gcextreme

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Posts posted by gcextreme

  8. Posted

    Damit lol. I rebooted and it didnt do anything. Guess i will have to reinstall it tomorrow.

     

    Been doing ok...making just enough to keep my shop open.

     

    Had about $19k in sales in 2016...up from $14k in 2015.

    Dakota can u send me an email at gc_extreme@hotmail  i seem to have lost yours and i need some stuff printed again.

     

     

  12. Posted

    Just because its old...doesn't mean it just stops working...it doesn't have an expiration date for when it no longer can't work..

    hell i still have a desktop running Windows XP and another one with Windows 98. 

     

    I could care less if its no longer supported...its been working with the cutter for 4 years....no reason for it to just quit or start having random issues out of the blue

  13. Posted

    If you can find where the main ground wire connects to your machine ,just make an extension of that and ground it to any bare metal surface of your cutter, its what i did to my titan 2 just in case ,I wanted to stay ahead of any issues like that.otherwise just make a ground from the stand to the cutter to any metal screw or bolt, but make sure you have bare metal its touching.

     

    Yea i dont have a clue what screw to use on the cutter tho.

     

    Glen, in all the years I have never heard of a graphtec having static issues - ever - I believe because the stand it connected to the bare metal bottom of the cutter, the roll holder is metal, with metal bearings and the rods that hold the vinyl are stainless steel so a direct path to ground all the way - could it be your software?

    I am using SignBlazer..same software i have been using since i started in 2012...this issue just started a few months ago..

  16. Posted

    I just noticed where you live. I used to live there a years ago. Not same town but a few hours away. You ever consider moving out of that town and closer to the twin cities? St. Cloud for instance. The city will be were all the wraps will be at...also competition. However, Normal metallic vehicle wraps are becoming popular. The car culture is going to be more saturated in the twin cities. Buy a house in st. cloud with a attached or detached garage hell if you buy a house on a decent amount of land build your own shop. 

    Nope, not interested in moving to St Cloud where its getting over ran by Somalians or Minneapolis where its over ran by Liberals and LGBTs.

     

    I live in the triangular area of Alexandria, Glenwood, and Sauk Center really, i can get business from all those areas, plus TONS OF SMALL Towns inbetween. From Brooten, Blegrade, Osakis, Starbuck, and the list goes on and on.

     

    Im not interested in moving into a large city, where theres no where to ride my bike and no outdoor gun range to shoot my guns.

    Theres a nice gun range, right outside town, and 2nd Amendment products are a big seller to them.

    Plus the crime rates in those large cities are just sky-rocketing. 

    So no thanks. I prefer to stay in my small towns and grow and help my local community and local economy.

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    Update;

     

    Well the wife's parents sold their parent's old house/land, so they will be giving us a down payment on a house. The wife and i still need to go in and see what we can get approved for. Then we will have to see what's out there in our price range..

     

    As for the larger shop/store, i was able to work out a deal with the owner, for $500 a month, 6 month lease, while he also fixes up and improves the place. So after 6 months, depending on how much he has improved the place, or after 12 months, we will re-evaluate the monthly rent. 

     

    He said the place isn't and wont do him any good sitting empty and he wants to work with me to get me in there and to get the place built to my needs.

     

    So if i go with this, im in it for 6 months at least..and it may even take that long or longer to find a house. 

     

    I guess my options are the following:

     

    1. Renew my 1 year lease at my current shop for $350 + Utilities and if we find a house sooner, be stuck with this lease.

    2. Close my shop, put 90% of my stuff back into storage, the other 10% of my stuff back into my small home office, and work out of there until we find and buy a house.

    3. Take this 6 month lease on this larger shop while looking for a house and then see how it goes from there. Business could be great that I could keep the shop longer even after buying a house, specially if the house isn't adequate for my business.

     

     

    I know if I work from home i won't have the overhead, but i also won't have the local exposure either. 

    I like selling online, but i want to do stuff and thrive locally too. Plus doing everything from my home would mean having customers come to my home.

     

    The town i am in has 1 other screen printing shop and 1 other Sign shop that just does large signs, there is no shop around town that actually does vehicles in a garage. There is also no other shop that does all the other products i do, from keychains, coffee mugs, etched glass, etc.

