opportunity, uh,
every year that as I grow a market to

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then ask my employer, Hey, are we ready
to take my income to the next level?

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When they say no, I'm like,
all right, that's cool.

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I'm going to go on to
the next thing though.

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And, uh, just keep going until
now that's culminated in.

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I have to have my own shop.

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So that just started two months ago is
the first time in about 10 years that

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I've felt comfortable saying, you know
what, I've got a good customer base.

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I understand all the ins and outs
of everything with this business.

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I'm fine.

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Just cold going out on my own.

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Um, and it has been, I mean, we're at,
uh, we're in the middle of week nine now.

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And the great parts are I've been able to
pay myself every week, which is a bonus.

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Uh, you know, there's money in the bank.

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And then all that really comes
from, like you said, it's got

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to do with the market share.

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So, you know, there's many,
many great crafters out there.

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They're good at their job.

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They know what to do.

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They can provide you an excellent product
that will work for your, your need.

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Uh, but.

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Everybody's not marketing that.

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And so the, I would attribute the
whole reason of why I'm able to go out

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on my own is to just me having market
share for people, knowing my face,

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knowing me personally in my market.

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Gotcha.

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So you kind of built your own brand.

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If we, if we back up a little
bit, like how did you get

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your start in the industry?

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Or back up quite a bit, I guess,
potentially, you know, I think

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you said you've been in the
industry at least 10 years now.

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Yeah, it's been about 10 years.

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Um, so I was, uh, before I got into
anything to do with media, I was

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actually managing restaurants and bars.

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So I was very much into that life where
it's, you know, I'm peddling booze

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pretty much and making good money.

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You know, it's, And it's a fun
time, uh, but I wanted to have a

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family and it's not really conducive
to having good family time.

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You know, close down the bar at four
in the morning and then take the

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kid to the soccer game at eight.

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Doesn't really work that great.

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So I was like, I got to
do something different.

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I had an opportunity to go work for
a newsprint publisher, which, uh,

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if you want to learn about deadlines
and working fast and hard like

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that, that was definitely it, um, I
was the narrow point of the funnel

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when it came to production design.

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And so.

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Every ad that was in every
newspaper, every magazine, every

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book that all went across my desk.

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Um, and I think I was working
that job for about a year and a

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half when my sister called me.

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And my sister was working for a
farmer in South Georgia that had

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a sign shop in his farmhouse.

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And she said, Evan, you know, the guy
I'm working for says he's tired of signs.

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He wants to sell all the equipment and
the book of business to us for 10, 000.

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Do you Want to get into
the sign business with me.

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And I was like, well, I guess I think
I could be good at being my own boss.

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Like, all right, let's, let's try it.

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So, uh, she lived in South Georgia.

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I was in kind of North Georgia at the time
and moved down there to South Georgia.

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And I remember week one,
it was like, we've got.

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You know, the business
is already operating.

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So we got jobs rolling and, uh, I was
like, okay, we got this banner order.

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I don't even really know what a banner is.

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I don't, certainly don't know how to
print it or like what this big machine is.

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Like, I don't know anything about this.

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And my sister's like, well, that's cool,
but I have to have a baby right now.

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So I'm going to go.

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And so she, she was pregnant with,
uh, with my niece at the time.

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And, um, anyway, like the switcheroo, it
was literally like, okay, figure this out.

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And I remember it's, I remember the model,
you know, we were running a Roland S 500,

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V and, uh, it's a solvent inkjet printer.

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And of course the smell of it, all
of that, I figured out, you know,

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okay, this is how you load media.

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This is how you use VersaWorks.

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Okay.

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I'm printing.

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Oh, but I'm getting
these lines on the print.

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I don't know what to do.

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And I, oh, there's gotta be something.

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And the only solution I could figure out
at the time was to sit there and hold.

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The banner as it was coming out.

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So I was sitting there manually taking
up about 150 linear feet of banner, just

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hoping because, you know, it's, it's
the sign that they need it tomorrow.

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It's the sign business.

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Um.

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And that was my for me,

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for me, I don't mean to stop you there,
Evan, but I love that you said that just

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shows how like really into this business.

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You really are because only a true
person in the signage where you

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could say something like that and
know that I have legit experience.

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It's legit.

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Like you have, you have been in
the trenches, you know, for me,

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it was crumpled up pieces of tape.

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A blue painter's tape like put underneath
the vinyl so that it like comes out

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straighter and then those those little
like harbor freight squeeze clamps that

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you could like put on it so that it keeps
it taut and wait you know I mean like

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it's that's so funny that you've been
there and I haven't heard too many of

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my clients or anybody that I've worked
with like say that so I know now exactly

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who I'm talking to.

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Oh man, I gotta, I gotta tell you
that, um, that, that began, you

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know, the, the whole sign journey.

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Right.

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And, and of course, like I said, we're
working out of a pole barn, which we

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had, I think we started in November.

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He gave us until January to move out.

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Um, so found a little 1500
square foot spot in a strip mall.

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And, uh, and I remember nobody was
available to help me on move weekend.

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So it was just me.

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Moving everything and
getting the new shop set up.

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And I mean, I did it, of course I did it
because come Monday we have to get back

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to work, so I couldn't just not do it.

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Um, but yeah, that relationship with that
Roland, the Roland was a great printer.

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I will say that I learned how to take.

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Every safety feature off of it, how
to get it completely taken apart.

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Like it was like the most
manual printer since like a

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Heidelberg press or something.

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Like if you weren't watching it and
it didn't have media, it was just

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going to like spew ink on the floor.

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Like I needed it to work, you
know, I didn't, I didn't have

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money to go get another printer.

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Like that's what I had.

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Um, but yeah, it was, it was great.

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I learned, you know, everybody that
takes that step where they're thinking

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about, Oh, I want to go be my own boss.

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Or they look at their boss and they
think, man, this person has no idea.

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I can do it way better.

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Well, I learned all the
things that I didn't know.

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Like I learned what it meant to be in the
shop without leaving, sleeping on the work

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tables, be there for 72 hours at a time.

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You know, I learned what it meant to.

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Uh, have somebody else making promises
that you have to deliver on and now you're

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the one that's got to make it happen.

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Um, I, I learned about, you know, the
stuff that a lot of people don't think

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about that, Hey, if it's too much work
and you literally can't get it done

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and you've got to pay somebody else to
help you, well, the cashflow, right?

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You, you got to pay that person, even
if your customers haven't paid you yet.

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And guess who's not getting a check?

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You.

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Like you can't not pay your employee.

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And, um, so it was a lot of
great struggles, but also a lot

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of great opportunities, learning
opportunities to know, okay, this

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is the kind of person I want to be.

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I always told myself I wanted
to be this kind of a boss.

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Well, now's my chance to really do it.

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I always told myself I wanted to
deliver this way for my customers.

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Well, now's the opportunity
for me to actually do that.

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And, you know, we grew, I think, um, the
person we bought that business from, they

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were using it sort of like a tax write
off to just funnel expenses into, uh,

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they were grossing maybe like 30 K a year.

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It was nothing like they were
losing money on just hemorrhaging.

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So we set up a new LLC and transferred,
you know, the book of business

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and all of that, so we didn't
take on any of that liability and.

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I think in our first year, it was just
me and my sister and we did about 180.

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And then the second year we
were about like mid threes.

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And then I noticed like there
was a cap for our market.

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That was, that was kind of it.

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You know, we're not a franchise brand.

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We didn't have name recognition,
but I have a sales team out there.

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It was just us kind of
in the shop working.

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And then also we were in
kind of a saturated market.

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There were actually small, small
market, not that many customers,

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but a lot of sign shops.

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So it was kind of like a race to the
bottom when it came to pricing things.

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You know, you're sitting there and
your customer's like, man, I got to

227
00:12:10,254 --> 00:12:12,115
tell you 4 a square foot for a banner.

228
00:12:12,115 --> 00:12:15,475
That's just too much, you know, down
the street, they're charging me 250.

229
00:12:15,475 --> 00:12:17,694
And you're like, well, 250, I'm
going to go buy it from them.

230
00:12:18,425 --> 00:12:21,174
Like you, you don't know what to do.

231
00:12:21,850 --> 00:12:22,330
It was

232
00:12:22,580 --> 00:12:24,140
incredibly common in this industry.

233
00:12:24,350 --> 00:12:26,220
Like that's a, you hop on the forums.

234
00:12:26,220 --> 00:12:28,600
That's the first thing you hear is
like, Hey, this guy's undercutting me.

235
00:12:28,620 --> 00:12:32,739
And it's like, well, like it, let
him let, I mean, what do you do?

236
00:12:32,990 --> 00:12:34,519
I mean, that's, that's it.

237
00:12:34,549 --> 00:12:36,820
It's like, you have to
find your customers.

238
00:12:36,830 --> 00:12:41,290
And the problem with that particular
geographic location was we had

239
00:12:41,290 --> 00:12:42,210
soaked up all the customers.

240
00:12:42,220 --> 00:12:45,780
There, there were no more
customers to bring into the market.

241
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:52,150
So, uh, you know, now this is the downside
of being in a family business is that.

242
00:12:52,345 --> 00:12:55,905
When you're in the business, and this was
a thing that I learned, and then I think

243
00:12:55,905 --> 00:12:57,305
other people should learn it as well.

244
00:12:57,635 --> 00:13:01,425
It's important to document what
it is that you're doing, even

245
00:13:01,425 --> 00:13:05,304
when you're so busy that you don't
want to take the time to do that.

246
00:13:05,575 --> 00:13:09,734
The reason is when you're working
for 24 hours straight, and

247
00:13:09,734 --> 00:13:11,664
then somebody asks you on what.

248
00:13:12,045 --> 00:13:15,635
What did you do when you've been
working for 24 hours straight?

249
00:13:15,635 --> 00:13:16,915
You're like on everything.

250
00:13:16,915 --> 00:13:17,584
What do you mean?

251
00:13:17,645 --> 00:13:18,704
You can't enunciate it.

252
00:13:18,735 --> 00:13:21,645
You can't say, oh, well, I did
job for customer a for company

253
00:13:21,645 --> 00:13:26,194
C for so and so B for whatever
you can't list those things out.

254
00:13:26,235 --> 00:13:27,674
Oh, I did payroll.

255
00:13:27,675 --> 00:13:29,674
I did this administrative
tasks, blah, blah, blah.

256
00:13:29,945 --> 00:13:31,444
So you can't communicate effectively.

257
00:13:31,724 --> 00:13:35,765
So that's one thing that I, a piece
of advice I definitely learned is you

258
00:13:35,765 --> 00:13:37,075
got to document what you're doing.

259
00:13:37,405 --> 00:13:39,055
And then the second is that.

260
00:13:39,415 --> 00:13:42,645
And this is just a problem that I
personally had your family might, may not

261
00:13:42,645 --> 00:13:47,395
be this way, but when I had things that
I wanted to accomplish professionally,

262
00:13:47,955 --> 00:13:52,475
my family didn't hear that necessarily
from Evan, the professional, they

263
00:13:52,475 --> 00:13:56,945
heard that from Evan, you know, my
brother, Evan, my son, Evan, whoever,

264
00:13:57,354 --> 00:14:01,445
like, oh, that's just Evan, like he,
he doesn't know where we don't really

265
00:14:01,455 --> 00:14:03,405
have to, you know, Go into a new market.

266
00:14:03,415 --> 00:14:06,395
We don't have to think about what
our geographic boundaries are.

267
00:14:06,395 --> 00:14:07,824
We don't have to do that kind of stuff.

268
00:14:07,844 --> 00:14:09,625
So, and what I,

269
00:14:10,015 --> 00:14:12,835
there's definitely a lot
of interesting dynamics in

270
00:14:12,835 --> 00:14:13,315
family business.

271
00:14:13,315 --> 00:14:13,975
Oh yeah.

272
00:14:14,075 --> 00:14:17,785
Well, and, and, you know, this
was another good opportunity that

273
00:14:17,794 --> 00:14:22,639
happened though, was for one, a
mistake that I made was I let myself.

274
00:14:23,290 --> 00:14:27,660
I think a lot of shop operators are used
to kind of like, if you think about the

275
00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:31,210
tachometer on your vehicle, they're used
to operating in the yellow and the red.

276
00:14:31,810 --> 00:14:35,729
They, they don't know what it
feels like to just go 2000 RPMs.

277
00:14:35,730 --> 00:14:38,530
Cause they're going like
6, 000 all the time.

278
00:14:39,119 --> 00:14:40,189
And I was definitely that way.

279
00:14:40,189 --> 00:14:42,700
So I didn't know what my
limit was until I hit it.

280
00:14:43,420 --> 00:14:45,100
And then when I hit it, it was like.

281
00:14:45,319 --> 00:14:50,780
Okay, and the basically what I
said to my family was I can be

282
00:14:50,830 --> 00:14:55,860
in this business or I can be in
this family, but I can't do both.

283
00:14:56,819 --> 00:15:02,460
And what I'm going to decide to do
is leave this business because I

284
00:15:02,460 --> 00:15:07,110
think in the long run, it's going to
be better for all of us if I just.

285
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,690
Leave this, don't take any
resentment, don't take anything.

286
00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:14,300
You guys have the tools that you need
and I'll go find something else to do.

287
00:15:14,839 --> 00:15:17,829
And that was really a hard
pill for them to swallow.

288
00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:22,839
Um, that I think it, you know, we
did talk again, but it took a year

289
00:15:22,959 --> 00:15:26,909
before it was like, okay, let's have
Christmas, you know, let's, let's

290
00:15:26,910 --> 00:15:28,089
actually have these conversations.

291
00:15:28,089 --> 00:15:31,310
We couldn't talk about business
for, I think at least six years.

292
00:15:31,805 --> 00:15:37,555
Just because just the hard feelings
that were there, but me leaving that.

293
00:15:37,565 --> 00:15:39,365
I was like, okay, I'm cold turkey leaving.

294
00:15:39,365 --> 00:15:40,415
What am I going to go do?

295
00:15:40,954 --> 00:15:41,694
Just so happened.

296
00:15:41,694 --> 00:15:44,535
I knew of another sign business,
kind of where I came from.

297
00:15:45,014 --> 00:15:47,045
Uh, and they actually
weren't in signs at the time.

298
00:15:47,055 --> 00:15:49,944
They were only in, it was, I
knew them from doing print media.

299
00:15:50,290 --> 00:15:53,000
So they printed newspapers and
magazines and stuff like that.

300
00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,240
And I was like, Hey, I see that
you guys are trying to stand

301
00:15:56,250 --> 00:15:57,720
up a wide format department.

302
00:15:57,950 --> 00:15:59,799
Well, I ran my own business
for a couple of years.

303
00:15:59,799 --> 00:16:01,259
Do you need somebody
to help you with that?

304
00:16:01,270 --> 00:16:03,390
And they're like, absolutely come in.

305
00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:10,290
Uh, and that was when I felt I really
got my real introduction to working in.

306
00:16:10,650 --> 00:16:16,170
A larger shop with larger customers that
right off the bat, you know, we had a 5 by

307
00:16:16,180 --> 00:16:19,020
10 flatbed direct to substrate UV printer.

308
00:16:19,379 --> 00:16:21,830
We had a 5 by 10 belt fed Kongsberg.

309
00:16:22,270 --> 00:16:25,929
Um, I had another, uh, CNC
that was in a back room.

310
00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:27,530
You know, we had our work tables.

311
00:16:27,530 --> 00:16:28,930
We, we were, uh.

312
00:16:29,005 --> 00:16:33,785
3M, not just certified installers,
but 3M certified shop so that

313
00:16:33,785 --> 00:16:35,365
we could bring our vehicles in.

314
00:16:35,485 --> 00:16:40,445
And so I learned all of the procedures
and I learned every single machine to

315
00:16:40,445 --> 00:16:44,865
the point that I think it took me three
months before I could have operators

316
00:16:44,865 --> 00:16:48,655
on those machines, instead of me doing
everything and just like, Hey, push this

317
00:16:48,675 --> 00:16:50,595
button, do this, drag this over here.

318
00:16:50,605 --> 00:16:51,325
That's all you need to do.

319
00:16:51,345 --> 00:16:52,685
I've already got everything designed.

320
00:16:53,035 --> 00:16:54,515
Like, I just need you to hit go.

321
00:16:55,315 --> 00:16:56,105
And that was.

322
00:16:56,615 --> 00:17:00,885
Another, again, great opportunity that
you get to work with this big equipment

323
00:17:00,885 --> 00:17:05,115
that I certainly couldn't afford and
work with these big customers that it's

324
00:17:05,155 --> 00:17:09,294
like, Hey, you know, these are awesome
jobs, things that we don't think about.

325
00:17:09,365 --> 00:17:12,984
One of my favorite ones was
actually, uh, have you ever

326
00:17:12,984 --> 00:17:14,614
seen the ice vending machines?

327
00:17:14,675 --> 00:17:21,255
So, so there was a local company
that their worldwide distribution,

328
00:17:21,645 --> 00:17:27,085
they manufactured their cabinets out
of Lexan and they were getting this

329
00:17:27,095 --> 00:17:28,545
printed somewhere in like Minnesota.

330
00:17:28,555 --> 00:17:29,345
We're in Georgia.

