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opening a vinyl shop

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does anybody here own their own vinyl shop? what all is required besides $$.... what does it take to get your own shop going?

i know you can start out at your house.... which is what i am doing and sure everybody else but basically i want to know how to be successful and have a lot of business my way....

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I wish i could do that..

working out of your home sucks..

and i have to do 42 of these shirts lol

2012-05-29_14-02-49_459.jpg2012-05-29_14-02-28_536.jpg2012-05-29_14-02-34_176.jpg

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Oh woww.

I live in a little 14x60 mobile home .. with a family lol

talk about packing and unpacking everything when i'm not useing it lol

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I live in a little 14x60 mobile home .. with a family lol

talk about packing and unpacking everything when i'm not useing it lol

why not look into getting a shed dont buy one on payments i almost fell for that one. it was 100$ down and 180 a month for 3 years works out to be 7000$ i could build my whole shop for that so working on that idea as we type.

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I have land at my parents house across the street from my house i can put up a shed there..

just have to save up the $ to build one.. and put heat in it and a/c since it's -30 to 110 degrees here in MN

i want to start screen printing soon so i need some room

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In a pinch you can make great grilled cheese sandwiches with the heat press. ;D

Jay

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on craiglist in my area they sell TONS of different sheds.... i wonder how big of a shed is needed? i can put it in my back yard...

i see like 8x10 and 10x14 for around $800 to $1,000. put AC in... have your electrical outlets and your set.

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In a pinch you can make great grilled cheese sandwiches with the heat press. ;D

thats truly scary lol

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Yep, I rented a 500 sq.ft. shop and hung up a sign that tells people I'm doing "Custom Lettering Instantly" and every day, someone comes in to order work.

Last week, the county business-license inspector came by and asked if I had a "Traders Permit" and I told him that I don't provide anything for resale.

He looked at my operation, and agreed.

Go find a place that is visible to the World, and rent it.

You will have work every day.

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I've thought about a shop in the past but between the costs of doing business in Los Angeles and the need to actually go and hang out there everyday. I decided to get a guy to actively do the SEO on my site. now farm out several jobs a week to local shops that struggle to keep their own doors open and cherry pick all the low hanging fruit. I'd have to say that this was a better move in the long run since the city can't get a piece of the referral action... yet.

Think about how much business you want and the cost of rent (& etc) vs. $170/month to keep all the internet searches pointed to your site and how much you can sell off the work you don't want to do.

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Running an actual 'Brick and mortar' shop has several distinct advantages --- for one thing, it provides a service to the community.

Not everyone wants to deal with internet-based vendors.

I have found that every one of my clients prefers to do business locally, and likes to have a living, breathing human in front of them.

Another benefit is "having a place to call my own" --- there is a special satisfaction in opening the door to my shop each morning, and knowing that it's all mine.

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Running an actual 'Brick and mortar' shop has several distinct advantages --- for one thing, it provides a service to the community.

Not everyone wants to deal with internet-based vendors.

I have found that every one of my clients prefers to do business locally, and likes to have a living, breathing human in front of them.

Another benefit is "having a place to call my own" --- there is a special satisfaction in opening the door to my shop each morning, and knowing that it's all mine.

I agree with you completely. I buy all my supplies from a local vinyl supply. Yes its more then I can get from US cutter. But the few extra dollars that stay in my community are worth it to me. I hate buying online. I want to walk into a store and talk to someone. Hold the product in my hand before I give up my money.

Opening the door to your own business is like opening the door to your own home. Each penny and each drop of sweat is a satisfaction that makes me feel good at night.

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so you think its better to go around and look for plazas that have spaces for rent?? or should i get like a big shed built or from someone and work from my house....?

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Whats in your business plan? Budget? How much space can your business afford? Expansion and Growth? Who is your target customers? Main products offered? Are you producing everything or subbing? If producing does zoning allow your production method in certain areas?

It was even stated that by owning a actual business you have to be there all day every day. Yep that you do. I am at the shop 12 hours plus a day, everyday.

You are going to have to work it hard if you want to succeed. If your just doing this as something to do and not your main source of income then by no means should you consider a brick and mortar location.

There are a ton of questions and things to know before going and getting a location if your going about it the right way.

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Right now i have one vinyl machine. I want to do this stuff for a long time.. Right now i am cutting vinyl out of my room to pay bills. I lost my job so now i am relying on cutting vinyl to get me by.. I also want to set up a screen printing press but i meed more room. That is why i dont know if i should find a cheap place in town or remain doing work from my room.. I am working from word of mouth and friends which is doing ok.. But if i had a place in town that is open for the public im thinking it would pick up a lot more.

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I started 3 years ago with nothing but a mh721 and sold decals at a local flea market on the weekends.

i enjoyed doing it and put a lot of learning and research into the business i now have a 3000 sf commercial office with a couple flatbed printers and a couple solvent printers a large graphtec and a laminator and a 32' bucket truck I'm in a small town outside of nashville and we have done very well with just word of mouth i will say if you want to open a shop you pretty much need to be able to print that is what everything is going to bc it can be done much cheaper but most of all you need to try to build up good clients before you open a store bc there is a lot of over head we have goten lucky with getting most of the government work around here and that keeps us busy but like i said we started with nothing so it can be done

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