Don't Bite the Fly
Have you ever watched a dog relax in the sun? All will be going well until a fly presents itself. The movement of the fly sparks some instinctual drive within the dog to hunt. He will start to track the fly with his eyes. The dog may even try to seem uninterested, but you can tell by his ears and the tension in his muscles he is preparing to strike. And, sure enough, as soon as the fly is within range, the dog bites!
It seems to me that the best possible outcome is that the dog misses the fly. But that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes the dog bites the fly. You can tell by the dog’s expression that it isn’t a pleasant experience. I don’t think that a fly would taste very good. Certainly, it is not something that you would want to do yourself.
The dog is tracking the fly with it's eyes.A Dog, A Fly, and Sign Making?
What does this have to do with sign making? Well, when we are presented with a project that is outside our experience and/or abilities and the decision is made to figure out how to do it “in house”, we are biting at a fly!
The best outcome is that you do not get the bid. It is income essential that we avoid this culinary disaster. In most shops, there are some types of jobs that can be produced efficiently and profitably; but there are other types that should be outsourced if possible. And, I know for a fact, there are some jobs the sign maker should just decline to bid!
If work is offered, it is sometimes hard to turn it down. Especially if the work is for a high profile customer. However, the only thing worse than not having any work to do, is working on jobs that are not profitable.
They cannot be profitable if they are not executed efficiently and within budget. Either subcontract jobs like this, or refer them to someone else, or just decline to bid. I know it is hard not to bite at that fly! I have done it myself and have regretted it every time.
How Much Should I Charge?
Many estimators, if they have trade skills, seem to prefer to estimate the number of hours they think it would take them to do a job personally. They try to break the job down into parts and assemblies or processes.
This is based upon their memory of how efficiently they performed when they were fabricating or installing. Resorting to this methodology becomes more likely if the job is not in the usual product line.
There are huge problems with that way of thinking. One problem is that memory has a way of enhancing performance.
Frequently, the conditions under which that performance was delivered, if the memory is accurate, are not considered or have been forgotten.
The entire amount of time to complete the process may not be considered or the estimator will go with the amount of time it “should” take. This will almost always result in an underestimated labor amount.
How Long Will It Take?
Another problem is that it really does not matter how long the estimator would take to do a job if someone else is actually doing the work. The relevant question is how long will the fabricators you have, using your current process, and employing the available equipment and facilities, actually take to accomplish the job? Failing to consider everything that the job will require through to completion will almost always leave a bad taste in your mouth reminiscent of eating a fly.
Let's Try New Equipment !
A related mistake is to bid a job thinking that you can purchase new equipment or invest in new processes in order to execute the contract. The job will probably be long overdue when you finally get that new process dialed in.
There certainly will be lost time and materials while your fabricators learn to operate that new equipment or to execute the new process.
This is not to say that every signmaker should not strive to improve and increase his trade skills. I also do not want to discourage anyone from investing in new equipment, processes or learning new skills.
Just be aware that they will not be a profit center right out of the box. There is always training, setup, fine tuning and operating practice that must take place.
Also, whenever a new process or equipment is installed, there tends to be some disruption in other processes that are taking place nearby. Your overall productivity may drop until familiarity with this new procedure is accomplished by your fabricators. Under these conditions, everyone involved will have that bad taste in their mouths.
It's Great to Try Something New
All this being said, I think that the most motivating and exciting reward for practicing this trade is the mastery of a new skill or process.
There is a gift of pride and accomplishment for executing a new skill. There will probably be profits eventually received as well!
But do your learning in a training or product development setting, an environment with flexible time and quality levels. Allow yourself or your fabricators time to make mistakes. Once developed, then, add the process to your production operations.