331
00:17:30,005 --> 00:17:32,425
And I was like, all right,
well, what's your lead time?

332
00:17:32,830 --> 00:17:35,800
Well, about a month, I was like,
what if I said, you know, we're

333
00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,490
right down the street, we could do
the same exact product for you and

334
00:17:39,500 --> 00:17:41,129
we could get it to you in five days.

335
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,800
And they're like, that would be amazing.

336
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,350
I was like, including, we're
not just going to print it.

337
00:17:45,619 --> 00:17:47,659
We're going to CNC route it to your spec.

338
00:17:47,659 --> 00:17:51,620
So all you got to do is just take this
piece, put it on your assembly line.

339
00:17:51,890 --> 00:17:52,480
That's it.

340
00:17:52,770 --> 00:17:54,080
Every time you sell.

341
00:17:54,330 --> 00:17:59,280
An ice machine, we are giving you
something that goes into your process.

342
00:17:59,290 --> 00:18:03,310
So now we're a part of your
manufacturing and they're like,

343
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:05,220
absolutely, let's go, let's do it.

344
00:18:05,259 --> 00:18:06,940
And that was, you know,
that's a great account.

345
00:18:06,950 --> 00:18:09,870
That's that alone is like
a 300, 000 a year account.

346
00:18:10,405 --> 00:18:13,785
And anyway, it's again, just
great, awesome opportunities.

347
00:18:13,795 --> 00:18:15,345
And I want to stop talking for a second.

348
00:18:15,395 --> 00:18:16,975
If you had any questions.

349
00:18:17,715 --> 00:18:18,565
Yeah, no, no.

350
00:18:18,815 --> 00:18:21,534
Like one of the questions that I
had was like, did they have all this

351
00:18:21,534 --> 00:18:24,824
equipment, like waiting when you
came in or like you helped through

352
00:18:24,824 --> 00:18:26,745
the procurement of all of that?

353
00:18:26,745 --> 00:18:27,524
Or what did that look

354
00:18:27,524 --> 00:18:27,554
like?

355
00:18:27,565 --> 00:18:31,305
No, I wasn't there for procurement, which
I think was actually probably a good

356
00:18:31,305 --> 00:18:34,575
thing, because I don't think at that
point, after only being in for two years.

357
00:18:34,885 --> 00:18:38,475
I had enough experience to really
tell them what they would need to

358
00:18:38,475 --> 00:18:40,235
do and how they would need to scale.

359
00:18:40,715 --> 00:18:44,084
And that's why I think it was a
great learning opportunity for me,

360
00:18:44,094 --> 00:18:48,534
because I went from, okay, roll
to roll shop, which we were good.

361
00:18:48,534 --> 00:18:52,674
I mean, uh, you would think small
South Georgia agricultural town.

362
00:18:52,685 --> 00:18:53,935
There's not that many signs to do.

363
00:18:54,334 --> 00:18:59,564
There's a lot of logistics, like a
lot of trucks, a lot of, so like we

364
00:18:59,564 --> 00:19:03,475
were, I would print sometimes, you
know, six rolls of media at a time.

365
00:19:03,530 --> 00:19:07,649
You know, that's how many roles we
were printing, like just for a order.

366
00:19:08,140 --> 00:19:11,080
Um, and that's because these things
need to go on semi trailers or whatever.

367
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:16,070
So go from that environment to, okay,
now we're thinking about how can

368
00:19:16,070 --> 00:19:19,650
I manufacture these parts that go
into somebody's production process?

369
00:19:20,029 --> 00:19:23,439
I don't think I had a good
understanding of that before.

370
00:19:23,595 --> 00:19:28,564
I arrived at that next company, but the
experience that I gained from learning

371
00:19:28,605 --> 00:19:33,504
and, and, you know, to what Peter was
talking about every morning, I'm in

372
00:19:33,504 --> 00:19:37,314
there, you know, cleaning all the heads
physically on that UV printer, making

373
00:19:37,314 --> 00:19:40,304
sure there's like, I knew, and you
know, this, if you work in a shop, you

374
00:19:40,304 --> 00:19:41,844
know, what your equipment sounds like.

375
00:19:42,354 --> 00:19:47,834
Like I can't, I still have, like,
I think I have PTSD from, from

376
00:19:47,834 --> 00:19:49,904
the platter that I used to run.

377
00:19:50,435 --> 00:19:52,035
Like I would hear it move.

378
00:19:52,035 --> 00:19:55,005
And I just like, whatever I was
doing, I, it was like an instinct.

379
00:19:55,015 --> 00:19:56,775
It's like a baby crying or something.

380
00:19:56,785 --> 00:19:58,665
You just like drop everything and go run.

381
00:19:59,005 --> 00:20:01,275
Like, is it about to destroy my print?

382
00:20:01,835 --> 00:20:02,574
Ruined this, uh,

383
00:20:02,574 --> 00:20:04,924
you know, this 3, 000 job.

384
00:20:04,925 --> 00:20:08,064
That's something I have to
waste three hours reprinting it.

385
00:20:08,735 --> 00:20:08,965
Yes.

386
00:20:09,105 --> 00:20:11,705
I mean, it's still to the point
that I haven't used that, that

387
00:20:11,705 --> 00:20:13,055
same Imaki plotter and like.

388
00:20:13,690 --> 00:20:14,720
I don't know, eight years.

389
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,920
I still, like, if I hear a graph
tech move a certain way, I'm

390
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,160
like, Oh my God, is the print.

391
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:19,480
Okay.

392
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,830
Like I've, um, yeah,

393
00:20:22,470 --> 00:20:23,900
I've done that so many times.

394
00:20:23,940 --> 00:20:29,570
Like back in the old shop, we, we actually
did not only signage, but apparel as well.

395
00:20:29,939 --> 00:20:33,209
So like one area, we had like
a 60 by a hundred building.

396
00:20:33,955 --> 00:20:35,965
We had embroidery in one area.

397
00:20:35,965 --> 00:20:38,815
I felt like I needed a pair of
roller skates because like you

398
00:20:38,815 --> 00:20:42,565
could hear something going on with
one of the embroidery machines.

399
00:20:42,955 --> 00:20:44,515
It was all the way across the shop.

400
00:20:44,995 --> 00:20:47,425
And then, hey, like, you
know, you turn around and then

401
00:20:47,425 --> 00:20:48,865
you've got the flatbed printer.

402
00:20:49,284 --> 00:20:51,715
You know, you hear something
weird going on there.

403
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:57,075
And we had ACET that had a, a
belt that would walk up and down.

404
00:20:57,075 --> 00:21:00,304
So like if you were doing
150 or a hundred feet.

405
00:21:01,075 --> 00:21:03,705
Of a banner material,
you had to babysit it.

406
00:21:03,735 --> 00:21:05,965
So they've been there for sure.

407
00:21:05,975 --> 00:21:06,795
That's crazy.

408
00:21:06,835 --> 00:21:08,254
No, that's well.

409
00:21:08,504 --> 00:21:13,165
And yeah, I guess getting to that,
that so the experience level,

410
00:21:13,295 --> 00:21:15,855
like what you're talking about
using those pieces of equipment.

411
00:21:16,450 --> 00:21:20,570
It gives you so much knowledge that you
couldn't even really think about until

412
00:21:20,570 --> 00:21:24,710
you started working that like, okay, not
only do I need to know how each one of

413
00:21:24,710 --> 00:21:29,370
these pieces of equipment is supposed
to work, but like, how do they fail?

414
00:21:29,380 --> 00:21:31,270
What do they sound like
when that's happening?

415
00:21:31,650 --> 00:21:33,360
How do I really run these things?

416
00:21:33,399 --> 00:21:37,769
And that's the kind of experience
that I got working in a bigger shop

417
00:21:37,839 --> 00:21:40,489
that was bankrolled by somebody else.

418
00:21:42,340 --> 00:21:46,460
And eventually, again, like I mentioned,
sort of at the beginning, having the

419
00:21:46,460 --> 00:21:50,879
opportunity to grow out of places,
which I don't, I don't burn bridges.

420
00:21:50,879 --> 00:21:51,600
I don't do that.

421
00:21:51,990 --> 00:21:55,520
So it was always leaving with good
relationships that I could still have

422
00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,249
referral partners as I moved along.

423
00:21:57,870 --> 00:21:59,669
Because that's important.

424
00:21:59,909 --> 00:22:02,899
And I'll put it this way.

425
00:22:02,959 --> 00:22:05,970
One of the things I thought
about when I was at that shop.

426
00:22:06,355 --> 00:22:10,245
Was I was like, you know what I think
I have an opportunity here that I

427
00:22:10,245 --> 00:22:14,605
could do a lot of great things at
this shop, but in what areas can I

428
00:22:14,605 --> 00:22:16,515
grow like I'm good at production.

429
00:22:16,515 --> 00:22:20,205
So that's an area I actually
am very good at design.

430
00:22:20,404 --> 00:22:23,205
So that's an area, but like,
what are the caps on that?

431
00:22:23,205 --> 00:22:23,984
Who are the designers?

432
00:22:23,984 --> 00:22:25,144
I know who are the production people.

433
00:22:25,144 --> 00:22:28,475
I know what, how much did they
make and what does that look like?

434
00:22:28,835 --> 00:22:31,415
And then it was like, okay,
well, what about marketing?

435
00:22:31,415 --> 00:22:32,665
What about sales?

436
00:22:33,110 --> 00:22:34,980
And I was like, I will tell you this.

437
00:22:35,020 --> 00:22:38,530
My dad has been a
salesperson my entire life.

438
00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:42,520
And I always told myself I would
never, ever going to be a salesperson.

439
00:22:42,910 --> 00:22:47,500
Like I do not want to do that, but
that of the options I was thinking

440
00:22:47,500 --> 00:22:51,389
of, that was the only one that I was
like, Oh, you know what, if I learned

441
00:22:51,389 --> 00:22:56,570
a lot about this business, that's
kind of unlimited, uncapped potential.

442
00:22:57,399 --> 00:23:01,870
And it's a necessary part because
there's nothing to design and nothing

443
00:23:01,870 --> 00:23:04,349
to make if you haven't sold anything.

444
00:23:05,370 --> 00:23:11,610
So I took on a sales position and it was
sort of a hybrid position because when I

445
00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:14,479
went to sales, also classic of sign shops.

446
00:23:14,870 --> 00:23:16,989
You have very few people
that work there, right?

447
00:23:17,300 --> 00:23:19,670
So you wear multiple
hats, even as an employee.

448
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:22,550
So it's like, yes, I was in
sales, but also I was still

449
00:23:22,550 --> 00:23:23,889
doing all the production design.

450
00:23:24,110 --> 00:23:27,600
And also I was still having to, like,
troubleshoot machines and stuff like that.

451
00:23:28,529 --> 00:23:30,910
Um, and I was like, look, I...

452
00:23:31,315 --> 00:23:34,675
You know, you're holding me back
from being able to go and do sales.

453
00:23:34,675 --> 00:23:38,685
So I can't even focus on this job, like
to see if I'm any good at it or not.

454
00:23:38,725 --> 00:23:43,754
So I ended up taking another job and
the next job was actually running a

455
00:23:43,754 --> 00:23:50,324
fast signs, which was again, a unique
learning opportunity because it was small.

456
00:23:50,354 --> 00:23:52,695
I want to call it like mom and
pop, kind of like what me and my

457
00:23:52,695 --> 00:23:54,545
sister had where it's roll to roll.

458
00:23:55,340 --> 00:23:59,320
Uh, there's, I think, including
me, four employees, but it

459
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:00,650
comes with that corporate name.

460
00:24:01,210 --> 00:24:04,000
And like, what do you really
get for the franchise agreement?

461
00:24:04,010 --> 00:24:04,389
Right.

462
00:24:04,399 --> 00:24:06,399
What, what are your royalties paying for?

463
00:24:07,159 --> 00:24:11,949
And it also allowed me the opportunity
to learn a lot more about operations and.

464
00:24:13,265 --> 00:24:15,315
It's like, I knew money was important.

465
00:24:15,375 --> 00:24:17,305
I knew like, oh, but we're making signs.

466
00:24:17,305 --> 00:24:18,115
So we're fine.

467
00:24:18,215 --> 00:24:18,675
Right.

468
00:24:19,055 --> 00:24:23,114
Well, the first thing I had to do being
over operations has come in, look at

469
00:24:23,114 --> 00:24:25,125
the numbers, check out what's happening.

470
00:24:25,135 --> 00:24:27,874
What is the health of the
business by the numbers?

471
00:24:28,135 --> 00:24:31,765
I think a lot of people that work
for themselves or have their own

472
00:24:31,765 --> 00:24:33,055
business, they miss out on that.

473
00:24:33,439 --> 00:24:37,600
You know, you hear a lot of like
idioms and one of those idioms is that

474
00:24:38,229 --> 00:24:40,929
money is the lifeblood of a business.

475
00:24:41,009 --> 00:24:43,149
And people hear that and they're
like, no, that's not true.

476
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,129
I am, I'm the heart of the business.

477
00:24:45,439 --> 00:24:47,729
Like what I make, my product
is the heart of the business.

478
00:24:48,069 --> 00:24:50,000
And I'm here to tell you, no, it's not.

479
00:24:51,990 --> 00:24:53,340
A good thing to call out for sure.

480
00:24:53,419 --> 00:24:55,899
I mean, you can have the, you're
the best person in the world with

481
00:24:55,899 --> 00:24:57,330
the greatest product in the world.

482
00:24:57,570 --> 00:25:02,110
If you're not selling it, if money's
not flowing, like that's, that's dead.

483
00:25:02,300 --> 00:25:03,280
That's a dead business.

484
00:25:04,129 --> 00:25:05,580
So, and I'm

485
00:25:05,580 --> 00:25:09,200
sure like Peter, like you could speak
to this, like, how many guys do you

486
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:14,869
talk to that are like, Hey, I see every
day, the volume of work going out.

487
00:25:14,930 --> 00:25:19,689
And I know, and I see the numbers, but
at the end of the year, when it, when

488
00:25:19,689 --> 00:25:24,029
I look at the bottom line, it's like,
where, where's that actual profit that I

489
00:25:24,039 --> 00:25:25,779
thought we were making the entire year?

490
00:25:26,069 --> 00:25:26,429
Yeah.

491
00:25:28,339 --> 00:25:28,749
Yeah.

492
00:25:28,749 --> 00:25:33,969
You know, look, I mean, I actually
get that a lot, but there's

493
00:25:33,969 --> 00:25:35,469
usually an answer to that there.

494
00:25:35,479 --> 00:25:40,050
It's not that it's, uh,
it's not that it's gone.

495
00:25:40,090 --> 00:25:43,499
It's not that it's a way, you
know, it's, there is a reason for

496
00:25:43,499 --> 00:25:45,299
where all of that money had gone.

497
00:25:45,389 --> 00:25:46,809
You know, we need to, is it your pricing?

498
00:25:47,679 --> 00:25:49,349
Are you charging enough for your time?

499
00:25:49,369 --> 00:25:52,889
You know, a lot of times that
that right there is, is where

500
00:25:52,909 --> 00:25:55,159
most people go to, but actually.

501
00:25:56,054 --> 00:25:59,185
I have a, I have a very interesting
topic to talk about here, and this is

502
00:25:59,185 --> 00:26:04,745
something that is kind of on this path
here of where does all that money go?

503
00:26:04,745 --> 00:26:06,314
Where does all that time go?

504
00:26:07,184 --> 00:26:11,434
So I was in a seminar recently and.

505
00:26:12,395 --> 00:26:15,435
We were, it was a home services
seminar and quite honestly, home

506
00:26:15,435 --> 00:26:19,385
services is probably 1 of the
easiest areas to sell hours.

507
00:26:19,575 --> 00:26:19,965
Okay?

508
00:26:19,965 --> 00:26:22,785
Because, you know, it takes
you 5 hours to do a repair.

509
00:26:22,855 --> 00:26:24,225
This is our hourly rate.

510
00:26:25,074 --> 00:26:25,575
It's great.

511
00:26:25,744 --> 00:26:30,115
You know, it's super, super
easy math, uh, in a lot of areas

512
00:26:30,115 --> 00:26:31,134
that that makes a lot of sense.

513
00:26:31,164 --> 00:26:32,224
But what happens is.

514
00:26:33,100 --> 00:26:39,149
Is that in the sign industry, because
we don't quite have a service that

515
00:26:39,149 --> 00:26:43,280
takes certain hours, you have to
calculate how many hours a project is

516
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,280
going to take in different departments.

517
00:26:45,639 --> 00:26:45,980
Right?

518
00:26:46,540 --> 00:26:51,340
So, in all in a lot of areas, in a
lot of stops, it has nothing to do

519
00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:55,449
with the knowledge of your billable
rate, but maybe not charging.

520
00:26:55,965 --> 00:26:57,534
The right amount of hours.

521
00:26:58,024 --> 00:27:00,245
So when you're talking about
profitability and like, I'm

522
00:27:00,245 --> 00:27:02,395
wasting all this time and I'm okay.

523
00:27:02,544 --> 00:27:04,114
Well, what's your hourly rate?

524
00:27:04,114 --> 00:27:05,495
It's 200 an hour.

