First of all, I'd like to use this as my introduction as well. I'm new to the forum, and I've been lurking until now. I'm genuinely amazed at how much useful content its in here, so I'm here to take everything in and use it to build my own fastlane.
Hey y'all! this is Raul, I’m 23, and I’ve been running my own business for about two and a half years. We do graphics, signage, branding, and design for local businesses: vehicle wraps, signs, banners, stationery, digital design, and basic web design.
Before that, I worked a mix of construction and labor jobs, and I did some gig work. After a couple years, I realized I didn’t want to stay an employee. I didn’t have a master plan, but I knew I wanted to build something of my own, to take control of my time and income.
Honestly, I started this business without really knowing what I was doing. I taught myself basic web design, and I liked it enough to think it could be a business. Around the same time, I talked with my sister, who’s a professional graphic designer, and we decided to try it together. From there, the idea grew into a “one-stop shop” for businesses: logo, website, print, apparel, vehicle wraps, and signage
It's funny because, out of all of that, my sister was the only one with real experience, and that was limited to graphic design. I had no technical skills, no experience with wraps or signage, and no background in sales. But we moved forward anyway. We registered the business, made some branding, printed cards, and started knocking on doors. Anything we couldn’t do ourselves, we planned to outsource.
We got a few early sales. just a few hundred dollars. It was not much, but enough to feel like maybe this could work. At that time, I wasn’t thinking about worst-case scenarios or whether we were actually ready. I invested part of my savings into wide-format printing equipment machines worth around $25–30k, got them for $13k and signed a lease on a commercial unit that cost $3,200 per month. No portfolio, no clients, we had only mockups to show potential clients what we can do for them. Two days of wrapping training, some YouTube videos. That was it.
I wouldn’t have starved if it failed, because my household had enough income to keep us afloat, but that safety net made it easier to take huge risks without fully respecting them.
The first year was brutal. Most months we didn’t make enough to cover rent. I tried a little bit of everything: social media, ads, door-to-door, cold calls, cold emails. None of it was done systematically. We were winging it, and the results showed it.
The business was (AND IS) struggling. And instead of that putting up a fire under me, it mostly caused stress and distraction, I couldn't act despite the fact that I was the one that was heavily affected by the failure of this business and I just rolled up in a ball and let this shit happen without fighting. I bounced between trying to save the business and thinking about other business ideas outside this one, without making real progress on either.
Also, there was no market or competitor analysis at the start. Later, I realized that my town has seven or eight businesses offering similar services within a few blocks, not even counting the biggest companies in the city. On top of that, the city is mostly residential, and all our customers are businesses, which makes it harder to find the right customers just by visiting their storefront or shops.
I mention it to give some context, but I'm 200% aware that my business is failing because of my awful decision making, poor drive and focus, my own inexperience and lack of idea on how to actually run a business, I would say also a lack of overall common sense. I've cried a lot in the past, I'm going to go bald out of the stress I've experienced for the last year and a half. But I'm ready for a change.
Not everything has been negative. We’ve had some decent months, enough to survive, barely above minimum wage. Customers love us, and we focus on quality and going the extra mile wherever we can. That’s been a constant through all of this.
So, right now I'm at a point where, our marketing efforts are basically halted for a couple of months now. We've been in a lot of personal issues outside of business, a lot of outside expenses and a surgery that has restricted me from anything other than my desk or my bed, and is especially problematic because I'm the only one that performs installs at the moment. My dad helps out when he can but he also has a job he has to attend to. Even then, we have returning customers and referrals coming every month, so the business at least generates enough to pay for itself and some, but I can't keep this up for much longer, I work from monday to monday just to fulfill what I have, and it's not much. by the end of the month I have nothing to show for. I'm basically working for my landlord, I get no F*cking profit but he will get his money every 1st.
I need to change. I need to be better. And I wanted to share this, reflect on it, and possibly look for guidance.
These I feel are my main pain points, and how I believe I can go about them.
Current Issues and Direction
1) Overhead
Issue:
Fixed costs are too high for the stage the business is in. Rent, electricity, and software subscriptions are around $3,500 per month, before materials. That pressure makes everything harder and leaves no margin for mistakes.
Direction:
Moving everything into a garage would reduce costs but introduces real operational issues, especially in Florida’s heat and humidity, which are a factor if I need to work on some of those Freightliner or International tow trucks that won't fit in a small garage, so installing outside is not always a good option because of how the material reacts to humidity and high heat, but also for me. The current space does add value, but it’s more than the business can justify. Downsizing to a unit at roughly half the cost would significantly reduce pressure while keeping operations viable. The priority is survival and flexibility, even if I sacrifice comfort or the appearance.
