HansonSigns

Thanks, Dave, excellent info!

Has anyone used/seen/heard about this company? Sells refurbished crane/ladder trucks. They have some bad reviews online, which I know you have to take with a grain of salt (and tequila), but if anyone has experience with this company I'd like to hear about it. Thanks!

Speaking of socializing America - I saw a surprising - and scary - documentary (watched it on Youtube) called Grinding down America. Like it says in the film, it's not conspiracy theory if everything is out in the open. and all the stuff on this documentary appears to be out in the open -. worth the watch...

Weeks - 2 weeks for some of the better ones, 6 weeks for some....

Don, I spent three years in Japan and at least one in every 14 Japanese Nationals knew enough english to help you find the train depot or sell you the meal you wanted in a restaurant. I've heard it's the same in many European countries. What we don't need is the government telling us how to run our businesses. If a business doesn't want to cater to a specific group, then so be it. It's up to the community to decide where to spend their money - if you don't like a business owner's rules, don't eat/shop there.

Great story - thanks for sharing!

I have been a little surprised that some of the nationals signed my net 45 request - but they did with no problem and honored the terms. Maybe knowing I am willing to go the lien route is all it takes for some of them! Of course, some nationals like MC Signs have always treated their subs right (at least in my case).

We did this right before we started requiring a signed statement regarding net 45 terms, with a lien being filed if we aren't paid in full at 60 days. So far we have had excellent response from all the nationals we've worked with. I can accept that.

Yer killing me Smalls....

61 days to pay on a $1000 job. The reps were easy to work with.

We've seen this happen twice... one was a restaurant where the neon work had been done by an unlicensed contractor (we would'nt touch it and called the landlord to let them know it was hazardous. However, the restaurant owner energized the circuit and a fire was born. Second one - contractors removed a sign, and stuffed the leads for the tranny back into the attic without even an attempt at capping them. That one was caught quickly so the damage was minimal.

Great answers all - I appreciate the feedback.

We had a customer who asked our service tech to retrofit his sign with rope lighting.... and no, we didn't.

That's what we were thinking.... not worth the paper it's printed on! The local rep - a nice lady - came to do her sales pitch and I had to ask her to bring phone books, we didn't have anything recent.

I use Peachtree.... looking at changing to something that can track our inventory better. Does anyone have any recommendations?

What do you all do for yellow page ads? We are seriously considering dropping our phone book ads down to just a teeny ad. The cost is pretty high and even though we get calls from them (the phone book company has a pass thru number so they can track the calls) I can't say that we are getting any decent jobs from them. And even though the ad says "electrical signs", people still ask if make the signs that light up. Thoughts?

My hubby (sign installer here) saw this as he came thru the access hatch .... he was close to poopin!

I can copy mine and send it to you - would email work? My manual covers SX 57 / 60 / 70 series

Just one thing at a time. Prioritize. Take a day off with the shop - shop party! Have pizza and games for the employees kids. Amazing how much that can improve morale. We are really busy also, life is good!

It seems like a legit company would not have a problem paying up front for a crane rental ..... and it only makes sense to get the $$ for equipment you would have to rent for it. I think you dodged a bullet with those guys.

looks cheap, I wouldn't eat pizza from there....

I wish I could unsee that...... arrrrggggg!

Mathews

Same here - interior signs only require electrical permits, not city/county permits. There are some restrictions on window neon signs in certain areas.....

Organized religion is a big business. We've sold some churchs in our area EMCs and they love them, usually have fund raisers and a couple of well off members who donate large sums towards the purchase.