525
00:27:05,975 --> 00:27:06,425
Okay.

526
00:27:06,435 --> 00:27:08,135
Well, at least, you know, that right.

527
00:27:08,584 --> 00:27:11,405
But how many hours did
you sell for this project?

528
00:27:11,775 --> 00:27:12,155
Right.

529
00:27:12,615 --> 00:27:15,635
And how many hours did you
actually work on this project?

530
00:27:15,695 --> 00:27:20,184
And that there, right there, that
difference is definitely probably where

531
00:27:20,184 --> 00:27:22,614
a lot of that profit goes out the window.

532
00:27:22,615 --> 00:27:24,095
Like, you're working your butt off.

533
00:27:24,524 --> 00:27:26,844
You think you made a fair
price, but you actually took

534
00:27:26,905 --> 00:27:30,045
longer to complete the project.

535
00:27:30,045 --> 00:27:33,515
And that's a hidden, it's
a hidden metric, right?

536
00:27:34,005 --> 00:27:34,585
It's a hidden metric.

537
00:27:34,585 --> 00:27:36,765
It's not going to show
up on any kind of KPIs.

538
00:27:36,765 --> 00:27:40,255
It's not going to show up on
any type of job costing report.

539
00:27:40,575 --> 00:27:45,525
It's going to say you have to kind
of keep track of that on your own.

540
00:27:45,635 --> 00:27:45,895
Right?

541
00:27:45,895 --> 00:27:46,845
There's no software.

542
00:27:46,855 --> 00:27:48,014
Shopbox doesn't do this.

543
00:27:48,024 --> 00:27:49,145
Corbridge doesn't do this.

544
00:27:49,154 --> 00:27:52,894
There's nobody that's going to say,
well, we sold 30 hours and it took 22.

545
00:27:52,925 --> 00:27:53,585
Okay, you great.

546
00:27:53,605 --> 00:27:56,745
You've made a surplus of 8 hours or.

547
00:27:58,160 --> 00:27:59,500
You know, what, what is that Delta?

548
00:27:59,510 --> 00:28:00,610
What were you over?

549
00:28:00,610 --> 00:28:01,470
Were you under?

550
00:28:01,970 --> 00:28:04,960
And in a lot of places, people
are selling based off price.

551
00:28:05,199 --> 00:28:07,170
They're, they're not
asserting their value.

552
00:28:07,170 --> 00:28:08,709
They're thinking this is our market value.

553
00:28:08,710 --> 00:28:11,149
This is our market price and.

554
00:28:12,635 --> 00:28:16,385
Okay, if it took you, if you took your
shop six hours, but it could take another

555
00:28:16,385 --> 00:28:20,925
shop three hours with a different type
of machine, one that you don't have to

556
00:28:20,925 --> 00:28:26,034
hold onto the banner as it comes out, you
know, if it comes out, you know, maybe

557
00:28:26,034 --> 00:28:27,564
they have a faster printing machine.

558
00:28:27,574 --> 00:28:33,475
Maybe they have five people that can, you
know, hand grommet and seem a banner in.

559
00:28:33,700 --> 00:28:36,190
40 minutes where it take you two hours.

560
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:37,180
You know, I don't know.

561
00:28:37,330 --> 00:28:39,330
I'm, I'm making all this up as I go.

562
00:28:39,330 --> 00:28:45,379
But the fact is, is that the minutia
of those details is often where people

563
00:28:45,379 --> 00:28:49,570
get the answer to their problem, which
is I'm working my ass off, but I have.

564
00:28:50,190 --> 00:28:54,580
10 at the end of the day, uh, I
can barely get guests with this.

565
00:28:54,580 --> 00:28:55,850
What was it all worth it?

566
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,680
So that's usually the,
that's the biggest takeaway.

567
00:28:59,079 --> 00:29:01,289
It's not often the price
that you're charging.

568
00:29:01,630 --> 00:29:04,210
It's not often the
markup on the materials.

569
00:29:04,210 --> 00:29:05,590
I mean, that's all easy stuff.

570
00:29:06,075 --> 00:29:10,485
It's often the hours that you're
selling is not enough to take

571
00:29:10,485 --> 00:29:11,635
on the scope of the project.

572
00:29:12,725 --> 00:29:12,965
Yeah,

573
00:29:14,355 --> 00:29:15,875
definitely a challenge in the operations.

574
00:29:15,945 --> 00:29:18,355
Well, I was going to say,
I definitely see that.

575
00:29:18,375 --> 00:29:22,185
And one of the great opportunities
that I had going to fast signs and

576
00:29:22,185 --> 00:29:26,374
you hit on it is actually, I think at
that time, they, that was at the same

577
00:29:26,375 --> 00:29:30,635
time they were making the switch from
their previous ERP to core bridge.

578
00:29:31,435 --> 00:29:36,455
And so I set up core bridge for fat for
that particular fast science franchise.

579
00:29:37,010 --> 00:29:41,150
And that was the first time that
everything I knew that I was working

580
00:29:41,150 --> 00:29:44,650
with my sister about, Hey, we need to
be tracking this, this, this, and this.

581
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:46,969
So we know where's our money really going.

582
00:29:47,199 --> 00:29:52,730
Well, now it was, I was working with a
system that I was building out to do that.

583
00:29:53,119 --> 00:29:54,510
And I mean, there, you're right.

584
00:29:54,510 --> 00:29:57,790
There's a lot of stuff that's not in
core bridge, but there was a lot of

585
00:29:57,790 --> 00:30:01,760
stuff that I could dive into, like,
Hey, you know, we own the building.

586
00:30:01,770 --> 00:30:03,730
Great, but we're still paying on it.

587
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,919
So, you know, this printer takes
up X number of square feet.

588
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:08,840
And we have X number available.

589
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:13,150
So right away, even if it's doing nothing,
even if it's unplugged, it costs money

590
00:30:13,460 --> 00:30:17,430
just sitting there, taking up space
and then, you know, looking at the

591
00:30:17,439 --> 00:30:21,330
real actual costs, things that people
gloss over, like, oh yeah, I don't,

592
00:30:21,390 --> 00:30:23,310
I don't consider ink one of my costs.

593
00:30:23,310 --> 00:30:27,520
I'm like, no man, like depending on what
printer you're running and how many layers

594
00:30:27,530 --> 00:30:31,050
of ink you're doing, or it's like 12 cents
a square foot, 32 cents a square foot, it

595
00:30:31,050 --> 00:30:35,830
depends, you know, um, and it's important
because it adds up and then that was.

596
00:30:36,095 --> 00:30:40,215
One of the things I implemented
immediately with the staff there was

597
00:30:40,255 --> 00:30:44,165
I did my job to make sure on the back
end without them having to do anything

598
00:30:44,565 --> 00:30:46,425
that we understood what our costs were.

599
00:30:46,665 --> 00:30:49,385
So it's like, great, you sold
a banner for a hundred bucks.

600
00:30:49,395 --> 00:30:50,084
That's awesome.

601
00:30:50,174 --> 00:30:51,864
How much did it actually cost us?

602
00:30:52,245 --> 00:30:54,094
And that one point that
you're talking about.

603
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:59,450
I, it was, I had to implement
my own system to track time.

604
00:30:59,890 --> 00:31:02,610
How many jobs do we
actually get out in a day?

605
00:31:02,990 --> 00:31:04,300
Like how long did it actually take?

606
00:31:04,510 --> 00:31:06,169
And so I would pick jobs.

607
00:31:06,169 --> 00:31:07,869
I was like, look, I'm tracking these jobs.

608
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:09,659
I'm going to track every job this week.

609
00:31:09,940 --> 00:31:13,340
I'm going to, I want to time
in and time out on every single

610
00:31:13,350 --> 00:31:14,570
time somebody touches this.

611
00:31:15,230 --> 00:31:17,140
So then you have an overall time, right?

612
00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:20,200
Like, Oh yeah, it took us a
week for the job to get out.

613
00:31:20,490 --> 00:31:23,419
But how many hours did we
actually put into the actual job?

614
00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:27,430
Um, and so, yeah, that was huge.

615
00:31:27,470 --> 00:31:32,150
The other huge thing that I
will say, like, yeah, everybody

616
00:31:32,150 --> 00:31:34,179
in their businesses, they got
different ways they want to run it.

617
00:31:34,179 --> 00:31:37,080
If you want to really know what's
going on, you got to be willing

618
00:31:37,489 --> 00:31:41,329
to stop what you're doing and
take the time to really dive in.

619
00:31:41,740 --> 00:31:45,700
And a lot of times with an owner, with
the owner mentality, you're stressed.

620
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:47,850
You're thinking about how
do I make the next paycheck?

621
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,730
How do I get the next sale?

622
00:31:50,170 --> 00:31:51,090
You're like.

623
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,480
Figuring out where your costs are.

624
00:31:53,500 --> 00:31:54,670
That feels like minutiae.

625
00:31:54,670 --> 00:31:57,170
You feel like I don't have time
for that, but it's important stuff.

626
00:31:57,530 --> 00:32:01,029
It's like, are you carrying
like 50 percent margin with you

627
00:32:01,030 --> 00:32:02,879
when you could be carrying 80%?

628
00:32:03,870 --> 00:32:08,070
You know, like, how do you make more
money doing the same amount of work?

629
00:32:08,430 --> 00:32:10,510
And is it worth looking at that?

630
00:32:10,810 --> 00:32:13,469
In my, in my case, a lot of times, yes.

631
00:32:13,749 --> 00:32:17,510
It's worth looking at how efficiently
are you making your money?

632
00:32:17,899 --> 00:32:22,199
Because if you can work the same
amount for 100 as you were working

633
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,630
for 50, like, make the 100.

634
00:32:26,620 --> 00:32:27,080
Agreed.

635
00:32:27,455 --> 00:32:30,935
Now a huge part of working for that
particular franchise, looking at the

636
00:32:30,935 --> 00:32:35,285
numbers, what was great was even though
a lot of stuff was missing, it was

637
00:32:35,295 --> 00:32:40,425
very obvious, it was my introduction
to, I guess, uh, what we say, forensic

638
00:32:40,425 --> 00:32:45,024
accounting, where it's like, oh,
somebody's stealing and they're stealing

639
00:32:45,075 --> 00:32:51,725
a lot and the great thing about working
with a franchise like that is that you

640
00:32:51,735 --> 00:32:56,215
have people that are supposed to come
and talk to you about how does your

641
00:32:56,215 --> 00:32:58,214
store perform compared to other stores.

642
00:32:58,635 --> 00:33:00,045
How much are you selling?

643
00:33:00,135 --> 00:33:03,055
Like what kind of products, what are
you selling them for versus other

644
00:33:03,055 --> 00:33:04,675
stores, all that kind of stuff.

645
00:33:04,945 --> 00:33:09,215
So I had all the metrics of how a
fast science was supposed to operate.

646
00:33:09,655 --> 00:33:10,035
It was to

647
00:33:10,424 --> 00:33:10,734
run.

648
00:33:10,805 --> 00:33:11,025
Yeah.

649
00:33:11,025 --> 00:33:13,294
And that's like the business
development rep, right?

650
00:33:13,294 --> 00:33:13,805
That's right.

651
00:33:13,815 --> 00:33:14,215
So right.

652
00:33:14,464 --> 00:33:17,184
Peter, Peter's a former
fast science guy as well.

653
00:33:17,694 --> 00:33:20,165
He actually built it and sold a franchise.

654
00:33:20,370 --> 00:33:25,300
Two fast signs and then had a fast signs
and I'm sure he'll buy another fast

655
00:33:25,300 --> 00:33:25,710
signs.

656
00:33:25,710 --> 00:33:29,869
So you get it and it's, and
depending on how your rep is

657
00:33:29,869 --> 00:33:32,709
and how your market is, there's,
there's some back and forth, right?

658
00:33:32,770 --> 00:33:37,160
Like there's, for instance, I was
told, Hey, you need to go up to this

659
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:38,699
square foot pricing on this product.

660
00:33:38,699 --> 00:33:42,250
And I was like, no, I've been in
this market long enough that I know

661
00:33:42,250 --> 00:33:44,770
what, this is what people are buying.

662
00:33:45,210 --> 00:33:46,880
And this is what we're
comfortable selling.

663
00:33:47,390 --> 00:33:50,150
What I am willing to do is make
sure that we do it efficiently.

664
00:33:50,580 --> 00:33:54,700
So for instance, something that a lot of
shop owners, and I, I don't know if it's

665
00:33:54,700 --> 00:33:58,649
a pride thing, or they don't realize this
is an option is that you can outsource.

666
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,450
You don't have to do everything
yourself with your equipment.

667
00:34:03,290 --> 00:34:06,349
For instance, let's say like a hundred
percent of your workforce is working

668
00:34:06,350 --> 00:34:08,300
on this job for your biggest customer.

669
00:34:08,585 --> 00:34:11,455
Meanwhile, you have other
customers that still want stuff.

670
00:34:11,885 --> 00:34:12,615
Well, guess what?

671
00:34:12,645 --> 00:34:15,395
You don't have to work second
shifts and third shifts to

672
00:34:15,395 --> 00:34:16,725
try to accommodate everybody.

673
00:34:16,805 --> 00:34:20,355
Sometimes the cheaper solution
might be, just buy it from somebody

674
00:34:20,355 --> 00:34:22,014
else and sell it to your customer.

675
00:34:22,325 --> 00:34:26,334
Make a smaller margin on that, but
you're gonna make more money and

676
00:34:26,345 --> 00:34:29,825
have a happier customer than if you
were trying to do it yourself and

677
00:34:29,825 --> 00:34:31,525
overworking yourself and your employees.

678
00:34:31,535 --> 00:34:32,295
That is an option.

679
00:34:33,625 --> 00:34:37,265
But anyway, it was pretty easy to step
into this particular franchise and see

680
00:34:37,265 --> 00:34:42,215
like, okay, we're underperforming by
about 70 percent compared to other stores.

681
00:34:42,705 --> 00:34:45,465
Uh, a huge part of this
is somebody stealing.

682
00:34:45,974 --> 00:34:47,474
Um, so we're getting rid of that.

683
00:34:47,535 --> 00:34:49,225
We're doing employee turnover.

684
00:34:49,235 --> 00:34:50,785
I got very, very lucky.

685
00:34:51,024 --> 00:34:54,784
I was able to get a great, uh,
in, in fast signs, that front desk

686
00:34:54,784 --> 00:34:56,744
person, we call them inside sales.

687
00:34:57,114 --> 00:35:00,185
So it had a great inside
sales person that.

688
00:35:00,730 --> 00:35:05,950
And I will say this, a lot of my
restaurant training came in great at

689
00:35:05,950 --> 00:35:11,910
a fast science because I already could
speak corporate and I understood when

690
00:35:11,910 --> 00:35:17,400
you're on, when you're on a grill line,
you have grill operators and they're

691
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:19,129
each stationed in this particular spot.

692
00:35:19,140 --> 00:35:23,390
They can all do everything, but if you
have somebody in slot one, it doesn't make

693
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,500
sense for them to come over to slot four.

694
00:35:25,865 --> 00:35:27,195
And then do something for that person.

695
00:35:27,205 --> 00:35:31,075
They can work in two, but not
in three or four, because then

696
00:35:31,075 --> 00:35:34,514
you're losing their efficiency by
taking them too many slots away.

697
00:35:34,985 --> 00:35:39,665
So in my fast signs operation, it
was like, look, you're inside sales.

698
00:35:40,045 --> 00:35:41,535
You're going to help build customers.

699
00:35:41,535 --> 00:35:42,125
Talk to them.

700
00:35:42,364 --> 00:35:46,565
I'll let you get a little bit
into design and understanding how

701
00:35:46,595 --> 00:35:49,485
manufacturing stuff works, but I
don't ever want you in manufacturing.

702
00:35:49,825 --> 00:35:52,045
All I ever want you to do is be here.

703
00:35:52,435 --> 00:35:56,265
Taking care of customers and
possibly assisting with design.

704
00:35:56,895 --> 00:35:58,775
The designer, they're station two.

705
00:35:58,775 --> 00:36:00,975
It's like, okay, you're going
to answer the phone sometimes.

706
00:36:01,015 --> 00:36:02,395
That's just the thing
that's going to happen.

707
00:36:02,465 --> 00:36:05,424
I know you're not going to be as
good as our front desk person,

708
00:36:05,685 --> 00:36:06,694
but it is going to happen.

709
00:36:07,135 --> 00:36:08,914
You're not going to manufacture,
but you're going to know

710
00:36:08,914 --> 00:36:09,955
how to run these printers.

711
00:36:10,275 --> 00:36:12,645
So that if the manufacturing
person can't do it, you can.

712
00:36:12,705 --> 00:36:13,895
I don't want you installing.

713
00:36:13,955 --> 00:36:14,805
That's not your job.

714
00:36:15,405 --> 00:36:16,135
You stay right here.

715
00:36:16,485 --> 00:36:17,875
Same way manufacturing person.

716
00:36:18,035 --> 00:36:18,305
All right.

717
00:36:18,305 --> 00:36:19,795
You're going to understand
how to run these printers.

718
00:36:19,795 --> 00:36:20,715
It's not your main job.

