How to Start a Successful Sign Business Without Experience

October 18, 2019

Can you start a successful sign business without experience? Yes–so long as you surround yourself with the right people.

Today’s post compares the traditional path to launching a sign shop with starting as a Signworld partner.

The Traditional Path To Self-startership

Here’s a quick rundown of what inexperience sign shop owners will have to accomplish in the pre-opening phase:

Develop a professional skill set. Before you even think of starting a sign business on your own, you’d better have the skills to back it up!
Plan your business. The next step is to develop a business model. What will be your initial costs? Who is your target market? How long will it take for your company to break even? What will you name your business? Of course, planning a business and developing a profitable business model is easier said than done. Many businesses fail here, long before their doors open for business. Without proper business schooling or the help of somebody who’s walked this road before, the learning curve can be steep and unforgiving. Without experience, your only options are to invest in training, have somebody else do it for you, or completely wing it.
Purchase your sign equipment. Once you’ve decided what signage you want to sell, you’ll need to acquire the necessary equipment. Without extensive contacts with vendors and sign industry reps, it can be tough to find a good deal–and that’s assuming you already know exactly what you’re looking for. Since you don’t have experience, you’ll need to dump even more labor hours into research, though that won’t protect you from oversight and errors in and of itself.
Legalize your business and set up accounting. It’s a good idea to establish a legal business entity (such as an LLC) to prevent you from being personally liable in the event your business is sued. There are many ways to do this in 2019–some companies will even walk you through the process online. At this stage, you should also register for taxes, open a business bank account, set up your business accounting, acquire business insurance, and obtain all necessary permits and licenses.Unfortunately, this is the point where many self-starters stumble, lacking the skills or experience to handle these legal matters in a timely manner. And speed is a factor: as we all know, idling in the pre-opening phase has doomed many promising business ventures.
Establish a web presence. A business website allows customers to learn more about your company, explore products and services, and even design and purchase signs entirely online. It is a tremendous asset for advertising, branding, networking, reputation management, and sales. Your website should work together with your social media and online citations to create a strong, authoritative, and up to date business presence.Here again, many self-starters struggle. Website design and online marketing are two vast disciplines that could cost you years of studying and thousands of dollars in tuition, web support, hosting, and trial-and-error paid advertising to master. Too many sign shops open their doors for business with no web presence, or terribly dated or unfinished websites that do more harm than good.

A better alternative: Start a successful sign business with Signworld

No experience? No problem. These are just a few of the ways we address the common pitfalls of self-startership:

All the training you ever need. The Signworld business alliance offers all partners individualized training in signmaking hardware/software, installation, supplier relations, point-of-sale, marketing, website management, and all daily operations required to build a successful sign business. You do not need any experience or sign making skills to take advantage of our opportunity.
Proven business plan. With Signworld, there’s no need to develop your own business plan. Put our profitable and cost-efficient model to work for you instead.
A complete sign shop package. Don’t worry about tracking down individual vendors, learning what equipment you need, and finding good deals. Our start-up package includes everything you need to offer all in-demand business signage in 2019.
Streamlined start-up process. We walk our partners through all legal and financial setup to save them any headaches while protecting them from any liabilities. You don’t need a law degree or a business planning background for perfect compliance and fast results.
Total web setup and support. Let us set up your web presence and support you every step of the way with proven strategies and processes. Some of our owners make more than half of their sales through their websites alone, even though they joined the alliance with no real web savvy!