I Need Help

[Sbrem]

10 years ago we peaked at 15, including me and my partner. Today, our full time artist is in 3 days, our screen guy 2 days, my partner and I are 6 days, and one new hire, who is a Godsend, putting in 45+ hours. He used to run his own shop for 10 years, got out of it, but missed it. He moved to our area when his wife got a fantastic job in biotech nearby, and he started looking for screenprinters. Holy crap, what great luck.

Steve

[Dottonedan]

10 years ago we peaked at 15, including me and my partner. Today, our full time artist is in 3 days, our screen guy 2 days, my partner and I are 6 days, and one new hire, who is a Godsend, putting in 45+ hours. He used to run his own shop for 10 years, got out of it, but missed it. He moved to our area when his wife got a fantastic job in biotech nearby, and he started looking for screenprinters. Holy crap, what great luck.

Steve

That’s what I want right there.  A customer/Friend of mine were just talking about this last night. Nobody’s going to work like you (the owner) does. Don’t expect it, but if you come across one that does, by gosh, hold onto them!


Here, in Hunstville, Al. We have multiple large companies such as Amazon, Mazda, The Arsenal, NASA and now, they jsut announced 3 major steel mill corporations combining to put in a new factory. Another 500 employees.

[Dottonedan]

Alan802


Great to have you back in.  Yes sir.  Been a while.  We (our shop) is a different story during Covid. We started out when I got here that we weren’t doing a whole heck of a lot at all anyway. So while you all were experiencing Covid down turn, we were still open, operating...and doing about the same amount of business. This year tho, has doubled for sure, and moving into triple what we did do 2 years ago. So we are not just getting into being what I would call a “real print shop”.  LOL.

[1964GN]

We are on a push to automate everywhere we can. We are adding auto reclaim next but the unit won't be here until the end of this year.

Hit Promo and Bic Graphic (now the Koozie Group) are just a mile away from use. Bic employees that are applying with us are claiming to make $20+ per hour as a machine operator. The think they can just step in and be a screen printer, because after all, it's just a "machine" and they are "machine operators".

Hiring has been the biggest challenge of 2021. We have 2 starting today and we are hopeful.

[Maxie]

Alan good to hear from you, need someone to get this site buzzing.

[farmboygraphics]

I keep tell folks that small business's will figure it out. So when they all come back looking for work they can go pound salt. Running this place with a 6 color auto and a 54" Roland. I'm busy as hell and telling people no daily. Haven't taken on a new customer at all this year, my regulars have kept me hopping. No going back, at least for me.

[inkman996]

We have been offering $18 to start entry level no experience needed for almost a year now. Using FB and other job apps. No one applies no one.

My son wanted to work and earn enough money to buy his own gaming PC so I brought him in for a few days a week to work and that damn 13 year old does better than any person I have hired in the last ten years. Very proud of him he saved up enough to buy a gaming rig and a gaming monitor. Sadly he could have gotten a lot more for his buck but GPU's are doubled in cost right now and mostly unavailable. I was going to build a PC for him to get a better rig but the only cost effective option was to buy pre-built since they have stock on GPU's.

[alan802]

The trend for finding good help has been getting harder and harder over the years.  It was a tough situation before and now it's just ridiculous.  Worst case scenario I'll go back to running a machine, I'll reward myself $ handsomely and get through this.  I can't imagine it will last forever.

In regards to business in general, from our experience, what I've seen over this past year is we haven't had the insane spikes in jobs that we used to get.  This past April was an anomaly in that it was our 3rd biggest month of all time, aside from that it's just been consistent.  Slow by 16, 17 & 18 standards, but having only two production employees and myself to do the work it's not like we can hammer out 7-10K pieces per week if we had that kind of work.  If someone said all I had to do was snap my fingers to go back to the busiest days...I'd pass.  I don't even want to say what my pedometer said on my busiest days because nobody would believe it.  10K steps before 11 am, most days.  I'm not in a rush to go back to that.  If it happens it happens, but we're doing fine right now.  There's nothing we can't do without killing ourselves physically and the old days weren't necessarily the good old days. 

[blue moon]

I keep telling you, start your own business!

you should be up to your eyeballs in work. For most shops this is the busiest they've ever been! Your sales dpt is slacking!

pierre

[GraphicDisorder]

I keep telling you, start your own business!

you should be up to your eyeballs in work. For most shops this is the busiest they've ever been! Your sales dpt is slacking!

pierre

He's right. This should be your best year on record.

[alan802]

Next time you're in town for breakfast I'll bring the sales department along and you can tell my wife she's been slacking .  She's flaming Irish, should go well!!! 

[blue moon]

Next time you're in town for breakfast I'll bring the sales department along and you can tell my wife she's been slacking .  She's flaming Irish, should go well!!!

LOL!!! yes, let's do that! Maybe I can talk here into leaving with you!

pierre

[inkman996]

Next time you're in town for breakfast I'll bring the sales department along and you can tell my wife she's been slacking .  She's flaming Irish, should go well!!!

Start  business, hire me I would love to live in Texas! But you have to pay to move my self and kids there and a place to live

[Scobey Peterman]

"and we live in nowhere TN"


I live in Tennessee and it is not that bad.   It beats Afghanistan.  I feel so sorry for those people.

[inkman996]

"and we live in nowhere TN"


I live in Tennessee and it is not that bad.   It beats Afghanistan.  I feel so sorry for those people.

After taking a road trip vacation throughout Kentucky and the Appalachians I fell in love with the area. I am sure TN is just as nice, well better than this liberal crap hole called CT