719
00:36:20,955 --> 00:36:24,125
Your main job is to put the science
together, you know, and it keep going

720
00:36:24,125 --> 00:36:27,614
down the line that way to maintain
these efficiencies and personnel.

721
00:36:28,115 --> 00:36:34,515
Um, and what really, though, made it a
successful franchise was going from being

722
00:36:34,515 --> 00:36:40,164
completely in house to having me, once
I had the team set up, that freed up my

723
00:36:40,165 --> 00:36:42,045
time to go be an outside salesperson.

724
00:36:42,914 --> 00:36:46,614
Then at that point, it was
like, okay, great, we're running

725
00:36:46,615 --> 00:36:47,904
what we need to run in house.

726
00:36:47,935 --> 00:36:51,085
We're manufacturing the things that we're
good at manufacturing, that we make a

727
00:36:51,085 --> 00:36:53,395
high margin on, like banners and vinyl.

728
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,680
So we have installation services that
we're comfortable with doing, like we're

729
00:36:57,710 --> 00:37:01,520
comfortable with doing these types of
wraps or these types of decals, not every

730
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:07,559
wrap, not every decal, and then I'm able
to set up my vendor list of, all right,

731
00:37:07,619 --> 00:37:12,159
all right, who's a good wholesaler that
I got somebody because of the name that

732
00:37:12,159 --> 00:37:14,050
they were like, Hey, I need to have.

733
00:37:15,575 --> 00:37:19,905
I don't make sign cabinets like I don't,
I don't put, you know, electronics.

734
00:37:19,905 --> 00:37:20,785
I don't do ballast.

735
00:37:20,895 --> 00:37:22,545
I don't have a crane.

736
00:37:22,595 --> 00:37:23,805
I don't do metal fab.

737
00:37:24,154 --> 00:37:26,445
Like we're not set up for
that, but I'm going to sell it.

738
00:37:27,234 --> 00:37:31,255
And then those projects, of course,
that's when I really understood.

739
00:37:31,345 --> 00:37:31,615
Okay.

740
00:37:31,615 --> 00:37:33,814
You have different projects
with different lead times.

741
00:37:34,324 --> 00:37:34,754
So.

742
00:37:35,465 --> 00:37:36,185
All right, I'm going

743
00:37:36,185 --> 00:37:37,305
to I'm going to stop you right there.

744
00:37:37,605 --> 00:37:38,065
I'm going to stop you.

745
00:37:38,075 --> 00:37:38,385
Yeah.

746
00:37:38,845 --> 00:37:39,255
All right.

747
00:37:39,305 --> 00:37:42,855
Uh, a lot of times when we bring
on guests here, they're super

748
00:37:42,855 --> 00:37:44,195
excited, but they they talk.

749
00:37:44,204 --> 00:37:44,585
They talk.

750
00:37:44,585 --> 00:37:45,825
They talk and I have so many notes here.

751
00:37:46,235 --> 00:37:48,635
I want to stop here because
this is this is an interest.

752
00:37:49,154 --> 00:37:51,944
This is a, uh, this is an
interesting piece of the puzzle.

753
00:37:52,004 --> 00:37:53,395
Now, personally.

754
00:37:53,860 --> 00:37:55,240
I'm vibing you right here, Evan.

755
00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:56,970
Not, not, not to the point

756
00:37:56,970 --> 00:37:57,480
I want to date you.

757
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:58,240
Okay, okay.

758
00:37:58,620 --> 00:38:00,280
Maybe if I get my mustache back.

759
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:04,509
I'll leave the mustache talk for you

760
00:38:05,319 --> 00:38:05,419
and Brian.

761
00:38:06,530 --> 00:38:07,399
You guys got, you

762
00:38:07,420 --> 00:38:10,189
guys got some hell of
a stache going there.

763
00:38:10,710 --> 00:38:15,150
But, um, for me, you would make an
excellent business partner for me.

764
00:38:15,380 --> 00:38:15,700
Right?

765
00:38:16,010 --> 00:38:19,940
Like, you have this, this do
whatever it takes mentality.

766
00:38:20,235 --> 00:38:22,855
I think you're more of a hunter
than a farmer, but I would like

767
00:38:22,855 --> 00:38:25,645
to, I think we're going to hear
more about your farming abilities

768
00:38:25,645 --> 00:38:27,925
here in just a bit in just a bit.

769
00:38:27,925 --> 00:38:30,095
But you do come off as that.

770
00:38:30,125 --> 00:38:33,175
Um, never say no type of guy, right?

771
00:38:33,185 --> 00:38:34,234
Never say no type of guy.

772
00:38:34,235 --> 00:38:35,304
We're going to find a solution.

773
00:38:35,525 --> 00:38:40,595
Like, you're a solutions to me and I, and
I love that because that, you know, I, I

774
00:38:40,645 --> 00:38:43,215
echo that I am a solutions hunter as well.

775
00:38:43,555 --> 00:38:44,705
But I want to ask you a question.

776
00:38:44,705 --> 00:38:44,764
Thank you.

777
00:38:45,795 --> 00:38:48,305
You talked about, you just mentioned,
like, you don't have a crane, you

778
00:38:48,305 --> 00:38:53,725
don't get into, like, metal fab, or,
you know, whatever, and, and, that's

779
00:38:53,734 --> 00:38:57,424
not, okay, so I'll, I'll, I'll put
my FastSigns hat on for a minute.

780
00:38:57,564 --> 00:38:59,925
That is not the FastSigns model, right?

781
00:39:00,024 --> 00:39:05,584
The majority of their centers, they
don't practice this area of sign making.

782
00:39:05,914 --> 00:39:10,205
They use their vendor networks, they
outsource, you know, I was there,

783
00:39:10,205 --> 00:39:11,555
I've been there, and I've done that.

784
00:39:13,290 --> 00:39:17,390
But for somebody like yourself,
I'm actually very genuinely

785
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:18,570
honest to hear your opinion.

786
00:39:18,570 --> 00:39:20,530
I don't even know which
way it's going to go here.

787
00:39:20,530 --> 00:39:21,990
But indulge me.

788
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:26,229
Have you ever thought about
getting a full fledged shop going?

789
00:39:26,490 --> 00:39:30,900
You know, knowing that you could jump
out of vinyl into fab, because you

790
00:39:30,910 --> 00:39:33,980
are in that area of like, if I get
that somebody that's going to ask.

791
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:35,450
I'm going to do it.

792
00:39:35,500 --> 00:39:37,730
I'm going to say yes, you know,
I'm going to do whatever I can.

793
00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:39,240
I'm going to find a
vendor to outsource it.

794
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:43,320
But if you do enough of that, does
that transition your mindset into

795
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,679
thinking maybe, you know, maybe should
I be getting a break and maybe a

796
00:39:46,679 --> 00:39:49,960
CNC machine, maybe getting a higher
and one or two more guys, maybe

797
00:39:49,990 --> 00:39:50,520
whatnot.

798
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:56,110
Well, so yeah, to your point, then I would
say anybody in any business that you start

799
00:39:56,110 --> 00:40:01,840
out and you don't really have anything
right, your ground roots and you think

800
00:40:01,850 --> 00:40:03,390
about something you want to get into.

801
00:40:03,910 --> 00:40:09,180
Well, that's a high investment cost
to buy the means of manufacturing.

802
00:40:09,750 --> 00:40:13,450
So if you don't have that means
at first you're vending and you're

803
00:40:13,450 --> 00:40:17,789
outsourcing, but it's important in
my mind to know, as soon as you start

804
00:40:17,789 --> 00:40:22,029
that part of your business plan should
be, how long am I going to vend?

805
00:40:22,325 --> 00:40:26,335
Before it hits a point where it makes
sense for me to manufacture in house,

806
00:40:26,565 --> 00:40:29,735
but you got to understand the cost of
it, like what you were talking about,

807
00:40:29,975 --> 00:40:31,405
how much does the personnel cost?

808
00:40:31,415 --> 00:40:32,474
How much does the equipment cost?

809
00:40:32,474 --> 00:40:33,765
How much does the facility cost?

810
00:40:34,065 --> 00:40:35,315
And what are the other unknowns?

811
00:40:35,315 --> 00:40:38,375
Like, what's your buffer range
for what's going to go wrong?

812
00:40:38,385 --> 00:40:39,515
What kind of maintenance you got to do?

813
00:40:39,525 --> 00:40:40,525
All that kind of stuff.

814
00:40:40,825 --> 00:40:42,134
So now.

815
00:40:42,915 --> 00:40:45,895
To answer the question more directly,
of course, yes, I've thought about it

816
00:40:45,905 --> 00:40:52,255
because I am a very analytic person and
I like, I'm one of those weird people

817
00:40:52,265 --> 00:40:54,955
that, you know, you drive down the road
and somebody's like, oh, you know, it'd be

818
00:40:54,955 --> 00:40:56,645
really good right there, a popcorn shop.

819
00:40:56,785 --> 00:40:59,454
Then I'm like, okay, and I
immediately in my head, I'm like,

820
00:40:59,475 --> 00:41:01,044
okay, what's the business plan?

821
00:41:01,345 --> 00:41:02,565
For a popcorn shop.

822
00:41:02,835 --> 00:41:03,725
How does it work?

823
00:41:03,745 --> 00:41:05,085
What's required to do that?

824
00:41:05,085 --> 00:41:06,375
What is the market like?

825
00:41:06,555 --> 00:41:07,675
What is the support?

826
00:41:07,705 --> 00:41:08,905
Who else is already doing it?

827
00:41:09,025 --> 00:41:11,095
You know, you think of your
SWOT analysis, blah, blah, blah.

828
00:41:11,525 --> 00:41:14,955
But this is all stuff that I didn't know
before I got into the sign business.

829
00:41:15,585 --> 00:41:20,320
The sign industry has Forced me to learn
all of this for me to be successful.

830
00:41:20,660 --> 00:41:23,230
And I think a lot of your questions too.

831
00:41:23,230 --> 00:41:32,319
No,

832
00:41:32,399 --> 00:41:32,909
you got it.

833
00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:39,560
You taught you what being in this
industry taught me that it is important

834
00:41:39,570 --> 00:41:40,790
to really understand your business.

835
00:41:40,810 --> 00:41:44,360
Not to think that, you know,
everything to be self critical.

836
00:41:44,650 --> 00:41:47,610
To be able to take advice,
to look around you and think

837
00:41:47,620 --> 00:41:49,360
about how can I do this better?

838
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:51,140
You're not the king of the hill.

839
00:41:51,660 --> 00:41:53,340
There's always opportunities to be better.

840
00:41:53,379 --> 00:41:57,650
You know, I love watching sports
documentaries and not because

841
00:41:57,650 --> 00:42:02,069
I'm a huge sports person, but
because I do have some of that.

842
00:42:02,450 --> 00:42:05,230
Comp that competitiveness in myself.

843
00:42:05,790 --> 00:42:09,180
And it's not necessarily that I
want to knock somebody off the top.

844
00:42:09,650 --> 00:42:13,760
It's more for me, how do I get
to be better than they are?

845
00:42:14,250 --> 00:42:17,350
What is it that they're doing
that makes them so successful?

846
00:42:17,529 --> 00:42:18,729
And how can I do that?

847
00:42:18,750 --> 00:42:19,559
And what is it?

848
00:42:19,930 --> 00:42:23,279
And what you're talking about
with about find the solution.

849
00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:27,360
Yes, I do that for my customers, but
I have to do that for myself too.

850
00:42:27,790 --> 00:42:31,180
Like be willing to say like,
okay, I was doing it wrong.

851
00:42:31,860 --> 00:42:33,390
I had the wrong mindset.

852
00:42:33,530 --> 00:42:35,870
I talked to my employees the wrong way.

853
00:42:35,870 --> 00:42:37,350
I didn't have effective communication.

854
00:42:37,630 --> 00:42:42,179
I thought that what my highest profitable
product was was it's just incorrect.

855
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,510
Like my best product is
actually this other thing.

856
00:42:44,820 --> 00:42:48,779
You know, I thought this was a great
way to make money off the installations.

857
00:42:48,780 --> 00:42:53,120
Turns out no, because it's taking
my resources from somewhere else.

858
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:54,670
You know, it's being able to really.

859
00:42:55,095 --> 00:42:58,965
Number one, analyze, watch
what's going on, measure it.

860
00:42:59,195 --> 00:43:02,245
And number two, be willing to
accept the data that you're given.

861
00:43:02,515 --> 00:43:04,155
Like it's not working.

862
00:43:04,234 --> 00:43:05,435
I was doing it wrong.

863
00:43:06,155 --> 00:43:07,955
And then figure out the solution.

864
00:43:08,015 --> 00:43:09,535
What, what do you have to do next?

865
00:43:09,555 --> 00:43:10,495
And sometimes that takes.

866
00:43:10,900 --> 00:43:13,240
An advisor that takes
somebody from outside, right?

867
00:43:13,260 --> 00:43:15,310
That takes somebody in a network.

868
00:43:15,410 --> 00:43:18,340
Sometimes the answers are obvious.

869
00:43:18,660 --> 00:43:22,150
In my case, I was lucky enough to
being somebody that had no, like,

870
00:43:22,220 --> 00:43:23,250
let me just put this out there.

871
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:25,070
I don't have a college degree.

872
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:25,320
Okay.

873
00:43:25,930 --> 00:43:27,390
I went to high school.

874
00:43:27,580 --> 00:43:29,090
I graduated from high school.

875
00:43:29,110 --> 00:43:30,720
I was told I needed to go to college.

876
00:43:30,950 --> 00:43:32,730
All I got from college
was pretty much debt.

877
00:43:33,150 --> 00:43:36,510
I had to start working to provide
for a family that I wanted.

878
00:43:37,250 --> 00:43:41,230
And, but that doesn't mean that just
because you didn't go to college,

879
00:43:41,230 --> 00:43:45,440
some of the best people that I worked
with, they are some of the most

880
00:43:45,459 --> 00:43:50,190
stereotypical Southern country boys
you would ever know, but they know

881
00:43:50,190 --> 00:43:51,640
how to run their business efficiently.

882
00:43:51,780 --> 00:43:52,360
They.

883
00:43:52,715 --> 00:43:55,465
They have internalized the numbers matter.

884
00:43:56,045 --> 00:43:59,995
And so they look at it every day, but I
hope that gets to some of what you were

885
00:43:59,995 --> 00:44:05,135
talking about, Peter, as far as growing,
that was the next step in my journey.

886
00:44:05,164 --> 00:44:08,954
That actually I left FastSigns,
that FastSigns franchise to go work

887
00:44:08,954 --> 00:44:13,095
for one of the vendors that I was
selling for, because I was selling

888
00:44:13,124 --> 00:44:17,705
so many lighted cabinets and digital
displays that they were like,

889
00:44:17,725 --> 00:44:19,465
you have got to come work for us.

890
00:44:20,250 --> 00:44:28,470
And they took me on as a business
development manager, but I mean,

891
00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:30,890
you know, I don't burn bridges.

892
00:44:30,950 --> 00:44:35,680
I, you know, I, we left on, you
know, good business terms, you

893
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:37,729
know, it made sense that yeah.

894
00:44:37,730 --> 00:44:40,630
The franchise wasn't able to offer
me what the other company was.

895
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,190
Hey, I still referred business.

896
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,000
I look, I don't talk bad about
this places I worked for.

897
00:44:47,315 --> 00:44:51,005
And then, so I worked for this company
and you went from, I went from working

898
00:44:51,215 --> 00:44:55,594
including me, five, five people to
working in a manufacturing science

899
00:44:55,595 --> 00:44:57,775
shop where we had 40, 40 employees.

900
00:44:58,445 --> 00:45:02,064
And, you know, we were at the time,
I think when we came on about 5.

901
00:45:02,065 --> 00:45:06,945
5 million a year gross, and I was
not even a salesperson, but I think

902
00:45:06,955 --> 00:45:13,155
that that year that I worked there,
I sold a million and that was because

903
00:45:13,155 --> 00:45:15,105
of the opportunities that were there.

904
00:45:15,805 --> 00:45:21,505
I learned what, what my skills are
to your point about being a solutions

905
00:45:21,515 --> 00:45:23,375
finder, like the hunter versus the farmer.

906
00:45:24,185 --> 00:45:25,375
I love being a farmer.

907
00:45:25,385 --> 00:45:27,255
That's where I feel most comfortable.

908
00:45:27,595 --> 00:45:32,434
However, my boss at that job, he
told me, he gave me this analogy.

909
00:45:32,435 --> 00:45:37,785
He's like, Evan, you're like one of
those Prairie plains hunters that

910
00:45:37,785 --> 00:45:42,535
you see something that's out there
like 400 yards away, and you're

911
00:45:42,535 --> 00:45:46,245
going to dedicate all your time and
your focus to hit that one target.

912
00:45:46,675 --> 00:45:48,835
And he was like, I am
more like a rabbit hunter.

913
00:45:48,875 --> 00:45:52,285
I see something move next to me and I
shoot it with a shotgun and I, it's done.

914
00:45:52,285 --> 00:45:52,805
I got it.

915
00:45:53,125 --> 00:45:57,335
He's like, but I used to not understand
the value of somebody like you until

916
00:45:57,335 --> 00:46:01,074
you sold the biggest job we have ever
sold in the history of the company.

