am I really alone ?

[mooseman]

Curious,
is there anyone out there who truly works alone.
We (I) cover the screen printing, embroidery and some sign work totally alone. I have a helper that folds and boxes for me on call but other wise it is 100% me.
Anyone else  elso in the same boat?
mooseman

[Mark @ Hurricane Printing]

i am a 1 man operation

[royster13]

Not a screen printer, but I also work by myself in my sales operation......

[mimosatexas]

One man shop here. Ive had family/friends help here and there over the years. I dont even outsource art or seps.

[Frog]

Except for a few times when my wife folds for me, yep, all by my lonesome.

[Get Shirts]

Used to be but never again!

[Sbrem]

I've been the first employee of a company a couple of times in my life, but when I got into my own, I have a partner, and we've worked together for 22 years. It wasn't long before we needed help, we just had too much work. So there were two of us doing it all for about 6 months, which I believe is what helped us grow. I sometimes dream of a one man operation after I retire, probably DTG, but then I wake up, LOL. God bless you guys going it alone...

Steve

[mimosatexas]

I honestly dont know how any shop could support multiple people without an auto. I barely make enough right now to take care of my bills and my family and i work my ass off.

[royster13]

I honestly dont know how any shop could support multiple people without an auto. I barely make enough right now to take care of my bills and my family and i work my ass off.

And believe it or not, there are shops out there with multiple manual presses because they do not have the financial resources to get an auto.....

If a couple competing manual printers pooled their resources they may get farther ahead that spending all their time working themselves to death and beating each other up....

[Get Shirts]

Oh man, can you imagine two or three manual shops "going in" on an auto together?  With the hard head shop owners I've encountered that would go south the day two of them wanted to run a rush job on the same day.

I find it hard to believe that a shop with two manuals filled up with work can't scrape together the cash to secure financing for an auto package.  Now if they don't WANT to finance it, I can (kind of) understand that... But not really.

[mimosatexas]

I have no problems with the idea of financing a press, but right now I'm pretty sure I wouldn't qualify.  It is probably for a different thread, but how does one make the leap from manual to auto without stellar personal credit to back up the financing.  Mine really isn't great for this reason and that (nothing terrible, just nothing great like a car loan or home loan and few credit cards).  I feel like I have more than enough work to take advantage of an auto, and the time savings on some jobs would be astronomical, which would actually let me catch up and go make sales, but right now I feel like I am maxed out with what I can produce in the time I have, and I am making enough for me, but just don't see how adding another person would double my revenue.  It would gain me maybe 25-30% more in time and revenue based on what I see when I do bring in help.

Always looking for the elusive cheap auto, but that just doesn't look like a reality any time soon.

[bulldog]

I have no problems with the idea of financing a press, but right now I'm pretty sure I wouldn't qualify.  It is probably for a different thread, but how does one make the leap from manual to auto without stellar personal credit to back up the financing.  Mine really isn't great for this reason and that (nothing terrible, just nothing great like a car loan or home loan and few credit cards).  I feel like I have more than enough work to take advantage of an auto, and the time savings on some jobs would be astronomical, which would actually let me catch up and go make sales, but right now I feel like I am maxed out with what I can produce in the time I have, and I am making enough for me, but just don't see how adding another person would double my revenue.  It would gain me maybe 25-30% more in time and revenue based on what I see when I do bring in help.

Always looking for the elusive cheap auto, but that just doesn't look like a reality any time soon.

Have you tried? Maybe you do qualify and it's just a barrier you've created in your mind. It seems Geneva Capital does a lot of leases for the screen printing industry. I think that would be easier than traditional bank financing.

I'm not a huge fan of leases but it seems to be an option for a lot of people, so you have to make that decision.

If none of that works try working on your credit now. The sooner you get it in great shape the better off you'll be. I always check mine on credit sesame to make sure nothing funky is going on and it gives you an idea of what someone will see if they pull your credit.

Just some random thoughts.

[Get Shirts]

Yes, give Geneva a shot.  I would imagine that if you have a few years of good business behind you, decent credit, and money set aside for a used auto then you have a good shot.  However, but new if you can. 

You'll be amazed at the work that will start to flow when you buy your first auto.  It's a whole new world.

Oh, and adding an employee at your stage of the game doesn't need to double your revenue.

[stitches4815]

I do 100% of our embroidery, screen printing, and vinyl production.  We have been so freaking busy that a part-time employee may help.

[Sbrem]

I honestly dont know how any shop could support multiple people without an auto. I barely make enough right now to take care of my bills and my family and i work my ass off.

When I first started, I was the first hire, had no previous t-shirt experience, but had printed with flatbed presses, and made screens and worked in a darkroom, so I wasn't a complete noob. We had one Vastex manual and a homemade one color press. 5 people and one part-timer. This with slow production. Then we had a new hire who had worked in a large, large shop, who showed us what the speed table was for. So for one color printing, there was a printer, a loader, and an unloader on the press, plus a catcher. 300 per hour easy. Holy Spit! Multi color job, 2 people because the unloader had time to load as well. Went a whole summer like that, made some good money that way. By the time we got our first auto, we were already flying fairly high. I think my friend, that you aren't spending enough time printing. If  you're not printing, you're losing money; think of how all of your variable and fixed costs are still there when there is no printing; rent, phone, insurance, yada yada yada... If you had 5 more hours printing a week, how would that help your bottom line? You can make the move, it's been done many times...

Steve