Hi all

[justinsigns]

Just thought I would drop a line, Carl mentioned this site so here I am.

Ive been a small business owner for 4 years now, and only recently found the benefit of working on the business rather than in it like I previously have.


Any questions ask away!

[Carl Taylor]

hey Justin,

great to see you here.

Your experiences, especially in the recent times, will be great information to share with the community here.

[crackers]

what does your small business do?

[justinsigns]

what does your small business do?

We help bring more customers to boost your bottom line.

Interested?


This is achieved by creating a unique package that best reflects your business designed to fit in with your budget using modern day sign-making techniques.

Yes I actually remember that in case anyone asks.


To get a better understanding or for those who need visuals, you may visit our website: http://www.justinsigns.com.au

[crackers]

ahh very nice.

Not yet no. No need for this yet.

seems like business is good though, according to the site.

[Brendan]

Hey Justin.. welcome! great to have you on board.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your business daily?

[justinsigns]

I don't know about daily, but the biggest issues we face as a small business is cash flow and having the right team to back us up with the service and product we offer.

At the moment cash flow isnt great, but alot better than it was 6 months ago. It would get close to the end of the month a few times and if I didnt receive payment for certain jobs I would consider closing because I couldnt cover the next lot of accounts. Since implementing a 30% deposit rule and sticking to it, there has been improvement.

As for the right team, you are all well aware of a skills shortage and we are feeling it now. To get the right people, they want to be paid alot more than normal and we just dont have that amount of work to cover it. Now we have a casual thats agreed to an employment contract - not an AWA - but agreed wages, hrs of work etc and our solicitor made sure she can make it stand up in court if it ever went there.

Hopefully we can source a 2nd or 3rd year apprentice through tafe later in the year.

[gerryonline]

hey justin, welcome to the forums.

Great info there and im sure we can all learn from it.

How long have you been operating? Did you start with any projections, startup costs? Has the startup gone as planned?

[justinsigns]

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Great info there and im sure we can all learn from it.

How long have you been operating? Did you start with any projections, startup costs? Has the startup gone as planned?
====


Thanks its good to hear what others think generally about business.


I have been operating 4 years this year and must say its been tough.

Initially I had no projections and no startup capital, so I borrowed a vast amount of money and just finished paying it off, though have upgraded the printer and now have a new lease for it.

If I included every little thing as well as my time promoting in the first 12 months I would put a price of about $120k on it, without my time it would be about $95-100k, I was lucky to switch my ft job to night shift and run my business during the day at first.

I reached a point where I was making good money, low overheads etc etc and the business went stagnant for a while, I couldnt break the turnover no matter how hard I worked.

We moved into a 200sqm factory unit last March which increased turnover a bit but I still had the mindset of when it was all stagnant.

Up until this point I was 'winging it' and just following what I thought was right.

I strongly recommend investing in a business coach for anyone, our sales easily doubled per month since seeing her, all that changed was my attitude towards the business. I still dont advertise except sensis online, I dont go looking for work and people still dont realise where we are so I can only imagine the potential growth if I pushed a bit harder this year.

Hope it helps you all with what to look out for and try to avoid as you grow.