917
00:46:01,775 --> 00:46:06,624
And that's from taking the
risk, talking to people, finding

918
00:46:06,625 --> 00:46:09,345
solutions, not no, we can't do that.

919
00:46:09,355 --> 00:46:12,035
Like, Hmm, let's figure
out a way to do that.

920
00:46:12,940 --> 00:46:16,740
And so it was fantastic
experience working in that.

921
00:46:16,780 --> 00:46:21,720
And if for no other reason, I love
going and talking to the guys in the

922
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:26,330
shop every day, I would walk back
there, make sure that they understood

923
00:46:26,330 --> 00:46:28,070
like, yeah, I'm on the sales force.

924
00:46:28,090 --> 00:46:31,250
Yeah, I'm technically your boss,
but what I want is to figure out.

925
00:46:31,465 --> 00:46:34,415
What do I need to sell that's
going to make your job easier?

926
00:46:34,655 --> 00:46:39,085
Because ultimately, I want to give the
customer a great product that they love.

927
00:46:39,435 --> 00:46:41,844
So I'm not going to give
you something to design and

928
00:46:41,885 --> 00:46:43,655
manufacture that makes no sense.

929
00:46:43,925 --> 00:46:46,555
Like, let's figure out how can
we work together as a team.

930
00:46:46,604 --> 00:46:47,684
I, it was.

931
00:46:48,085 --> 00:46:49,055
A great opportunity.

932
00:46:50,005 --> 00:46:50,295
Sorry.

933
00:46:50,295 --> 00:46:51,375
I'll leave some space there.

934
00:46:51,435 --> 00:46:51,865
You're right.

935
00:46:51,915 --> 00:46:52,985
I talk way too much.

936
00:46:53,405 --> 00:46:53,755
Yeah.

937
00:46:53,755 --> 00:46:54,085
Yeah.

938
00:46:54,945 --> 00:46:56,005
No, no, you're good, man.

939
00:46:56,425 --> 00:47:02,445
It's uh, like, I, I've just like listening
to you go on your story and it's a,

940
00:47:02,485 --> 00:47:09,695
like, you have hit like every type of
shop, every position within the shop.

941
00:47:10,415 --> 00:47:15,065
Uh, so it like carries through like, yeah.

942
00:47:15,325 --> 00:47:18,820
So So there's only two more steps, right?

943
00:47:18,940 --> 00:47:19,090
Is

944
00:47:19,090 --> 00:47:20,550
this, is that the last shop?

945
00:47:20,550 --> 00:47:23,040
So, uh, well, great shop.

946
00:47:23,170 --> 00:47:27,750
I, um, I really, one thing that I
still have to learn more about that

947
00:47:27,750 --> 00:47:31,449
I feel like affected me at that
shop was, uh, imposter syndrome.

948
00:47:31,940 --> 00:47:38,050
Like I said, I feel like I made
a very steep rise very quickly.

949
00:47:38,535 --> 00:47:40,975
I felt like, you know, no degree.

950
00:47:40,985 --> 00:47:44,435
And here I am with guys that have
been in the business 20 years and

951
00:47:44,475 --> 00:47:46,075
I'm the business development manager.

952
00:47:46,125 --> 00:47:50,515
Like I've been in this at that point,
like seven, like, why, why am I here?

953
00:47:50,545 --> 00:47:51,305
What am I doing?

954
00:47:51,305 --> 00:47:51,505
Yeah.

955
00:47:51,505 --> 00:47:55,185
I'm making sales, but it just,
in my mind, I didn't feel like I

956
00:47:55,195 --> 00:47:58,425
really belonged there, like I was
supposed to be there, that I was

957
00:47:58,425 --> 00:47:59,965
doing the work I was supposed to do.

958
00:48:00,830 --> 00:48:03,770
I tried kind of telling myself, you
know, it's a family owned business.

959
00:48:03,830 --> 00:48:05,160
I'm not a family member.

960
00:48:05,230 --> 00:48:09,250
It's, you know, I'm going to end up being
like other production managers that I'd

961
00:48:09,250 --> 00:48:12,329
seen before, where they work 30 years
and then they get injured and it's like,

962
00:48:12,329 --> 00:48:13,709
okay, well, thanks for all your work.

963
00:48:13,720 --> 00:48:14,080
Bye.

964
00:48:14,620 --> 00:48:19,500
You know, I, I, but I, at the
end of the day, I can say that

965
00:48:19,890 --> 00:48:21,320
they did feel like family.

966
00:48:21,540 --> 00:48:24,310
I honestly cared about
everybody that I worked with.

967
00:48:24,665 --> 00:48:30,035
They cared about me, but I don't know
what else to define it other than possibly

968
00:48:30,035 --> 00:48:34,435
imposter syndrome that I felt like I
just didn't fit in and an opportunity

969
00:48:34,435 --> 00:48:41,035
was presented to me to, uh, take a
minute man franchise and get them into

970
00:48:41,045 --> 00:48:45,774
wide format and it was in the same
market that I'd already been working in.

971
00:48:46,105 --> 00:48:49,485
I knew all the numbers after, especially
after working at a fast signs.

972
00:48:49,495 --> 00:48:50,745
Like I knew exactly.

973
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:52,620
Hey, this is the kind of
equipment we need to get.

974
00:48:52,620 --> 00:48:53,890
This is how much staff we need.

975
00:48:53,890 --> 00:48:54,910
This is how much they're going to cost.

976
00:48:54,910 --> 00:48:56,150
This is how much the equipment costs.

977
00:48:56,620 --> 00:48:59,540
This is with your brand and
you taking things in house.

978
00:48:59,720 --> 00:49:01,809
This is how much money we can
expect to make in the first year.

979
00:49:01,809 --> 00:49:03,479
I had the whole, the whole plan.

980
00:49:03,479 --> 00:49:05,139
And we, I went to that.

981
00:49:05,149 --> 00:49:06,019
We were on target.

982
00:49:06,020 --> 00:49:07,280
We started with roll to roll.

983
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:09,990
Um, we started off site because
there wasn't enough room.

984
00:49:10,485 --> 00:49:13,045
For us to be at the main location.

985
00:49:13,325 --> 00:49:18,435
My goal was I wanted to do
160k gross that first year.

986
00:49:18,744 --> 00:49:22,934
We did 180 and that was with only
me as the wide format employee.

987
00:49:22,945 --> 00:49:23,794
So I was.

988
00:49:24,290 --> 00:49:27,560
The salesperson, the marketer,
the designer, the production,

989
00:49:27,570 --> 00:49:30,350
the installer, like yes,

990
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:35,890
doing all of it now, like coming into
this one, did you like negotiate for

991
00:49:35,970 --> 00:49:42,659
equity or like, were you having those
conversations because, and I bring this up

992
00:49:42,670 --> 00:49:45,000
because like some people in the industry.

993
00:49:45,620 --> 00:49:47,650
Are just not made to be owners.

994
00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:52,230
I talked to a lot of people that
like, they feel like they have to

995
00:49:52,230 --> 00:49:57,959
be something they're not in order to
achieve like success or be financially

996
00:49:57,959 --> 00:50:01,669
stable, which, you know, it's, it's
kind of like a limiting factor kind

997
00:50:01,669 --> 00:50:05,559
of goes back to that imposter syndrome
of like, Hey, I own this shop.

998
00:50:06,170 --> 00:50:09,470
And because I employ five people,
I feel like I have to be the

999
00:50:09,470 --> 00:50:11,160
operations manager as well.

1000
00:50:11,210 --> 00:50:13,289
Even though I'm not good
at that, I don't like it.

1001
00:50:13,800 --> 00:50:19,085
And, you know, I, maybe I'm It's
like, not so good with employees, but

1002
00:50:19,495 --> 00:50:23,415
yeah, at this point, are you, are you
negotiating for equity in any of these?

1003
00:50:23,415 --> 00:50:26,545
Like, is your, as your
mind on ownership at this

1004
00:50:26,545 --> 00:50:28,535
point, yeah, it definitely is.

1005
00:50:28,574 --> 00:50:33,934
And what we ultimately ended up doing
was basically kind of like a, a handsome

1006
00:50:33,965 --> 00:50:38,895
looking commission package, uh, based off
of certain numbers and growth projections.

1007
00:50:38,895 --> 00:50:43,865
I will tell you that looking
at just the numbers, the shop

1008
00:50:43,875 --> 00:50:45,205
that I left to go do this.

1009
00:50:45,840 --> 00:50:50,720
Uh, I used that, their counter offer
as my metric for, okay, what am I

1010
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:53,300
trying to achieve at this new venture?

1011
00:50:53,590 --> 00:50:56,349
And I want to achieve it
within the first two years.

1012
00:50:56,900 --> 00:51:02,390
Um, and for me, the offer at the shop
that I left was well into six figures.

1013
00:51:03,020 --> 00:51:05,380
And so I was like, okay,
so go into this new thing.

1014
00:51:05,780 --> 00:51:07,270
Like, here's my base pay.

1015
00:51:07,290 --> 00:51:08,710
Here's the commission schedule.

1016
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:10,340
Is it achievable?

1017
00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:11,030
Yes.

1018
00:51:11,530 --> 00:51:16,185
Uh, what I did not account for though,
Is that when you are not the owner,

1019
00:51:16,255 --> 00:51:20,205
meaning you are not the one that
is ultimately making the financial

1020
00:51:20,205 --> 00:51:23,525
decisions that I found a new trap.

1021
00:51:23,875 --> 00:51:26,945
I'll just say that I found a new
trap that I didn't know existed.

1022
00:51:27,675 --> 00:51:31,134
And that trap was, Evan
is a really great worker.

1023
00:51:31,424 --> 00:51:34,794
He can run five of these
machines at the same time.

1024
00:51:35,454 --> 00:51:41,394
So why don't we just buy more machines
and let's make Evan run more stuff.

1025
00:51:41,614 --> 00:51:45,124
Now, what they did not understand,
I could not get them to understand.

1026
00:51:45,510 --> 00:51:48,950
Was for me, it was like I was a truck
driver and they bought another truck.

1027
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:52,280
Like, how am I supposed to drive
two trucks at the same time?

1028
00:51:53,140 --> 00:51:59,819
Like I was my, my output potential
was capped because I was, I, even when

1029
00:51:59,819 --> 00:52:02,929
we grew a little bit more and we got
a direct substrate machine, we got a

1030
00:52:02,929 --> 00:52:05,510
new facility, we got a flatbed CNC.

1031
00:52:05,510 --> 00:52:06,880
We still had the roll to roll stuff.

1032
00:52:06,900 --> 00:52:10,700
Of course, I was still,
I did get one employee.

1033
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:12,110
We found a unicorn.

1034
00:52:12,220 --> 00:52:13,160
He was magical.

1035
00:52:13,220 --> 00:52:13,990
He was amazing.

1036
00:52:14,340 --> 00:52:18,640
He had some design experience, had grown
up in a print shop with his grandparents,

1037
00:52:19,010 --> 00:52:23,230
so he knew the work that was required
and he caught on, like, immediately I

1038
00:52:23,230 --> 00:52:28,119
could tell, I could show him everything
about the machines, but even then I

1039
00:52:28,119 --> 00:52:32,329
was, I was on a leash, but this leash
was not a leash of, no, I don't want

1040
00:52:32,330 --> 00:52:35,150
you to go out and sell to those people
or no, I don't want you to go spend

1041
00:52:35,150 --> 00:52:37,310
money on marketing the leash was.

1042
00:52:38,335 --> 00:52:42,925
We can only produce so much because we
are capped by our personnel and we are

1043
00:52:42,925 --> 00:52:45,635
not willing to hire more personnel.

1044
00:52:46,165 --> 00:52:49,355
So that means my face is out there.

1045
00:52:49,555 --> 00:52:53,815
The customers know me and then it's
up to me to produce everything, but

1046
00:52:53,835 --> 00:52:55,535
I'm not the one calling the shots.

1047
00:52:55,934 --> 00:52:57,299
So that's why.

1048
00:52:58,310 --> 00:53:01,730
And you're, you're doing the
selling and the production and

1049
00:53:01,890 --> 00:53:04,920
like, yeah, there's only so much of

1050
00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:06,140
that to go around, obviously.

1051
00:53:06,200 --> 00:53:10,900
And I started thinking about leaving, but
I wanted to negotiate everything first.

1052
00:53:10,900 --> 00:53:15,159
And I was like, look, what would make
sense for the company is actually take

1053
00:53:15,159 --> 00:53:16,920
me out of anything to do with production.

1054
00:53:17,410 --> 00:53:23,000
Like I could be, you know, an overall
department manager to review performance.

1055
00:53:23,330 --> 00:53:28,140
And look at numbers, but really I
need to be out selling so that that

1056
00:53:28,140 --> 00:53:29,820
will really make our company grow.

1057
00:53:30,250 --> 00:53:33,109
Unfortunately, the offer that
I got for that was, well, if

1058
00:53:33,110 --> 00:53:35,589
you're outside sell selling, I
want you to be commissioned only.

1059
00:53:35,590 --> 00:53:37,720
And if you're commissioned
only, I want you making 10%.

1060
00:53:37,960 --> 00:53:39,839
And I was like, that is ludicrous.

1061
00:53:40,319 --> 00:53:44,240
I could literally be your wholesale
customer and make at least 40%.

1062
00:53:44,250 --> 00:53:45,990
Why would I work for you for 10%?

1063
00:53:46,960 --> 00:53:52,520
So I was just like, okay, I've got
what really did it for me, though,

1064
00:53:52,650 --> 00:53:55,939
is I care about my customers a lot.

1065
00:53:56,399 --> 00:54:00,090
I don't ever want to tell a customer
I'm going to give this to you tomorrow

1066
00:54:00,140 --> 00:54:01,529
and then not be able to do it.

1067
00:54:02,130 --> 00:54:03,920
And that's what was happening.

1068
00:54:03,980 --> 00:54:05,710
I was being held back to that point.

1069
00:54:06,349 --> 00:54:08,130
And I was like, okay, it's time to go.

1070
00:54:08,670 --> 00:54:10,010
And so that's.

1071
00:54:10,645 --> 00:54:12,025
That gets us caught up to now.

1072
00:54:12,985 --> 00:54:20,365
I, and that's like, uh, I see
that so often it is like sales is

1073
00:54:20,535 --> 00:54:22,285
that's, that is the business, right?

1074
00:54:22,324 --> 00:54:27,804
Like I talked to a lot of owners that
like, Hey, I'm not a salesperson.

1075
00:54:27,804 --> 00:54:30,675
I don't really want to do sales,
but unfortunately, like if you don't

1076
00:54:30,685 --> 00:54:34,295
have a good sales rep and they're
not involved on like a deeper level

1077
00:54:34,295 --> 00:54:38,164
where they're incentivized to go
sell, like, who does that fall to?

1078
00:54:38,650 --> 00:54:41,000
Like it falls to you, like
you've got to get yourself out

1079
00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:43,520
there, uh, whether you like it

1080
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:44,970
or not, you've got to be so right.

1081
00:54:45,160 --> 00:54:46,480
And so that goes back to what I said.

1082
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:48,150
I never wanted to be a salesperson.

1083
00:54:48,200 --> 00:54:53,649
I used to legitimately believe that by
just having a good product and people

1084
00:54:53,650 --> 00:54:55,330
receiving that product, that's enough.

1085
00:54:55,390 --> 00:54:57,680
And sometimes it is
sometimes that is enough.

1086
00:54:58,020 --> 00:55:01,030
But what's going to make you really
successful that you're not worrying

1087
00:55:01,030 --> 00:55:05,270
about your paycheck this week, because
you've got the next two months covered.

1088
00:55:05,630 --> 00:55:07,180
That's the outside sales force.

1089
00:55:07,240 --> 00:55:10,590
That's making sure that people are
actually going out and grabbing

1090
00:55:10,590 --> 00:55:14,450
that market, because we know it,
all of us here on this podcast,

1091
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:17,939
we know it, that somebody, a
church is like, I need a banner.

1092
00:55:18,089 --> 00:55:20,239
They're not looking for like
local sign shop near me.

1093
00:55:20,240 --> 00:55:21,909
No, they're looking for church banners.

1094
00:55:21,909 --> 00:55:23,300
That's what they're looking for.

1095
00:55:23,300 --> 00:55:24,969
And if they don't know you.

1096
00:55:25,190 --> 00:55:26,840
Then they're not going to
know to go talk to you.

1097
00:55:26,840 --> 00:55:28,490
They don't even know that you exist.

1098
00:55:29,030 --> 00:55:34,060
So, like, you have to have somebody going
out there to represent you, or else...

1099
00:55:34,685 --> 00:55:39,385
You're gonna forever just be on that grind
where you're like, I'm worried about am

1100
00:55:39,385 --> 00:55:40,955
I gonna be able to pay myself this week?

1101
00:55:40,955 --> 00:55:43,184
Am I be able to cover my shop this week?

1102
00:55:43,674 --> 00:55:48,795
Like so I will put this in point
to now for the first time ever.

