I think I might do it

[RedFish]

This is my brothers hobby turned personal business..
http://inaction.eventpictures.com/index.jsp
His business consists of a high dollar camera, and a truck, and a whole lot of his time.
If you buy a business lisence you can expect a tax bill.
The county determined the value of his business and billed him 2500.00 for the 1st year.
Just another point to ponder.

 

[604 Racing]

i can get you guys decals for next to nothing.

heres the site 37inc.ca

can prettty much make anything, all m 604 racing decal get made by this guy..hes a good friend

he can also do full car vinal wraps, and it looks just as good as a new paint job

 

[Dusterdude72]

i can get you guys decals for next to nothing.

heres the site 37inc.ca

can prettty much make anything, all m 604 racing decal get made by this guy..hes a good friend

he can also do full car vinal wraps, and it looks just as good as a new paint job

way to hijack future business lol

 

[Dusterdude72]

25to2 so far....one of the 2 was from joey and I think I could see why he would oppose of being a business owner .....I am sure that running fabo can be a headache at times.

again though, I want to express to everyone I AM NOT starting a business, I am starting a hobby that I will make a couple dollars here and there on the side and feel it out and THEN I will decide if it is worth turning into some kind of a small business.

I understand there are fees,taxs,business expenses,laws and regulations,artistic and technical know how and customer relations all involved in what I am talking about getting into.

I know most of it and what I do not I will read up on but I just want to make it clear that I am not going and leasing property and a store front and getting bank loans and buying radically expensive equipment without know what the heck I am doing.

I will do this out of my home on the side with a "cheaper" machine but one of the better ones that has great reviews and a good warranty plan and a trade up programd for if I ever decided I wanted to upgrade to a larger machine.

I will not be going to get a license or anything right away...I will just do it as a hobby and "help friends out" for a little change on the side.

But if it does start to pick up and I see that its worth taking more seriously and worth investing more into I will go through the process of creating a business but thats a bit down the road yet.

Just testing the waters for now lol.

Thank you all for the great tips and advice and knowledge and wisdom I know alot of you know what you are talking about and are simply trying to tell me what to look out for an I really appreciate it, I will keep everyone updated on what I decide to do (pretty sure I am going to though) and I will keep everyone posted when I get familiar with the equipment and I will then talk sales with whoever is interested!

 

[avarageerod]

I'm kind of unsure of the question then. If its just going to be a hobby, don't expect to make money off of it. Thats why its a hobby and not a job. If you break even cash wise you'll be ahead, never mind the time spent on it.

 

[Dusterdude72]

I'm kind of unsure of the question then. If its just going to be a hobby, don't expect to make money off of it. Thats why its a hobby and not a job. If you break even cash wise you'll be ahead, never mind the time spent on it.

what I mean is I am mainly getting the equipment as a hobby....but with the idea of making money at it on the side, I am not going into it with full expectations of getting rich over night or anything.

reason I mentioned I was mainly getting it as a hobby is because if for some reason I find that its hard to make money at it and that business is slow.....I won't be losing anything because I didnt expect to make any money at it in the first place.

I originally decided I wanted to get into it for my own personal use....I think custom stickers are expensive to buy and I like stickers (lol) and the wife is into scrap booking and we have a little one who loves stickers so we will get use out of it either way......but if I can make some extra $$$ on the side, that's a plus!

 

[DadGum_Teen]

I think being able to make any sticker you want would be a thriller 8) Especially if your really OCD

Plus you could probably make all your money back pretty quick once you got to know the equipment, then relax once your on the profit side. You could try to hit up some upcoming school/church/recreational events to make promotional stickers. One example I can think of is Tulsa's "Barbeque and Blue's" annual festivals :cheers:

Good luck!

 

[604 Racing]

way to hijack future business lol

im sorry, my intentions were NOT to jack buisness....i only read part of his post, ad it mentioned about having the decals made,

now i read on to him making the decals....i appolgise

 

[Dusterdude72]

I DID IT!

Decided to go ahead and go forward with it and bought everything......soooooo as soon as it arrives and I get familiar with it, I will let everyone know!

 

[OneOfMany]

My hobby turned into my business. If you're excited by it, good at it, you could too. Good luck.

Grant

 

[Dusterdude72]

Thanks Grant and thanks to everyone he encouraged me and who wasn't a "dream smasher" lol.

I will give it a try and see how it goes....worst case scenario ...... I dont make a bunch of money at it and I still get personal use out of it like I had originally planed.....so I guess looking at it that way its a win win!

