pasogrande

Together with my older daughter and younger son I am starting in this business. Many years ago my son had a small shop making cars look and sound faster. This must have been 17 or 18 years ago. He went to a show in Las Vegas where they were demonstrating vehicle graphics. So I bought a Roland CAMM=1, Flexi and a supply of vinyl. That machine paid for itself many times over. When I decided to stop funding the business I kept the machine at home. Since then I have done a few odd paying jobs; and quite a few charity and family (ie non-paying jobs) When I crashed my last Dell that had serial & parallel ports, I sort of lost interest. Recently we were asked to make a number of items - several thousand dollars' worth - which involved printing and cutting. After a lot of research I bought a used Roland BN-20. This is a great machine for small run jobs, but only takes a maximum width of 20" media. I am amazed at the quality of the printing and am trying to learn how to get full advantage of it. With a lot of connections, we have been given a lot of work. My younger daughter has given up her embroidery and T-shirt business; so my older daughter made her an offer and we drive to pick up the equipment in two weeks' time. So mid-June we will move into an office, and be offering several services, mostly online and word-of-mouth. We are going through the legal stuff right now - corporate name setting up Federal and State taxes, and getting some legeal and tax/accounting advice. Since I am retired, my daughter is also running an office and my son has two full-time jobs we do not want a storefront. Another posting on this forum gave very useful information on true costing (thanks mac6986) and this will be a good guide to us, not just for vinyl cutting. We are trying to work out how we can have a rtail pricing, a 'friends' price and a 'family' price. Also a way to compensate people who bring us work.

Thanks, mac6986. This will be a big help in pricing for a new business I am starting with a son and daughter. pasogrande