1103
00:55:49,215 --> 00:55:55,104
I am doing no manufacturing in house
I'm doing some installations because

1104
00:55:55,105 --> 00:55:58,675
I'm a pretty good vinyl installer
and there's money to be made at

1105
00:55:58,675 --> 00:56:03,785
that But 100 percent it's pretty
much like project management for me.

1106
00:56:04,185 --> 00:56:10,595
So right now my company exists off
of primarily just me selling and

1107
00:56:10,595 --> 00:56:15,385
managing product projects and that I
wouldn't know how to do any of that

1108
00:56:15,404 --> 00:56:18,044
if I hadn't gone through all the steps
that I've been through previously.

1109
00:56:18,434 --> 00:56:20,774
So I operate as a one man company.

1110
00:56:21,260 --> 00:56:25,820
The same way I do with like a 40 man
team that I have all the same structures

1111
00:56:25,830 --> 00:56:30,330
in place that I consider, I call it to
myself, I call it dummy proofing it.

1112
00:56:30,930 --> 00:56:35,159
So it's like, all right, Evan,
you idiots here, this is what

1113
00:56:35,159 --> 00:56:36,469
you're supposed to be doing today.

1114
00:56:36,710 --> 00:56:41,240
You know, like I have those meetings with
myself every morning and every afternoon.

1115
00:56:41,700 --> 00:56:43,100
What do you have to do today?

1116
00:56:43,110 --> 00:56:44,390
What did you accomplish today?

1117
00:56:44,600 --> 00:56:46,140
What do you got to work on tomorrow?

1118
00:56:46,200 --> 00:56:47,190
What's your schedule like?

1119
00:56:47,220 --> 00:56:51,870
You know, I do every single day and
I check myself throughout the day

1120
00:56:52,310 --> 00:56:56,090
Like it's just necessary the same
way that I would with an employee.

1121
00:56:56,769 --> 00:57:00,500
I just have to and sorry peter
You were making some motion.

1122
00:57:00,500 --> 00:57:01,359
So I all right.

1123
00:57:01,909 --> 00:57:02,449
Hey, no, no.

1124
00:57:02,700 --> 00:57:05,540
Yeah, I think he was giving
you like the like This is it.

1125
00:57:06,010 --> 00:57:06,120
I

1126
00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:06,430
like it.

1127
00:57:06,430 --> 00:57:12,420
I think Personally for me this book never
leaves my side, you know, so The pages

1128
00:57:12,420 --> 00:57:17,980
of pages of notes throughout the day,
task lists that never leaves my bedside.

1129
00:57:17,980 --> 00:57:24,200
So the day before it's email getting sent
out, payroll being done, bookkeep, uh,

1130
00:57:24,210 --> 00:57:27,840
today is the 1st, November, when we're
doing this podcast, today's the 1st.

1131
00:57:27,870 --> 00:57:33,239
So this morning it was reconcile
my bank accounts, you know, from,

1132
00:57:33,249 --> 00:57:36,860
from October, classify all the
expenses, you know, make sure all

1133
00:57:36,860 --> 00:57:38,530
of our sales reports are accurate.

1134
00:57:39,000 --> 00:57:39,770
You know, there's.

1135
00:57:39,935 --> 00:57:44,925
There's a lot that a business owner has to
go through and I'm so happy to hear that,

1136
00:57:44,935 --> 00:57:49,955
that Evan, you're, you've experienced the
employee side with, I could, you know, I'm

1137
00:57:49,955 --> 00:57:51,805
going to jump into this business side now.

1138
00:57:51,805 --> 00:57:54,974
And you're still learning that there's
more that to a business owner's

1139
00:57:54,974 --> 00:57:57,684
life than what employees see, right?

1140
00:57:57,684 --> 00:58:01,095
What employees see is that they
may say this guy's making millions

1141
00:58:01,095 --> 00:58:05,335
and yet, you know, you're the last
person to get paid as an owner.

1142
00:58:05,855 --> 00:58:08,434
I want to kind of transition
this conversation a little bit.

1143
00:58:08,500 --> 00:58:10,840
I want to learn a little
bit about your methods.

1144
00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:14,730
I, I, I personally, I've, uh, like
I've said before, I think that

1145
00:58:14,740 --> 00:58:17,760
you're like the exact type of person.

1146
00:58:17,760 --> 00:58:19,979
I look to partner with getting
into the sign business.

1147
00:58:19,989 --> 00:58:24,120
So I'm, I'm eager to hear
your responses to just.

1148
00:58:24,855 --> 00:58:27,275
You know, what are your methods
to getting new business?

1149
00:58:27,615 --> 00:58:33,185
What, what, how do you go about
that digitally organically, you

1150
00:58:33,185 --> 00:58:34,675
know, are you hitting the pavement?

1151
00:58:34,685 --> 00:58:38,155
I want to hear your methods for those
sign shop owners out there that are either

1152
00:58:38,155 --> 00:58:43,845
listening or viewing in, you know, what
is it that they can do to start making,

1153
00:58:43,845 --> 00:58:46,495
you know, a monumental leap in sales

1154
00:58:46,495 --> 00:58:47,455
as well.

1155
00:58:47,485 --> 00:58:50,655
So that gets into my
style of sales, which.

1156
00:58:51,075 --> 00:58:57,315
Is by default a farming, so I do
still hold a belief that if I.

1157
00:58:57,815 --> 00:58:59,445
Grow naturally.

1158
00:58:59,445 --> 00:59:02,815
And by naturally, what I mean is
with referral based partnerships.

1159
00:59:03,445 --> 00:59:08,585
So one thing that I didn't talk about
is business networking international.

1160
00:59:08,655 --> 00:59:13,805
I was the president of a local
chapter of BNI, and I, that was where

1161
00:59:13,805 --> 00:59:16,384
I really learned the importance of.

1162
00:59:16,815 --> 00:59:20,585
Working with other businesses
to refer business to each other.

1163
00:59:21,035 --> 00:59:26,205
So just imagine kind of creating a
club where, Hey, this person's an

1164
00:59:26,205 --> 00:59:29,415
accountant, they don't need any signs.

1165
00:59:29,685 --> 00:59:34,065
But I talk to other businesses
all the time because other

1166
00:59:34,065 --> 00:59:35,635
businesses always buy signs.

1167
00:59:35,885 --> 00:59:38,405
So when they say, Hey, do
you know a good accountant?

1168
00:59:38,405 --> 00:59:38,785
Guess what?

1169
00:59:38,785 --> 00:59:40,705
I'll be like, yes, my guy right here.

1170
00:59:41,035 --> 00:59:41,745
And then guess what?

1171
00:59:41,755 --> 00:59:44,515
In turn, Your guy is the accountant.

1172
00:59:44,515 --> 00:59:47,375
When a new business comes in and
says, Hey, do you know a sign guy?

1173
00:59:47,375 --> 00:59:48,395
Like, absolutely.

1174
00:59:48,705 --> 00:59:49,705
He's right over here.

1175
00:59:49,705 --> 00:59:51,555
Let me tell you the best
sign guy that I know.

1176
00:59:52,235 --> 00:59:57,985
Now, what that's transitioned into is
that now I am, uh, I'm active in three

1177
00:59:58,035 --> 01:00:02,175
chambers inside of a geographic area
that I'm comfortable providing to.

1178
01:00:02,665 --> 01:00:03,785
And I say that because.

1179
01:00:04,305 --> 01:00:07,405
After having drive, you know,
you drive cover a certain area.

1180
01:00:07,685 --> 01:00:10,455
There's only so much that you can
really do and get to in a day.

1181
01:00:11,405 --> 01:00:15,055
And between these two counties, it's
all the business that I need right now.

1182
01:00:15,075 --> 01:00:15,735
That's for sure.

1183
01:00:16,195 --> 01:00:21,395
Now in one of these three chambers, I
actually hold a board seat and I run a

1184
01:00:21,395 --> 01:00:24,715
group that we call the leads group and
it's a referral based networking group.

1185
01:00:25,565 --> 01:00:30,295
And what that is, is again, just getting a
group of people together, educating them.

1186
01:00:30,580 --> 01:00:35,060
On Hey, this is how you become referral
partners and guess what I have the

1187
01:00:35,060 --> 01:00:39,880
opportunity for every single one of them
to see me not only not only as an expert

1188
01:00:39,970 --> 01:00:44,850
in referral based networking, but as an
expert in signage and they see me every

1189
01:00:44,890 --> 01:00:51,064
single meeting and I will tell you that
me quote unquote growing naturally.

1190
01:00:51,315 --> 01:00:56,245
Which is every time I'm in a
business situation, I just show up.

1191
01:00:56,275 --> 01:00:57,125
I am myself.

1192
01:00:57,145 --> 01:01:02,765
I always, always get at least one request
for quote at any event that I go to.

1193
01:01:03,125 --> 01:01:04,925
And it's not because I'm asking for them.

1194
01:01:05,195 --> 01:01:08,435
It's because people know,
like Evan is the sign guy.

1195
01:01:08,945 --> 01:01:09,935
So I'm going to ask it.

1196
01:01:09,955 --> 01:01:12,784
I like my birthday was last month and.

1197
01:01:13,295 --> 01:01:15,725
Some other people saw like,
Oh, happy birthday, Evan.

1198
01:01:15,765 --> 01:01:16,595
I was getting messages.

1199
01:01:16,635 --> 01:01:17,675
Oh, I need a sign.

1200
01:01:18,235 --> 01:01:23,785
And it was, it was just like, so, and
all that came from just, I tried to

1201
01:01:24,175 --> 01:01:27,095
make myself known when you first start.

1202
01:01:27,115 --> 01:01:28,175
It's like, who are you?

1203
01:01:28,185 --> 01:01:29,445
And you're like, Oh, I'm Evan.

1204
01:01:29,805 --> 01:01:30,875
I make signs.

1205
01:01:31,285 --> 01:01:32,529
And then I just said it.

1206
01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:38,000
Every single time it took at least a
year before then everybody was like,

1207
01:01:38,050 --> 01:01:42,560
Oh, Evan, the sign, I would literally
get stopped walking down the street.

1208
01:01:42,830 --> 01:01:44,390
Like you're the sign guy, right?

1209
01:01:44,910 --> 01:01:46,690
I need something for my business.

1210
01:01:47,740 --> 01:01:50,790
And that came from it.

1211
01:01:51,810 --> 01:01:52,250
That was the mustache.

1212
01:01:52,810 --> 01:01:54,540
That was how the mustache
actually started.

1213
01:01:54,570 --> 01:01:55,970
I was like, you know, I need a gimmick.

1214
01:01:56,000 --> 01:01:58,600
I need something that
people were recognizing.

1215
01:01:58,610 --> 01:01:59,740
Boy, did they recognize it?

1216
01:02:01,025 --> 01:02:04,785
But I mean, so that came from, I
found, I learned about like, what

1217
01:02:04,785 --> 01:02:06,115
is my kind of marketing, right?

1218
01:02:06,525 --> 01:02:09,605
And now, especially when I
took the leap into, all right,

1219
01:02:09,645 --> 01:02:11,335
now I'm my own business again.

1220
01:02:12,005 --> 01:02:15,285
What I thought going into this,
okay, you know, what I really

1221
01:02:15,285 --> 01:02:17,135
want is to have an online.

1222
01:02:17,535 --> 01:02:22,065
Like web based sales platform, which I
still want, but I thought that was going

1223
01:02:22,065 --> 01:02:23,965
to be the primary source of my income.

1224
01:02:24,035 --> 01:02:25,385
It's not, it's not at all.

1225
01:02:25,795 --> 01:02:29,875
I found out because I've worked so
much on showing up places in person,

1226
01:02:30,325 --> 01:02:36,025
that's where I'm highest chance of
converting a sale and the sales happen.

1227
01:02:36,025 --> 01:02:39,535
If I'm showing up and I'm talking to
somebody, I'm not even considering, is

1228
01:02:39,535 --> 01:02:43,915
this a qualified lead or not, because I
want to say this, like I've tracked it.

1229
01:02:44,415 --> 01:02:48,075
So far, more than 90 percent
of people that I talked to

1230
01:02:48,105 --> 01:02:50,095
considered leads, they convert.

1231
01:02:50,805 --> 01:02:55,425
So doing all of the marketing ahead
of time has meant that if I'm talking

1232
01:02:55,425 --> 01:02:58,765
to somebody, it's because they
want to buy before I even show up.

1233
01:02:59,525 --> 01:03:01,645
And that comes from.

1234
01:03:02,735 --> 01:03:03,355
Mm,

1235
01:03:03,755 --> 01:03:05,225
it's a key distinction there.

1236
01:03:05,225 --> 01:03:09,255
Is that, and like most of these customers
that you're dealing with, are they.

1237
01:03:10,575 --> 01:03:14,835
Serious business owners or like, you know,
people that are starting new businesses,

1238
01:03:14,835 --> 01:03:18,435
like, do you, do you have like a good
feel for like what the percentages or

1239
01:03:18,495 --> 01:03:19,305
how it breaks out?

1240
01:03:19,345 --> 01:03:20,935
So I want to say it's both.

1241
01:03:21,105 --> 01:03:25,085
And that's why I started getting
more involved with, uh, economic

1242
01:03:25,085 --> 01:03:26,495
development in the area.

1243
01:03:26,995 --> 01:03:30,965
So, I mean, like if you, you know, we've
all done it, we've been on jobs for

1244
01:03:30,965 --> 01:03:32,475
a new school that's going up, right.

1245
01:03:32,745 --> 01:03:35,545
If you consider the cost of
that school, like say it's a 10

1246
01:03:35,545 --> 01:03:37,835
million school, the signs, like.

1247
01:03:38,195 --> 01:03:40,055
Are almost like inconsequential, right?

1248
01:03:40,085 --> 01:03:44,635
It's like maybe 50 grand worth of signs,
maybe 20, depending on what they need.

1249
01:03:44,635 --> 01:03:47,005
If there's always an
afterthought as well, exactly.

1250
01:03:47,045 --> 01:03:49,445
There's not a sign
schedule in the blueprints.

1251
01:03:49,455 --> 01:03:50,805
You got to figure it out yourself.

1252
01:03:50,835 --> 01:03:53,965
You got to count the number of
doors for how many ADA signs you

1253
01:03:53,965 --> 01:03:55,105
need, all that kind of stuff.

1254
01:03:55,585 --> 01:04:00,825
So I started paying attention to who
are the, not the businesses coming in.

1255
01:04:01,120 --> 01:04:04,870
Who are the players in the
community that know every single

1256
01:04:04,880 --> 01:04:05,900
business that's coming in?

1257
01:04:06,270 --> 01:04:08,870
So now I know the board of commissioners.

1258
01:04:09,180 --> 01:04:13,460
I know, like, the
developmental authority people.

1259
01:04:13,810 --> 01:04:19,230
So when they can see me doing good works,
and I'm providing for the customers,

1260
01:04:19,230 --> 01:04:22,420
and I'm getting good feedback, because
I always thought that's very important.

1261
01:04:22,760 --> 01:04:24,550
I'm not just the slick back.

1262
01:04:25,105 --> 01:04:27,925
Hair car salesman that I'm like,
Hey, just drive it off the lot.

1263
01:04:27,925 --> 01:04:28,955
Cause that's all I care about.

1264
01:04:29,195 --> 01:04:29,805
No, no, no, no.

1265
01:04:30,295 --> 01:04:33,365
I need these customers to
have a good experience.

1266
01:04:33,375 --> 01:04:37,065
So that they tell the next person,
because not only are these businesses

1267
01:04:37,065 --> 01:04:41,385
and these business partners, my referral
partners, but these customers, like

1268
01:04:41,385 --> 01:04:45,035
these, what you might consider one off
customers, even if it was like a birthday

1269
01:04:45,035 --> 01:04:49,865
banner, guess what they're telling their
aunt Susie that like, Hey, when little

1270
01:04:49,865 --> 01:04:53,215
Joshua's birthday comes up, I know exactly
where you need to get your banner from.

1271
01:04:54,700 --> 01:05:00,439
It's the same way with car wash, you know,
like, Oh, you know, we got our lighted led

1272
01:05:00,440 --> 01:05:03,320
sign from Evan and you need to do it too.

1273
01:05:03,580 --> 01:05:04,500
Oh, you know what?

1274
01:05:04,780 --> 01:05:08,440
We went to our distributor and they
said it's going to cost X amount for us

1275
01:05:08,440 --> 01:05:12,900
to redo our entire space, but Evan did
it for Y and it was great experience.

1276
01:05:13,630 --> 01:05:19,690
And so I've had enough time in my
market now that I've gotten the

1277
01:05:19,690 --> 01:05:24,980
reputation, but now the effort is
constantly exerted on maintaining it.

1278
01:05:25,670 --> 01:05:29,430
So I guess the question about
getting new business is a lot of

1279
01:05:29,430 --> 01:05:30,820
times I don't personally go get it.

1280
01:05:31,260 --> 01:05:36,850
It's now I have a referral network that
is out there and they're also online.

1281
01:05:37,000 --> 01:05:41,180
We have a Facebook page that's local to
our area that somebody will say like.

1282
01:05:41,380 --> 01:05:43,140
Hey, I'm sorry, I'm opening up a business.