    Also the screen printer has a 20 pc minimum and won't do anything "offensive", they are really picky on the items they do.  

    And I do want to get into screen printing soon, and i will need a larger area to do that.

     

    At this point, its a big risk, sink or swim. 

    And i think the 6 month short term lease would be a great trial run. 

    The owner is a very nice flexible guy, willing to work with me.

    • Like 4

  19. Posted

    Another consideration.......

    Since this is your "second job" will you have the TIME available for

    the extra work you will need to generate in order to pay the higher rent?

    Sue2

    This is true. .but if u go back and read where i said i eventually want to do this full time and quit my other full time job, you will understand that in order for this to happen, i have to push the limits and break the precipice eventually.

    And i will never be able to do it full time in this small little shop where i am at right now.

  20. Posted

    Working from home cuts out alot of expenses, yes.

    But also consider that working for home may be more practical when all your business is online. Having customers come to your house is another burden. Also if i want to vinyl up a customers vehicle, then now i have to have a dedicated garage/shop at my home for it, and still have customers coming to my HOME.

    In the future when i own my own home and land, ideally it would be great to have a garage/shop like this on my property, still keeping home and business separate.

    I want to have a local store front for people to browse some merchandise, hard to do that out of my house.

    Now Skeeter says she does all her business online, thats awesome, but even tho 80-90% of my business sales comes from online currently, its not enough to do full time.

    And i really don't know what to do to make the income she does online.

    I have ebay and etsy, but they are so limiting and so much fees..

    My own website is much more flexible. .but isn't reaching enough customers.

    It's April 7th, and ive already had $437 this month go thru my site. And about $3800 this year.

    At this rate, this year will be a good profitable year, if i stay at my current location with the current lease expenses.

    If i get this larger place, yes i will have more expenses, but i also open the door to more sales and winter sales too.

    Its a tough choice.

    I have also considered closing up the store, putting all the big stuff back into storage and working with back from home until,

    1. The owner renovates that shop. I can save up more money.

    2. Until the wife and i find the perfect house that can accommodate my business.

  21. Posted

    I didn't either,  I taught myself everything..  Everything you need to know is online,,,Just like I taught myself this vinyl biz...  No forum when I started.   You have to want to save money and learn...I still do all my own work...And it does not bother me at all to change my own oil...or work on my vehicles. 

    true, but i dont want to start buying tools for home construction...i have too many tools for automotive/motorcycle stuff already..lol

     

    I still have time to think about this shop, and still gotta talk to the wife, and we will keep looking for a house that could work for my business as well...

    • Like 1

  22. Posted

    Glen on the house - in 1985 I bought a FHA house that was about the be repossessed and refurbed / added on myself - about quadruplication the value.  there is something to be said for a fixer upper and sweat equity - it was worth more equity than a second job would have paid for years.   don't look for the perfect house = look for one that is in a great location with strong bones that can be fixed with your skills to be the house you want

     yeah but i know nothing about fixing up a house...i can paint thats about it. and replace door knobs..lol. 

  23. Posted

    thanks...

    we have been looking at a few houses, her parents who live about an hour away, are in the process of selling there parents home they bought before their parents moved into an apartment in town, and once that house sells, they will be setting aside some money to help us purchase our 1st house.

     

    The few houses we have looked at, had only either a 1 car garage or no land to even really add-on. 

    Another house i thought had potential, had a 2 car garage plus a large detached shed/garage, but the house only had 2 bedrooms on the main floor and 2 in the basement, wife didn't like that. 

  24. Posted

    Seriously take the rent money $800 and take the rent money for house and BUY you a larger house.with a garage.   and work from home.. I only work from home and only cut vinyl and make a ton more than you do with my part time biz.  It does support me. plus. And I only sell online,   Why limit to local area, when you have the world to sell to!!   You need to stop paying everyone else.. and invest into your own place. Or your going to rent forever.. My 2c

     

    i understand this..but finding the right place is impossible around here...and alot of houses are either right in town with no room and no garage, no yard. or its way out in the country where its impossible to get internet. 

    Plus the wife wants to build a house, but that's never going to happen.