New G3 and dryer placement

[GraphicDisorder]

Brandt, sometimes it hard to take that risk though.  At the time it was probably the right choice.

I would rather have a press that can scale up as needed.  Get an extra person to unload and fold and you're set for any monster jobs.  We mainly run the auto with one person now, works great.

It is hard, but that's why I am making the post/point I am now that it should be considered. For my business in 2011 to buy a CH3D would have been hard. BUT had I done that I would have saved myself a few grand in shipping/electrical changes/etc going from manual to sportsman to CH3d. Would my business need a press that size in 2011, no not at all but are we all really building our shops for today or for the future?  Reality is we could have made it work though. I know this, 2 people manually can't even print a faction as fast as 1 person on a auto. So start doing your maths on wasted production time. In my shop it was critical as we also did artwork/embroidery/etc and any time we can save printing is time we can do other things. Output goes up in the whole shop as a result in that configuration.  Then just add employees as you need printing to move faster.

Remember even a big auto is cheaper than an employee. 

[alan802]

Dang, a 2 person shop doing $900K?  Unless you're paying your guys $50+/hr you've got a labor to revenue ratio that I doubt anyone on this forum could come close to, with the average shop not getting to half of that ratio.  You should be able to pay cash for 2 G3's and work 1 day a week with that kind of production efficiency.  That's damn impressive.  There's probably a big difference in the types of jobs our shops run but I need 4 guys to do 1 mil, but it's a lot of very small runs of 3-7 colors. 

[kingscreen]

With a 2 person shop pushing out $900k in sales.  How does that work exactly?  What is the average size order/run?
Is the second person spending their time at the end of the dryer most days?  Who is answering the phone/replying to emails all day? 
I'm just at a loss at how anyone could make that work with only 2 people.  Maybe I need to examine my efficiency. 

[mk162]

i am thinking the same thing...there is no way we could do that and we are fairly efficient around here.

[GraphicDisorder]

900k for 2 people is impressive period. I dont know how you'd handle the communication/sales and then having time left to make everything doing 900k with just 2 people.  But if you are doing that, there is ZERO reason you shouldn't buy a huge press.  Don't look back.

[alan802]

It would be the ideal business model to do lot's of high-end garments and fairly long runs.  In much the same way we've somehow managed to go in the opposite direction in that our runs are getting smaller and more complex, it could be possible to go the other direction.  I'm still not all that knowledgeable with the labor-to-revenue ratios but since Joe's visit it has been my main focus aside from running production. 2 employees to $900K in sales would be a dream come true for me.  I really would pay someone $30+/hr and myself a solid six figure income if we were that efficient and I'm thinking I'd have the biggest, baddest auto in the world out back.

[ZooCity]

Also curious about what kind of magic is happening to pull down 900k in sales with 2 staff. 

I think we average around 130-150k in sales per employee, just a general ratio.  450k per employee sounds unreal for the type of work a typical textile shop does. 

[GraphicDisorder]

Id love to be at 450k per employee, maybe id have my Ferrari already instead of the Z06. LOL

[LoneWolf2]

900k!?
Good lord. Here I am thinking 300k was killing it for 1 person.

[ZooCity]

Integritees, you got us all excited about your magic business formula and I forgot to say congrats! 

If your business is growing and you have the cash for the payments there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to equipment.  The 3 series presses have significant changes and advantages to the older models that will help you run no matter how many people are on the press. What's that line Filson clothing used to use?  "may as well have the best"

[alan802]

900k!?
Good lord. Here I am thinking 300k was killing it for 1 person.

Trust me, it still is.

[IntegriTees]

Wow guys, didn't think this would be about the sales.  I have 3 customers that make up about 80% of my printing and they are all high end retail. Average job is 288 shirts and I print them nonstop all week.

I don't answer my phone. I use my iPhone's text message response to kindly ask customers to send an email and I get those done at night while I'm working on invoices and artwork.

I wish I could say that I was making this kind of money last year but I've just blown up recently.   I'm moving my new equipment into a new shop that is 4 times the size of my current shop within the next two weeks. This (along with the G3) should help a lot with my production hurdles.

Another few things, I mentioned a 2 person shop meaning that I have myself and One helper doing all of the production. I also have a college kid come in for two hours each day to clean and coat screens.

AND, the 900k is what quickbooks is calling sales. That includes the apparel that I'm printing on which mostly consists of $6 American Apparel baseball shirts. 

So there isn't a magic formula and it probably looks a little less impressive now.  But I do put in 65-70 hours a week and my wife is hating me for it. I just keep telling myself..."feast or famine"

[GraphicDisorder]

A sale is a sale, if your are marking up that garment at all its something you sold for profit. So 900k remains impressive for 2 people. I have heard many times companies suggest 150k per person is pretty normal, so at 450k you are doing great things. Even when you factor in your part timer, great things. Keep that type of average up as you hire each employee and you will be rich beyond your dreams.

[dirkdiggler]

All I can say is WOW!  I thought we were doing good!  We suck!

[GaryG]

Sounds very efficient too.

Just don't let it turn in to 10, 15 years.
Your wife is the important variable in the equation.