1283
01:05:43,140 --> 01:05:46,700
Does anybody know a good sign shop and
boom, immediately people are tagging

1284
01:05:46,700 --> 01:05:49,840
me like Evan, you need to go call
Evan, check out Evan, talk to Evan.

1285
01:05:50,700 --> 01:05:54,180
And as a good referral partner,
I do the same thing for them.

1286
01:05:54,230 --> 01:05:55,770
You know, it's not one sided.

1287
01:05:55,920 --> 01:05:59,740
I, to maintain them, you know,
everything costs something.

1288
01:06:00,200 --> 01:06:03,400
I'm not paying these referral
partners money, but I am

1289
01:06:03,400 --> 01:06:04,810
referring their businesses.

1290
01:06:05,200 --> 01:06:07,890
So I'm maintaining good faith with them.

1291
01:06:08,580 --> 01:06:10,340
I, first of all.

1292
01:06:10,655 --> 01:06:13,605
I love that you have
led a B and I chapter.

1293
01:06:13,605 --> 01:06:18,175
You hear about that culture just
in your tone and inflection here.

1294
01:06:18,175 --> 01:06:22,145
I mean, it's, I can't imagine
being a business owner and running

1295
01:06:22,245 --> 01:06:27,355
a chapter and introducing new
people and having, it's almost like

1296
01:06:27,355 --> 01:06:28,935
you're networking for 2 companies.

1297
01:06:28,935 --> 01:06:31,465
And I honestly, uh.

1298
01:06:31,950 --> 01:06:36,520
I, I'm thinking back to my chapter leaders
over the years, and I just remember how

1299
01:06:36,520 --> 01:06:38,960
like the active and engaged they were.

1300
01:06:38,960 --> 01:06:42,520
And like, I'm, I'm focused on
my business and I don't got time

1301
01:06:42,520 --> 01:06:46,120
to think about John Smith that
wants to join the B and I group.

1302
01:06:46,120 --> 01:06:52,290
So, I give you a lot of credit there more
than you more than, you know, in terms of

1303
01:06:52,300 --> 01:06:58,050
just your bandwidth, you know, and taking
and taking that on is incredible feet.

1304
01:07:00,290 --> 01:07:03,880
I want to kind of again, I love
your answers and they were exactly

1305
01:07:03,880 --> 01:07:05,040
what I was hoping for that.

1306
01:07:05,040 --> 01:07:06,990
You would say, because again,
you're kind of reminding you're

1307
01:07:07,260 --> 01:07:10,420
reminding me of me a little

1308
01:07:10,420 --> 01:07:10,640
bit

1309
01:07:13,950 --> 01:07:14,230
a little bit

1310
01:07:15,510 --> 01:07:18,060
somebody like this
before that just gets it.

1311
01:07:18,580 --> 01:07:20,430
Uh, I want to hear a little bit more.

1312
01:07:20,430 --> 01:07:21,130
I want to take that.

1313
01:07:21,170 --> 01:07:21,470
Okay.

1314
01:07:21,470 --> 01:07:26,370
So you're your lead generating
tactics are a little bit more.

1315
01:07:27,075 --> 01:07:29,915
I wouldn't, I don't want to
say quite unconventional, but I

1316
01:07:29,915 --> 01:07:32,095
would say they're like old school.

1317
01:07:32,975 --> 01:07:33,815
Oh, okay.

1318
01:07:33,875 --> 01:07:34,485
Old school.

1319
01:07:34,525 --> 01:07:34,975
Old school.

1320
01:07:34,975 --> 01:07:35,255
Yes.

1321
01:07:35,255 --> 01:07:37,045
Very much old school, but personable.

1322
01:07:37,215 --> 01:07:37,705
I like it.

1323
01:07:37,955 --> 01:07:42,045
And I, and I really like, uh, that
you're, that you're out there.

1324
01:07:42,045 --> 01:07:45,135
You're putting yourself out there
in places and organizations,

1325
01:07:45,135 --> 01:07:48,995
clubs, whether it is the BNI
group or your chamber of commerce.

1326
01:07:48,995 --> 01:07:51,345
But I think you've kind of
dialed that in a little bit, like

1327
01:07:51,345 --> 01:07:53,255
you're not traveling very far.

1328
01:07:53,780 --> 01:07:57,550
Uh, you're kind of able to go
from one area to the next and

1329
01:07:57,550 --> 01:07:59,320
people know and understand you.

1330
01:07:59,920 --> 01:08:03,770
I want to, I want to kind of
take that though to the mindset

1331
01:08:03,800 --> 01:08:04,880
that you have as an owner.

1332
01:08:05,720 --> 01:08:08,580
So, everybody's doing,
everybody does this differently.

1333
01:08:08,970 --> 01:08:14,230
Um, I have a couple of clients
that I talk to weekly about this.

1334
01:08:14,230 --> 01:08:17,130
And, you know, this business
is not transactional.

1335
01:08:17,570 --> 01:08:20,000
This business is consultative.

1336
01:08:21,160 --> 01:08:24,850
I think the, the sign shop owners
that understand that, that grasp that,

1337
01:08:24,850 --> 01:08:28,440
like Bryant and I, we talk about this
all the time in our pricing course.

1338
01:08:28,440 --> 01:08:29,940
We're not selling rubber ducks.

1339
01:08:30,290 --> 01:08:33,320
You know, we're, this is
a, a custom made project.

1340
01:08:33,740 --> 01:08:38,750
This is a, uh, a project that takes time
understanding, it needs communication.

1341
01:08:39,080 --> 01:08:41,480
It needs to understand
the goals, the vision.

1342
01:08:41,510 --> 01:08:44,840
What, after this is all done,
what is it gonna do for you, Mr.

1343
01:08:44,840 --> 01:08:45,500
Business owner?

1344
01:08:45,910 --> 01:08:49,480
I mean, there's a lot of consultative
nature to around what we do.

1345
01:08:49,490 --> 01:08:54,230
We, you know, but I want to ask
when you put on that hat and that

1346
01:08:54,230 --> 01:08:59,990
business owner hat and you walk into a
business, you said car washes before.

1347
01:08:59,990 --> 01:09:03,890
So I'll use that as an example might
be a tough example, but I'd like to see

1348
01:09:03,890 --> 01:09:06,070
what I like to see your answer here.

1349
01:09:06,745 --> 01:09:11,105
You know, do you put your how do
you put yourself in the limelight?

1350
01:09:11,115 --> 01:09:14,645
How do you put yourself in the
in the eyes of a car wash owner?

1351
01:09:15,435 --> 01:09:15,765
Again?

1352
01:09:15,765 --> 01:09:16,705
It could be a salon.

1353
01:09:16,715 --> 01:09:17,595
It could be a restaurant.

1354
01:09:17,595 --> 01:09:18,345
It could be anybody.

1355
01:09:18,785 --> 01:09:22,345
But how do you put your how
do you put them in the purview

1356
01:09:22,345 --> 01:09:24,445
that you're the expert that.

1357
01:09:24,970 --> 01:09:28,950
They should listen to you and why
they should listen to you and how

1358
01:09:28,950 --> 01:09:32,560
do you start building value there
with that type of owner that again,

1359
01:09:32,710 --> 01:09:33,870
you don't know their business.

1360
01:09:33,870 --> 01:09:35,510
You don't know what they do every day.

1361
01:09:35,510 --> 01:09:38,300
So how do you supplant
yourself in that, uh, in

1362
01:09:38,300 --> 01:09:39,080
that mindset?

1363
01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:44,050
So I'll say, and I'm just going to
kind of go through this scenario

1364
01:09:44,230 --> 01:09:46,520
and I'll also preface it with again.

1365
01:09:46,520 --> 01:09:47,590
I don't consider myself.

1366
01:09:47,605 --> 01:09:55,655
A salesperson necessarily, but I've found
out that I can cold call and my method to

1367
01:09:55,655 --> 01:09:57,415
doing that, like, let's say no referral.

1368
01:09:57,625 --> 01:10:01,615
I walked into a place, maybe, maybe
it's like a restaurant and I'm having

1369
01:10:01,615 --> 01:10:02,725
dinner there with some friends.

1370
01:10:03,285 --> 01:10:09,065
And then, uh, it happens to be, cause
this happens as the owner walks by

1371
01:10:09,065 --> 01:10:10,255
and like, Hey, how was your meal?

1372
01:10:10,265 --> 01:10:11,225
Hope everything's good.

1373
01:10:11,445 --> 01:10:12,865
It's a manager or something like that.

1374
01:10:13,145 --> 01:10:14,215
I was like, Hey, it's doing great.

1375
01:10:14,245 --> 01:10:18,005
Oh, by the way, I noticed that
like one of your signs out front

1376
01:10:18,235 --> 01:10:19,895
was like, somebody ran over it.

1377
01:10:20,465 --> 01:10:21,255
It got hit.

1378
01:10:21,295 --> 01:10:24,055
And I just want to let you know,
like, I'm not saying you gotta use me.

1379
01:10:24,105 --> 01:10:25,165
I just want to give you a card.

1380
01:10:25,165 --> 01:10:28,565
If you ever need an expert to talk
to somebody, like I understand

1381
01:10:28,575 --> 01:10:30,255
nobody knows how much signs cost.

1382
01:10:30,615 --> 01:10:33,675
Nobody knows how long it takes to make
them, but now, you know, somebody.

1383
01:10:33,745 --> 01:10:36,595
So thank you very much
for a great experience.

1384
01:10:36,685 --> 01:10:37,565
I really enjoyed it.

1385
01:10:37,565 --> 01:10:38,475
We'll be back again.

1386
01:10:38,515 --> 01:10:39,535
And if you need help.

1387
01:10:40,105 --> 01:10:45,375
Call me and I call that the Homeward
Bound method because I don't know if

1388
01:10:45,375 --> 01:10:47,405
you remember the movie Homeward Bound.

1389
01:10:49,115 --> 01:10:49,855
Of course I do.

1390
01:10:50,035 --> 01:10:55,075
Okay, so the cat is trying to teach
the dog how to catch a crayfish.

1391
01:10:56,355 --> 01:10:58,155
And he's like, how do you get it?

1392
01:10:58,175 --> 01:10:58,825
How do you do it?

1393
01:10:58,825 --> 01:11:00,505
And she's like, just act
like you don't want it.

1394
01:11:01,030 --> 01:11:03,390
Just like, and he's like, I don't want it.

1395
01:11:03,390 --> 01:11:03,900
I don't want it.

1396
01:11:03,900 --> 01:11:10,150
And then it bites him and it's like,
ah, so it's kind of, it's a, I almost

1397
01:11:10,150 --> 01:11:14,440
feel like a universal truth that in
any kind of relationship, including

1398
01:11:14,500 --> 01:11:19,020
the like salesperson customer
relationship, you've got to act

1399
01:11:19,020 --> 01:11:21,690
like you are fine without this sale.

1400
01:11:22,000 --> 01:11:23,520
You are cool without it.

1401
01:11:23,810 --> 01:11:25,410
You are established.

1402
01:11:25,420 --> 01:11:27,920
You are the person that is the expert.

1403
01:11:28,275 --> 01:11:30,205
You exude that confidence.

1404
01:11:30,485 --> 01:11:32,065
You are comfortable
talking to that person.

1405
01:11:32,115 --> 01:11:33,645
I did not used to be that way.

1406
01:11:33,665 --> 01:11:37,525
I promise you, I used to not at
the end of a conversation with

1407
01:11:37,525 --> 01:11:41,695
a potential customer, I wouldn't
say, Hey, can I quote that for you?

1408
01:11:41,965 --> 01:11:42,785
I would not ask that.

1409
01:11:43,905 --> 01:11:49,125
I asked that now, uh, I, I mean, it's so
important it's, and especially when you

1410
01:11:49,125 --> 01:11:53,465
talk to, I think some people, again, we
were talking about imposter syndrome.

1411
01:11:53,825 --> 01:11:56,255
I think some people sell
themselves too short.

1412
01:11:56,525 --> 01:11:59,025
They think that they're talking to a
customer and that they're down here

1413
01:11:59,025 --> 01:12:03,035
and the customer is up here and oh,
this, this huge successful business,

1414
01:12:03,325 --> 01:12:06,725
like, uh, please, sir, just, you
know, if you need anything, call me

1415
01:12:06,905 --> 01:12:08,935
like, no, they're a business person.

1416
01:12:08,945 --> 01:12:10,985
They operate in transactions.

1417
01:12:11,310 --> 01:12:14,640
Like, tell them, I want the
opportunity to quote this, if

1418
01:12:14,640 --> 01:12:16,020
you feel like I can provide that.

1419
01:12:16,240 --> 01:12:18,110
Would you mind giving me the opportunity?

1420
01:12:18,400 --> 01:12:20,230
I've never had anybody tell me no.

1421
01:12:20,890 --> 01:12:21,910
I've never had anybody say...

1422
01:12:21,910 --> 01:12:23,999
I love the ask.

1423
01:12:24,000 --> 01:12:25,860
Nobody has ever said no.

1424
01:12:26,040 --> 01:12:27,590
Like, we're not going
to give you a chance.

1425
01:12:30,095 --> 01:12:30,155
You

1426
01:12:30,155 --> 01:12:33,799
just skyrocketed to one of my
favorite guests at the very top of

1427
01:12:33,799 --> 01:12:34,393
the

1428
01:12:34,393 --> 01:12:34,987
list.

1429
01:12:34,987 --> 01:12:37,364
Better than Maggie's quote.

1430
01:12:37,365 --> 01:12:41,315
You know, I love the way you
asked for the opportunity.

1431
01:12:41,875 --> 01:12:42,605
I love that.

1432
01:12:42,675 --> 01:12:45,775
I can't, I can't, I can honestly
say I've never done that.

1433
01:12:46,400 --> 01:12:49,020
Uh, and I don't know many
people that have done it.

1434
01:12:49,050 --> 01:12:51,030
My, my old business partners don't do it.

1435
01:12:51,100 --> 01:12:55,100
Even my best friend who owns a sign shop
right now certainly doesn't ask like that.

1436
01:12:55,550 --> 01:13:00,590
So that, Bryant, when you're putting
together the title of this podcast

1437
01:13:00,590 --> 01:13:02,020
episode, you know what I mean?

1438
01:13:02,140 --> 01:13:06,170
Like, that's got to be considered
to, to be the title here.

1439
01:13:06,170 --> 01:13:06,459
Like.

1440
01:13:06,940 --> 01:13:08,260
Asking for the sale.

1441
01:13:08,270 --> 01:13:11,470
I have never heard anybody genuinely just

1442
01:13:11,510 --> 01:13:15,860
asking for the asking for
the opportunity to quote.

1443
01:13:15,940 --> 01:13:16,160
Yeah.

1444
01:13:16,160 --> 01:13:17,219
Yeah.

1445
01:13:17,220 --> 01:13:17,690
That's it.

1446
01:13:17,710 --> 01:13:18,810
I mean, I get it.

1447
01:13:19,090 --> 01:13:24,410
If you're 100 percent in a sales position,
you're not going to make every sale.

1448
01:13:24,410 --> 01:13:25,390
It's not going to happen.

1449
01:13:25,480 --> 01:13:27,380
We know that, but.

1450
01:13:27,585 --> 01:13:29,505
Having the opportunity is important.

1451
01:13:29,715 --> 01:13:33,625
It's, you know, that old adage
that, you know, you miss a hundred

1452
01:13:33,625 --> 01:13:35,015
percent of the shots you don't take.

1453
01:13:35,295 --> 01:13:37,845
So it's like, it's your job.

1454
01:13:37,925 --> 01:13:39,555
Why are you not taking the shot?

1455
01:13:40,005 --> 01:13:41,185
It's like, do it.

1456
01:13:41,265 --> 01:13:42,865
It's important like that.

1457
01:13:42,915 --> 01:13:46,745
You're worried about your paycheck, your
employee's paycheck, you know, whatever.

1458
01:13:47,315 --> 01:13:48,265
Take the shot.

1459
01:13:48,325 --> 01:13:50,035
It's your responsibility.

1460
01:13:50,345 --> 01:13:53,415
It's it, it's your job to do it.

1461
01:13:54,225 --> 01:13:57,365
But I think once I got
past that, that was cool.

1462
01:13:57,395 --> 01:14:03,805
I still have a little bit of like, the
reason that I network is because I even

1463
01:14:03,805 --> 01:14:08,735
still feel like there are levels, but now
hanging around these people all the time

1464
01:14:08,975 --> 01:14:14,675
has made me feel a lot more comfortable
about like, okay, I, I am normalizing.

1465
01:14:14,675 --> 01:14:17,065
It's like, look, Oh, you
know, Hey, commissioner.

1466
01:14:17,065 --> 01:14:19,355
So, and so, Hey, that
birthday I told you about.

1467
01:14:20,455 --> 01:14:23,245
All three mayors of the local three
cities that I network in, they're

1468
01:14:23,245 --> 01:14:25,345
all happy birthday, Evan, you know?

1469
01:14:25,435 --> 01:14:26,725
So it's like,

1470
01:14:28,345 --> 01:14:32,995
That's such an important thing for me of
like, yeah, I heard you going on about,

1471
01:14:32,995 --> 01:14:39,435
like, Hey, the, the BNI group, like you,
you explicitly cultivated, like, I know

1472
01:14:39,435 --> 01:14:40,575
these are going to be business owners.

