Our new home! - Engraving Etc. Forum

From:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	18 Mar 2007
To:	LaZerDude (C_BURKE)	15 of 24

6338.15 In reply to 6338.14

We're renting.

The owner offered to sell me the spot for $250,000 (for about 1,500 SF). I don't know if he was joking or not....he didn't smile.

This has been a big learning experience for us. Here are some quick notes:

1) When creating the budget for your remodel or move, double the amount that you think it will cost. Then double it again.

2) You can never have enough storage space. We took about 100 SF away from our showroom to give us more shelving in our stockroom. That was one of the best moves.

From:	Tom (TJGEENEN)	19 Mar 2007
To:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	18 of 24

6338.18 In reply to 6338.17
HI Cody, congrats on your new place, very cool. Could you share with us your progression to get to opening a new store? are you moving from a smaller store front or home based? how long have you been in the business? I am also looking at going to the next step in this business but I am not sure how big of a jump to take. I would be very interested in your progression. Tom Geenen Gulf Coast Laser Graphics

From:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	19 Mar 2007
To:	Tom (TJGEENEN)	19 of 24

6338.19 In reply to 6338.18

Thanks for the kind words, Tom.

We got started in October of 2003, working mainly from home. We had ZERO money, and ZERO equipment (doesn't take up much space!!) .... only the idea that we wanted to start a family business.

A close family friend was in the process of buying a laser engraver from Brewer Sales, and we thought we'd like to get on board with him. We fell in love with the technology, and it didn't take long to see the potential.

My parents have been in the floral business for about 30 years, and they have a couple of stores (one here in Sulphur Springs, the other about 20 miles away). They generously offered to let us have a room in their local shop to display some of our stuff.

Meanwhile, as we took orders (mainly from friends), we had our friend engrave the items for us - for a fee, of course.

It didn't take long to realize that we would NEVER make money this way. We also had some disagreements on what "quality" meant. So, in February of 2004, we took the plunge - bought a 35W Epilog from Brewer Sales (now Engraving Concepts). My parents continued to let us use that room in their shop. That kept our overhead to nearly $0 (talk about a blessing!!).

The great thing about that arrangement was that someone was always working in the shop. That allowed me to work another full-time job from home (I could leave home at any time to meet someone at the shop, whenever necessary).

Well, things rocked right along until this past summer, when my former employer restructured....eliminating all satellite offices. :'-(

After much prayer on the issue, we decided to make a go of our business on a full-time basis. I spent MANY late nights crunching numbers to see just what it was actually going to take to run this thing right (and not into the ground).

We knew that we would never reach our full potential at the florist - simply too little room. So in January of this year, we started looking for another building....and the rest is history!

I know that our situation is very unique, particularly the early stages.

From:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	19 Mar 2007
To:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	20 of 24

6338.20 In reply to 6338.19
quote: We also had some disagreements on what "quality" meant. Cody, That statement shouldn't have brought a knowing smile to my face, but I've just recently had a couple of situations with people (separate companies) I use for laser engraving and silkscreen services. We seem to have a different opinion of what paying attention to detail and expedient service means. The first company (after missing 3 projected finish dates) silkscreened the wrong 3-color logo to 50 badge blanks and the second company didn't begin my job until I walked through the door, after I specifically explained that I needed to do a "Pony Express" stop and be on my way immediately. It wasn't necessary for me to have "the talk" with the screener. On his own volition, he's going to the ends of the earth to make sure my do-or-die deadline is met, including driving half way around SoCal to make it happen. The laser engraver won't be so contrite. I'm not sure if I'll even have the talk with him. Fortunately, I have a handful of other laser engravers at my service. Note: This incident was out of character for the silkscreener. The laser engraver has been showing an unbreakable pattern of missing deadlines, which (to his surprise) has taken a toll on his overall business. I don't have a zero-tolerance policy. "It" occasionally hits the fan for all of us. It's the measures we take to rectify an error that set us apart in business. David "The Stunt Engraver" Lavaneri DGL Engraving Port Hueneme, CA
EDITED: 19 Mar 2007 by DGL

From:	gt350ed	19 Mar 2007
To:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	23 of 24

6338.23 In reply to 6338.1
All the best to you and Janna! Although we met you in Las Vegas a year ago at the Beach Party, we missed seeing the two of you this year in spite of the fact that you were in Vegas, as were we; just not at the Beach Party. Your store looks as though it is going to be first class. Great job! Our tenures in this business are about the same. We opened our retail store doors in August of 2003 after evolving into it from home for a couple of years prior. We too have recently expanded, although we did not have the luxury of starting with an empty set of rooms. Our store is one of four tenant spaces on the ground floor of a two-story building. Recently, we were able to rent one of the other spaces on the ground floor. Although it is not contiguous, it is accessed via a common no-public hallway. It serves as our new "backroom" for inventory storage and assembly. When we look at our stock on shelves similar to your storage, we cannot believe that most of it was once in our store behind a wall. Over the next couple of months, we will once again be doing a mini-remodel of our store in order to take advantage of the newly gained showroom space that was once storage area. Whoppee! Be sure to post more pictures as you get fully stocked. What you have so far looks really, really good. You should all be proud. Ed Holley Victor Valley Trophy & Awards Co. and Coffee Mugs Online www.coffeemugsonline.com

From:	Cody (BOBTNAILER)	19 Mar 2007
To:	Stunt Engraver (DGL)	24 of 24

6338.24 In reply to 6338.20
quote: I don't have a zero-tolerance policy. "It" occasionally hits the fan for all of us. It's the measures we take to rectify an error that set us apart in business. Amen. We occasionally make mistakes on our items, and it's downright embarrassing to me. Fortunately, my customers don't get to see my mistakes. When they do, I am extremely humble....and make sure I do everything possible to make it right. I appreciate it when my customers give me that second chance to fix an error. That being said, we have never missed a deadline (knock on simulated-wood-paper-veneer). Some of my suppliers have cut me VERY close, but never over the line. We had "the talk" with our engraver in the beginning, hoping to avoid those issues. He's a fantastic guy, and he'd give you the shirt off his back if it would help you.....but he just didn't have the "eye" for quality that we needed. I'm certainly not opposed to giving someone a second chance (or third). God has been exceeding patient with me, so who am I to demand perfection from other people (I guess I still expect it)?