2) Lead Generation
Issue:
We have no system in place to generate leads, we run ads from time to time, but the way it plays out, is that we get a lot of messages of people asking for prices and ghosting. We have another signshop from a city close by that subcontract us for some services, and that's been helpful but it's not much either. Other than that we get known either by customer referrals or our business profile in rare occasions. I've visited most of the businesses in my city (It's not big and it's mostly residential buildings), I've done door to door, I've printed flyers and left them on damaged signs or unbranded commercial vehicles. I've spent a lot of time on those methods but I probably used more money in gas than what I got from it (I'm sure it's a me problem.),
Direction:
I feel like I've been presenting the business too broadly in an oversaturated market. When people ask for pricing and then disappear, it may be because the offer isn’t clear or compelling (or because they think our prices are too high, which they are not.), but it's not like there is no demand for my services, I may have been marketing without a value oriented focus.
I need to narrow my focus to one type of customer and one primary service that solves a visible, practical problem. Instead of leading with “branding” or “design,” I should sell a specific outcome for example, helping service businesses turn their vehicles into better marketing tools. Full wraps shouldn’t be the front-end offer right now. Faster, repeatable work makes more sense. Cold calling, while uncomfortable, is likely my most direct and controllable way to generate opportunities, paired with consistent follow-up, or doing actual follow up at all, which I have not done.
3) Execution
Issue:
The business depends too heavily on me. I handle sales, customer communication, printing, outsourcing, and most installs. Installs are time consuming, and when I’m fulfilling work, the business itself gets neglected. This creates a cycle where growth stalls.
Direction:
I need to be more selective about the work I take on and prioritize jobs that are faster and higher margin. Labor-heavy, slow projects hurt the business even if they bring in revenue. Bringing in an experienced installer on a per-job basis would free time but has to be balanced against cash constraints. The long-term goal is to reduce friction, protect my time, and create space to actually run the business instead of constantly reacting.
There is a lot of stuff I haven't said because I didn't even know how to go about redacting this, so if there's anything you'd like to know about my story with my business, just let me know. In any case, venting this is helping me view the points I need to address right now and see them in a more organized way. Whatever I decide to do, this is the moment to give it my all. Thank y'all for reading!
Hey y'all! this is Raul, I’m 23, and I’ve been running my own business for about two and a half years. We do graphics, signage, branding, and design for local businesses: vehicle wraps, signs, banners, stationery, digital design, and basic web design.
Before that, I worked a mix of construction and labor jobs, and I did some gig work. After a couple years, I realized I didn’t want to stay an employee. I didn’t have a master plan, but I knew I wanted to build something of my own, to take control of my time and income.
Honestly, I started this business without really knowing what I was doing. I taught myself basic web design, and I liked it enough to think it could be a business. Around the same time, I talked with my sister, who’s a professional graphic designer, and we decided to try it together. From there, the idea grew into a “one-stop shop” for businesses: logo, website, print, apparel, vehicle wraps, and signage
It's funny because, out of all of that, my sister was the only one with real experience, and that was limited to graphic design. I had no technical skills, no experience with wraps or signage, and no background in sales. But we moved forward anyway. We registered the business, made some branding, printed cards, and started knocking on doors. Anything we couldn’t do ourselves, we planned to outsource.
We got a few early sales. just a few hundred dollars. It was not much, but enough to feel like maybe this could work. At that time, I wasn’t thinking about worst-case scenarios or whether we were actually ready. I invested part of my savings into wide-format printing equipment machines worth around $25–30k, got them for $13k and signed a lease on a commercial unit that cost $3,200 per month. No portfolio, no clients, we had only mockups to show potential clients what we can do for them. Two days of wrapping training, some YouTube videos. That was it.
I wouldn’t have starved if it failed, because my household had enough income to keep us afloat, but that safety net made it easier to take huge risks without fully respecting them.
The first year was brutal. Most months we didn’t make enough to cover rent. I tried a little bit of everything: social media, ads, door-to-door, cold calls, cold emails. None of it was done systematically. We were winging it, and the results showed it.
The business was (AND IS) struggling. And instead of that putting up a fire under me, it mostly caused stress and distraction, I couldn't act despite the fact that I was the one that was heavily affected by the failure of this business and I just rolled up in a ball and let this shit happen without fighting. I bounced between trying to save the business and thinking about other business ideas outside this one, without making real progress on either.