1473
01:14:40,575 --> 01:14:42,025
These are people I want to be around.

1474
01:14:42,535 --> 01:14:43,915
And you're just there showing up.

1475
01:14:44,365 --> 01:14:44,875
Like, that's.

1476
01:14:45,200 --> 01:14:49,530
That's probably 80, 90 percent
of it is being there and being

1477
01:14:49,530 --> 01:14:50,590
around more than that.

1478
01:14:50,590 --> 01:14:52,320
It's fostering new relationships.

1479
01:14:52,350 --> 01:14:54,690
You know, like, I bet
you it's the same people.

1480
01:14:54,890 --> 01:14:57,450
Not always the same people
showing up to those meetings,

1481
01:14:57,450 --> 01:14:59,270
but the same familiar faces.

1482
01:14:59,270 --> 01:15:01,860
And what that presents is,
hey, we're here for a reason.

1483
01:15:02,390 --> 01:15:06,010
You know, you may not have a need
this week, but maybe it's 6 weeks from

1484
01:15:06,010 --> 01:15:09,200
now and I'm getting a chance to get
in front of you and you're getting

1485
01:15:09,200 --> 01:15:10,250
a chance to get in front of me.

1486
01:15:10,280 --> 01:15:10,740
Right?

1487
01:15:10,750 --> 01:15:13,670
I mean, I'm sure you're in in
that in that V and I group.

1488
01:15:13,680 --> 01:15:14,280
You got.

1489
01:15:14,555 --> 01:15:18,635
Plumbers and insurance agents
and all sorts of things.

1490
01:15:18,635 --> 01:15:21,995
And, you know, when the need arises,
you have a go to, you have a go to.

1491
01:15:21,995 --> 01:15:23,805
It's like, you have your
guy, you have your guy.

1492
01:15:23,815 --> 01:15:25,835
And right now, Evan, you are my guy.

1493
01:15:29,855 --> 01:15:30,235
Yeah,

1494
01:15:30,545 --> 01:15:32,985
well, I think we've
definitely gone a little

1495
01:15:32,985 --> 01:15:34,275
longer than we intended to here.

1496
01:15:34,285 --> 01:15:35,555
I'm sorry, I talk way too much.

1497
01:15:35,795 --> 01:15:35,965
No,

1498
01:15:35,965 --> 01:15:36,535
no, no, it's.

1499
01:15:37,240 --> 01:15:38,840
This has been a great conversation.

1500
01:15:38,840 --> 01:15:41,720
I'll agree with Peter that, you
know, I think you, you've been one

1501
01:15:41,720 --> 01:15:43,370
of my favorite guests so far as well.

1502
01:15:43,420 --> 01:15:43,760
Thank you.

1503
01:15:43,770 --> 01:15:44,030
Thank you.

1504
01:15:44,040 --> 01:15:47,130
Um, yeah, we kind of, we kind
of usually in these with a,

1505
01:15:47,160 --> 01:15:48,680
like a transition to the future.

1506
01:15:48,680 --> 01:15:52,330
So what does, what does the
future look like for you, Evan?

1507
01:15:52,330 --> 01:15:54,380
What does the future look like for you?

1508
01:15:54,380 --> 01:15:54,830
Sure.

1509
01:15:54,880 --> 01:16:00,540
Um, I've got, uh, two next steps
kind of buying to be step number two.

1510
01:16:00,760 --> 01:16:04,430
Um, and that's either taking on
some of the manufacturing because.

1511
01:16:05,035 --> 01:16:11,085
I'm not 100 percent getting everything
that I want from my vendors and, uh,

1512
01:16:11,115 --> 01:16:18,095
also continuing to build on the success
of vending my sales by means of having

1513
01:16:18,165 --> 01:16:24,465
online sales and the main purpose of that
would be to take items that, you know,

1514
01:16:24,515 --> 01:16:30,265
yard signs, banners, high margin, low
costs, pass through things that even if

1515
01:16:30,265 --> 01:16:33,735
I can make something 20 a day profit.

1516
01:16:34,165 --> 01:16:34,555
Great.

1517
01:16:34,615 --> 01:16:39,635
That's 640 bucks a month that I made from
me not having to take the same amount of

1518
01:16:39,635 --> 01:16:45,805
time that I sell somebody like a billboard
to sell a hundred dollar banner, you know,

1519
01:16:45,885 --> 01:16:50,425
it's, it's worth it to give me some relief
to sort of automate that a little bit.

1520
01:16:50,685 --> 01:16:52,805
And then, plus that also has a lot to do.

1521
01:16:52,805 --> 01:16:56,225
We haven't talked about this, my,
the company, since my name is Evan

1522
01:16:56,235 --> 01:16:59,825
Zebley, then my company is EZ signs.

1523
01:17:00,690 --> 01:17:04,250
So it, it just makes
sense for the easy brand.

1524
01:17:04,260 --> 01:17:04,980
Hey, it's easy.

1525
01:17:05,030 --> 01:17:06,780
Just go online and get it, you know?

1526
01:17:07,210 --> 01:17:11,440
Um, but anyway, I've got those two
things going and I imagined it probably

1527
01:17:11,440 --> 01:17:13,160
both going to happen at the same time.

1528
01:17:14,360 --> 01:17:14,765
I gotcha.

1529
01:17:15,485 --> 01:17:15,725
Yeah.

1530
01:17:16,235 --> 01:17:17,225
Uh, iron.

1531
01:17:17,255 --> 01:17:18,425
A lot of irons in the fire.

1532
01:17:18,695 --> 01:17:23,815
Um, are you, like, are you, are you
looking to, like, with your online sales,

1533
01:17:23,815 --> 01:17:28,895
say, like, just to step into that for a
moment, because it's a very interesting

1534
01:17:28,895 --> 01:17:33,005
topic for me and one that I see like
a lot of owners want to step into.

1535
01:17:33,575 --> 01:17:36,665
Uh, and it it kind of difficult with
stuff like signage because it is Mm-Hmm.

1536
01:17:36,905 --> 01:17:39,280
custom, even within a banner, you know?

1537
01:17:39,940 --> 01:17:41,010
Um, how do you do that?

1538
01:17:41,020 --> 01:17:45,090
But like, are you planning on like
marketing that to a wider audience

1539
01:17:45,100 --> 01:17:49,130
or is it more of just like, Hey,
I've got my area that I serve.

1540
01:17:49,670 --> 01:17:52,580
I may not be able to come out and
talk to you for a hundred dollar

1541
01:17:52,580 --> 01:17:57,000
banner or, you know, like, if you need
something quickly, like just log on.

1542
01:17:57,420 --> 01:17:59,090
Uh, are you planning on like serving?

1543
01:17:59,635 --> 01:18:03,615
Like a national audience, or is
this just like a, a nice way to,

1544
01:18:04,135 --> 01:18:09,525
you know, funnel some of that other
smaller stuff into a, a more efficient

1545
01:18:10,555 --> 01:18:12,137
queue or flow, I guess.

1546
01:18:12,137 --> 01:18:18,065
My main goal is to allow myself more
time so that I can go, uh, work on

1547
01:18:18,095 --> 01:18:19,895
other, uh, more profitable sales.

1548
01:18:19,895 --> 01:18:20,685
So it is.

1549
01:18:20,685 --> 01:18:21,124
I want.

1550
01:18:21,265 --> 01:18:24,285
You know, initially just to kind
of take care of some of the easier

1551
01:18:24,365 --> 01:18:28,485
stuff, you know, because if you're
dealing with a college and they've

1552
01:18:28,485 --> 01:18:31,245
already got the graphics done, they
just need to send it somewhere.

1553
01:18:31,525 --> 01:18:34,435
And if they send it to a custom signed
shop that they have to go through

1554
01:18:34,435 --> 01:18:37,535
a salesperson, it takes three days
to get a proof back or whatever.

1555
01:18:37,785 --> 01:18:39,705
It's like, why did I do that
when I could have just gone to

1556
01:18:39,705 --> 01:18:41,635
VistaPrint and printed it right now?

1557
01:18:42,155 --> 01:18:45,995
So I want to have a solution
right now for my customers.

1558
01:18:46,355 --> 01:18:47,945
And I do want to let it grow.

1559
01:18:48,705 --> 01:18:52,095
Naturally, I believe it will
grow, but that's going to

1560
01:18:52,095 --> 01:18:53,565
be again through referrals.

1561
01:18:53,625 --> 01:18:57,875
I'll, uh, one of them, two of my
favorite sales that I made while

1562
01:18:57,875 --> 01:19:01,965
I was at fast signs, it was, I was
at fast signs when COVID happened.

1563
01:19:02,525 --> 01:19:10,075
So I took that particular branch from that
300, 000 a year to 700 in that one year.

1564
01:19:10,565 --> 01:19:12,015
And it was during COVID.

1565
01:19:12,425 --> 01:19:15,095
And while all the other owners
were like, what do we do?

1566
01:19:15,295 --> 01:19:15,975
I was like.

1567
01:19:16,235 --> 01:19:18,825
We're going to make some
social distancing signage.

1568
01:19:18,835 --> 01:19:20,365
The thing that everybody does now, right?

1569
01:19:20,745 --> 01:19:23,655
Well, there were a couple of people
inventing fire at the same time.

1570
01:19:23,655 --> 01:19:24,625
And I was one of those people.

1571
01:19:24,625 --> 01:19:28,305
And I was like, look, we, we have
statutes that the state sent out.

1572
01:19:28,315 --> 01:19:30,905
We're going to make these
things that let it be known.

1573
01:19:30,925 --> 01:19:32,275
That's going to help your operations.

1574
01:19:32,815 --> 01:19:36,765
And immediately I had local
companies, manufacturing companies.

1575
01:19:36,765 --> 01:19:37,925
They were like, Hey, this is great.

1576
01:19:38,155 --> 01:19:41,235
We want you to make it for our company
here, our company in Pennsylvania.

1577
01:19:41,470 --> 01:19:45,270
Our place in Quebec and our place
in California, and now I have

1578
01:19:45,270 --> 01:19:49,840
connections with the managers of
those operations and they're like,

1579
01:19:49,970 --> 01:19:51,290
where did we get these from last time?

1580
01:19:51,310 --> 01:19:52,430
Who does this stuff?

1581
01:19:52,450 --> 01:19:53,870
Oh yeah, Evan does it.

1582
01:19:54,740 --> 01:19:55,020
Yeah.

1583
01:19:55,670 --> 01:19:56,040
So

1584
01:19:57,750 --> 01:19:59,540
it's just naturally

1585
01:19:59,550 --> 01:20:00,180
spreads.

1586
01:20:00,210 --> 01:20:00,540
Yeah.

1587
01:20:00,840 --> 01:20:01,090
Great.

1588
01:20:01,130 --> 01:20:01,850
That's right.

1589
01:20:02,310 --> 01:20:06,330
And I believe that I really, I
believe this and it's anecdotal, but

1590
01:20:06,330 --> 01:20:09,290
it is true for me is that you just.

1591
01:20:09,780 --> 01:20:14,130
Try to be kind, even in like
a semi cutthroat business.

1592
01:20:14,420 --> 01:20:18,490
I don't talk bad about other science
shops ever, ever do I do that?

1593
01:20:19,000 --> 01:20:26,750
I might defend myself sometimes, but I
have to, but yeah, be kind to everybody

1594
01:20:26,750 --> 01:20:30,870
that you can be kind to, and just do
the job that you say you're going to do.

1595
01:20:31,020 --> 01:20:32,200
Just do it.

1596
01:20:32,220 --> 01:20:35,490
Fulfill your promises, never
over promise and under deliver.

1597
01:20:36,385 --> 01:20:39,455
So I believe that, you know,
I have been able to grow just

1598
01:20:39,455 --> 01:20:40,915
because of really those two things.

1599
01:20:43,225 --> 01:20:43,705
Great, man.

1600
01:20:43,805 --> 01:20:47,645
I look forward to seeing like the, the
online solution that you come up with.

1601
01:20:48,515 --> 01:20:52,745
And also like, I want to hear back with
where you land on like the manufacturing

1602
01:20:52,745 --> 01:20:56,135
side, because we we've got, uh, I'll
see if I can find the episode for you.

1603
01:20:56,685 --> 01:21:00,405
There was one guy that we, we talked
with in depth about like, Hey,

1604
01:21:00,405 --> 01:21:03,065
should I be doing manufacturing?

1605
01:21:03,065 --> 01:21:04,005
Should we get into that?

1606
01:21:04,005 --> 01:21:07,865
Should we not, you know, very interesting
topic and you know, it could go.

1607
01:21:08,200 --> 01:21:12,210
Either way, uh, more of like a personal
preference thing as well, whether you

1608
01:21:12,210 --> 01:21:14,520
want the headache involved with that as

1609
01:21:14,520 --> 01:21:14,810
well.

1610
01:21:14,850 --> 01:21:18,910
But if I, if I could find the right person
to run it for me, that would be the key.

1611
01:21:19,440 --> 01:21:19,910
There you go.

1612
01:21:20,490 --> 01:21:20,870
Excellent.

1613
01:21:20,980 --> 01:21:24,810
Well, uh, Evan, I appreciate
you joining us again.

1614
01:21:24,910 --> 01:21:27,770
I think 1 of our favorite
episodes for sure.

1615
01:21:28,420 --> 01:21:31,300
Uh, Pete, any parting shots before we.

1616
01:21:33,440 --> 01:21:36,300
Uh, you took the wind from my sails there.

1617
01:21:36,300 --> 01:21:36,490
Yeah.

1618
01:21:36,490 --> 01:21:38,340
Evan, thank you for being here.

1619
01:21:38,450 --> 01:21:39,890
Uh, making the time.

1620
01:21:39,890 --> 01:21:44,850
I know you're in your car and I'm,
and I'm sorry for, uh, for disturbing

1621
01:21:44,850 --> 01:21:47,610
your day if we did it, but, um,
it was a pleasure meeting you.

1622
01:21:47,610 --> 01:21:50,990
And I, and I do look forward
to seeing you here on the show

1623
01:21:50,990 --> 01:21:51,290
again.

1624
01:21:51,940 --> 01:21:52,230
Wow.

1625
01:21:52,390 --> 01:21:54,420
Thank you very much,
guys, for the opportunity.

1626
01:21:54,620 --> 01:21:57,610
And, uh, thanks for, uh,
hosting me in my car.

1627
01:21:57,710 --> 01:21:58,510
I apologize.

1628
01:22:00,260 --> 01:22:00,680
It's all good.

1629
01:22:00,690 --> 01:22:02,880
You got to get done
work in the office, man.

1630
01:22:02,880 --> 01:22:03,460
That's all good.

1631
01:22:04,810 --> 01:22:05,210
Thanks.

1632
01:22:05,390 --> 01:22:05,900
All right.

1633
01:22:06,010 --> 01:22:06,480
We'll see you.

1634
01:22:06,590 --> 01:22:06,950
Thanks.

1635
01:22:07,040 --> 01:22:07,310
All right.

1636
01:22:07,570 --> 01:22:08,050
Thank you.

1637
01:22:08,450 --> 01:22:09,180
That's the episode.

1638
01:22:09,200 --> 01:22:10,200
I hope you enjoyed it.

1639
01:22:10,410 --> 01:22:13,140
I'd like to give one final
shout out to our sponsor.

1640
01:22:13,460 --> 01:22:14,940
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1641
01:22:15,150 --> 01:22:17,160
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1642
01:22:17,630 --> 01:22:20,080
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1643
01:22:20,480 --> 01:22:23,920
They pride themselves on
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1644
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free experience when outsourcing.

1645
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Their no excuses mindset means no matter
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1646
01:22:32,360 --> 01:22:36,300
No other vendor will go to the
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1647
01:22:36,300 --> 01:22:38,140
you're a satisfied customer.

1648
01:22:38,690 --> 01:22:42,360
To hear more about their approach
to business, hop back into the

1649
01:22:42,360 --> 01:22:46,020
archives to episode 9, where the
guys and I interview owner T.

1650
01:22:46,020 --> 01:22:46,220
J.

1651
01:22:46,220 --> 01:22:49,260
Biedakt about top tier
customer experience.

1652
01:22:49,750 --> 01:22:53,490
If you're looking for a high
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1653
01:22:53,530 --> 01:22:56,030
mesh, coroplast, and more, T.

1654
01:22:56,030 --> 01:22:56,230
J.

1655
01:22:56,230 --> 01:22:57,490
and his crew were small.

1656
01:22:57,895 --> 01:22:59,235
GCI does them all.

1657
01:22:59,685 --> 01:23:02,684
Check them out at PrintGCI.

1658
01:23:02,685 --> 01:23:02,975
com.

1659
01:23:04,055 --> 01:23:07,185
If you liked this episode,
make sure you hit subscribe to

1660
01:23:07,185 --> 01:23:08,635
get all the latest episodes.

1661
01:23:08,685 --> 01:23:11,735
And check out our website, BetterSignShop.

1662
01:23:11,755 --> 01:23:12,275
com.

1663
01:23:12,915 --> 01:23:16,215
Get free resources and helpful
tools on growing your shop.

1664
01:23:16,525 --> 01:23:17,585
Thanks for listening.