 

[Dusterdude72]

ordered 150 feet by 15 inchs of white vinyl....figured I would get a big roll so I can run a few test jobs and get the hang of it first....also ordered 150 foot roll of application tape.....I will be starting with white vinyl only because I figured that is the most popular color for window vinyl stickers ...but I will eventually get more colors

 

[godfatherofchry]

you will do good at this.get with some trucking company's there always looking for some one dependable to leter trucks and at 350.00 per door I think is crazy.. but thats what you pay.......or at lest I did...Artie

 

[Dusterdude72]

good to know

 

[harvenator]

I've been self employed and have found that you can't run a business by taking polls. Do some homework and do your thing. There are also lots of Harley guys who buy stickers for their trucks and cars. Just about anything that has a following has a sticker requirement and some specialty magazines will give free advertising in the form of a press release.
Just a thought.

 

[Dusterdude72]

I've been self employed and have found that you can't run a business by taking polls. Do some homework and do your thing. There are also lots of Harley guys who buy stickers for their trucks and cars. Just about anything that has a following has a sticker requirement and some specialty magazines will give free advertising in the form of a press release.
Just a thought.

thanks .....although I was not leaving it up to the poll to choose what I was going to do.....I was pretty set on what I had planned , I was just curious as to what everyone thought of my idea was all.
Thanks again

 

[D Dodge]

You know what they say. If you want something done right do it yourself. Make your own and you'll have just what you want. If you feel like you are really prepared to take on a new business you should give it a try. That's the only way to find out what it's really like.

 

[USAJon]

I have been thinking it over and talking it over with the wife and I think I might start a "business" well....kinda....not really with the expectations of turning it into a full out business but more of something to make a few dollars here and there (an on the side kind of business I guess) and help people out and also save money myself being able to do these things on my own.

anyhow...here it is.

I am thinking of getting into making vinyl stickers !

Looking into buying a vinyl cutter/plotter ,they have some on ebay for around $400 I have been looking at,plus the cost of a few colors of vinyl and a few supplies....I should be able to get everything to get started for around $500.00 I am thinking.

dude..I made peeland stick
Not sure what software they come with but I am sure I can get my hands on some software if need be.

I am just tired of not liking the stickers at stores and having to have the ones you do like custom made.

and I think alot of people I know (possibly including fabo) would like the convenience of wanting a sticker and it being a simple task to get it and at a lower price than everyone else.

I honestly do not think a sticker that says duster is worth $25.00 nore do I think the postage stamp for shipping is worth $8.00 for example.

I think in all fairness the price of a postage stamp would pay shipping on a sticker and maybe a couple dollars profit on the sticker itself but not price gouging like alot of company's do.

what do you guys think? sound like a good idea? do any of you know anything about this trade and can you give me any pointers and let me know what all I need to get started and if its even worth the initial investment?

Thanks everyone! ,Jerrod

dude .I made stickers on clear stock peel and stick using my computer ink jet 6 years ago..I made a skull /colored w/my logo that I hand drew and scanned to my computer. cut by hand. fun/cheap .easy as pie..and Im sure they have newer materials..your only limited by the print material in size. I would surely check it out. I got my peel and stick material @ staples.

check this supplyer out
http://www.paper-paper.com/arts&crafts.html
AND GO 4IT ! ! !

 

[Dusterdude72]

Thanks for the tip but I wanted to get something that would make a more weather resistant sticker......where as doing it the way you mentioned...after you trim your picture you will have a thin layer of paper exposed and once water hit it and get to the ink your sticker is ruined where as vinyl with the good stuff can last for years and years and years.

good idea for indoor stuff or scrap booking though.

 

[Dusterdude72]

Just had a BIG box show up everyone......VINYL CUTTER IS HERE!!!!!!

thing is almost 50 lbs! good size....I went ahead and got the 31" cutter in case I ever wanted to do any big stickers.

will probably post picture later on

 

[Dusterdude72]

been screwing around with it all day and trying out different things and starting to figure it all out lol.

got the stand all built and set up and I have ran a few trial runs with it and I have succesfully cut the duster tornado logo!!!! stoked!

 

[Dusterdude72]

so here it is....I figured i would share it with everyone....a picture of my machine and my first sticker after toying around with the machine for a bit.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Dusterdude72]

A couple more stickers I just did.....just green vinyl until tomorrow when my roll of white shows up.

I made this one for a buddy of mine LOL

This one here is atually of a fabo members demon (cant remember there name off hand (it was green with black side stripes and crager wheels......I converted it to black and white scale and erased the back ground and I also converted it to a vector image and made it look like a printed silohette of his vehicle....I thought it was kind of neat.

if anyone is interested in a specific sticker and has a picture of what they would like...feel free to pm me and we can talk about it!

 

[Dusterdude72]

anyone interested in anything specific?