Also, there was no market or competitor analysis at the start. Later, I realized that my town has seven or eight businesses offering similar services within a few blocks, not even counting the biggest companies in the city. On top of that, the city is mostly residential, and all our customers are businesses, which makes it harder to find the right customers just by visiting their storefront or shops.
I mention it to give some context, but I'm 200% aware that my business is failing because of my awful decision making, poor drive and focus, my own inexperience and lack of idea on how to actually run a business, I would say also a lack of overall common sense. I've cried a lot in the past, I'm going to go bald out of the stress I've experienced for the last year and a half. But I'm ready for a change.
Not everything has been negative. We’ve had some decent months, enough to survive, barely above minimum wage. Customers love us, and we focus on quality and going the extra mile wherever we can. That’s been a constant through all of this.
So, right now I'm at a point where, our marketing efforts are basically halted for a couple of months now. We've been in a lot of personal issues outside of business, a lot of outside expenses and a surgery that has restricted me from anything other than my desk or my bed, and is especially problematic because I'm the only one that performs installs at the moment. My dad helps out when he can but he also has a job he has to attend to. Even then, we have returning customers and referrals coming every month, so the business at least generates enough to pay for itself and some, but I can't keep this up for much longer, I work from monday to monday just to fulfill what I have, and it's not much. by the end of the month I have nothing to show for. I'm basically working for my landlord, I get no F*cking profit but he will get his money every 1st.
I need to change. I need to be better. And I wanted to share this, reflect on it, and possibly look for guidance.
These I feel are my main pain points, and how I believe I can go about them.
Current Issues and Direction
1) Overhead
Issue:
Fixed costs are too high for the stage the business is in. Rent, electricity, and software subscriptions are around $3,500 per month, before materials. That pressure makes everything harder and leaves no margin for mistakes.
Direction:
Moving everything into a garage would reduce costs but introduces real operational issues, especially in Florida’s heat and humidity, which are a factor if I need to work on some of those Freightliner or International tow trucks that won't fit in a small garage, so installing outside is not always a good option because of how the material reacts to humidity and high heat, but also for me. The current space does add value, but it’s more than the business can justify. Downsizing to a unit at roughly half the cost would significantly reduce pressure while keeping operations viable. The priority is survival and flexibility, even if I sacrifice comfort or the appearance.
2) Lead Generation
Issue:
We have no system in place to generate leads, we run ads from time to time, but the way it plays out, is that we get a lot of messages of people asking for prices and ghosting. We have another signshop from a city close by that subcontract us for some services, and that's been helpful but it's not much either. Other than that we get known either by customer referrals or our business profile in rare occasions. I've visited most of the businesses in my city (It's not big and it's mostly residential buildings), I've done door to door, I've printed flyers and left them on damaged signs or unbranded commercial vehicles. I've spent a lot of time on those methods but I probably used more money in gas than what I got from it (I'm sure it's a me problem.),
Direction:
I feel like I've been presenting the business too broadly in an oversaturated market. When people ask for pricing and then disappear, it may be because the offer isn’t clear or compelling (or because they think our prices are too high, which they are not.), but it's not like there is no demand for my services, I may have been marketing without a value oriented focus.
I need to narrow my focus to one type of customer and one primary service that solves a visible, practical problem. Instead of leading with “branding” or “design,” I should sell a specific outcome for example, helping service businesses turn their vehicles into better marketing tools. Full wraps shouldn’t be the front-end offer right now. Faster, repeatable work makes more sense. Cold calling, while uncomfortable, is likely my most direct and controllable way to generate opportunities, paired with consistent follow-up, or doing actual follow up at all, which I have not done.
3) Execution
Issue:
The business depends too heavily on me. I handle sales, customer communication, printing, outsourcing, and most installs. Installs are time consuming, and when I’m fulfilling work, the business itself gets neglected. This creates a cycle where growth stalls.
Direction:
I need to be more selective about the work I take on and prioritize jobs that are faster and higher margin. Labor-heavy, slow projects hurt the business even if they bring in revenue. Bringing in an experienced installer on a per-job basis would free time but has to be balanced against cash constraints. The long-term goal is to reduce friction, protect my time, and create space to actually run the business instead of constantly reacting.
There is a lot of stuff I haven't said because I didn't even know how to go about redacting this, so if there's anything you'd like to know about my story with my business, just let me know. In any case, venting this is helping me view the points I need to address right now and see them in a more organized way. Whatever I decide to do, this is the moment to give it my all. Thank y'all for reading!
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