

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Pease.
Dawn, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 26, my first husband left. I had been a housewife for 6 years and now I had 2 children under the age of 2. I was on welfare. Welfare offered a retraining program for people who had been out of the workforce for any period of time. One of my job placements was at a sign shop. I fell in love. Like everyone else I never stopped to think about how signs were made, what they were made of and what they cost. So long as they got me where I was going, they did their job. I also never paid attention to the impact they made on my choices as a consumer. I never did the same thing for more than 5 minutes at a time. It was fast paced and fascinating!
I was hired full time, year round. When the bookkeeper quit, I learned her job. When the screen printer left, I learned his job. As I learned more, I got into sales and installation eventually becoming a manager. I learned my trade the old fashioned way…from the bottom up and under a master.
Years later when I moved to Massachusetts, I went to work for a franchise in the industry (I didn’t know such a thing existed). It was a bit frustrating because I felt everything was about profit and speed rather than quality or customer service. I convinced my boss that since every sign shop in the area was offering the same products at the same prices, we had to find a better way to stand out.
We began to educate our clients. Showed the how to compare apples to apples. Why one product was better than the other, how long products should last, things like that. I was able to show people why spending a bit more on a better product had a better impact on their bottom line. We began to get permits for our clients to save them time. We would go before zoning board of appeals and design review boards on their behalf. This saved them time in many ways. We know the product better, how they are installed and could answer questions that perhaps they couldn’t. We gained a reputation with the surrounding town building inspectors for doing things the right way, and this in turn made the whole process faster for the client.
Eventually the time came to leave the franchise. The owner was ill and would soon be selling out. It would be difficult to start over and have to train our new boss, who knew nothing of the industry. My family encouraged me to start my own shop. My whole family you see, are entrepreneurs. I was terrified! I was happy running someone else’s business. No risk, no financial investment, less headaches. But I wasn’t happy, not really. I would always need someone else’s approval to do anything.
The rest of the staff at the other place were leaving too. So I asked them “would you work for me?” They said “in a heartbeat!” So I told them I would call in 30 days. I found my location, ordered my equipment and then called them. They came. We decided on “Dawn’s Sign Tech” for a couple of reasons: one our other family business (right next door) has “Tech” in its name so it was a nice accompaniment. Two we wanted people to be able to find us. I made a promise to myself that I would not solicit the customers from my former place of work. It just seemed dirty and underhanded and I didn’t wish them any harm. I was counting on customers remembering me and the level of service I provided when I was there. I wanted them to come looking for me, and they did! They told me “we didn’t go there because it was **** (I won’t use their name), we went there because of you. What a great feeling.
When we first opened our doors, my family asked me to set a sales goal. I picked what I thought was a very reasonable nice round number for my first year. “I can do 100k in sales the first year. I should see about a 30% growth in the next 2 and that should taper off to a healthy 10-15% in the following years”. They laughed and said it was great that I’m so optimistic but maybe I should set a more reasonable goal. Guess what? First years sales $127k. Next 2 years growth 30%/year. Fourth year on no less than 14% growth in sales and holding steady.
You see, everyone forgot where I started. A single mom with 2 babies, no education, no job….no hope. I knew how to budget a household. My first years in the industry taught me how to read a profit and loss statement and a balance sheet. I understood cost of goods sold, labor and expenses. I knew what other shops in the area were doing. I also opened my shop in an area where there was no sign company for 10-20 miles. A lot of business owners don’t realize that sign shops do a huge amount of repeat business. Investors have been noticing this for the last 10 years or so. Every year I get calls from people wanting to buy my company. I tell them “not yet, I’m still having fun”.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Yes and No. I knew what equipment and what kind of staff I needed. I knew the costs and how to borrow properly. What I didn’t know about was all the resources out there to help. I didn’t know where to start. Believe it or not it was the IRS who was the most helpful. They got me started with my tax and employer ID and told me all the things I would have to do.
I didn’t really know anyone in the area. Working full time in another town left me with little time to make friends where I lived. So I didn’t know any insurance agents or attorneys. I didn’t know any other business owners except my family and our businesses were so different they were not able to offer much advice.
The first mistake was allowing an insurance agent who only sold home and auto to cover my business. That mistake cost me 8k at audit because she didn’t know anything about workers comp. The second big mistake was allowing one employee too much freedom and “helping” him out financially while I still had not gotten a paycheck. He began to believe that he was entitled to all I gave him. I learned for the first time how to fire someone.
I joined networking groups, mentoring groups and community groups. I have a network hundreds strong that I know like and trust. I have several mentors in local businesses whose experience I can draw on. And I’m in my third year as President of the North Andover Merchant’s Association. I have working relationships with several local banks so I no longer rely on family for financial support in my business, nor do I have to use my personal assets to finance my business. And I have friends, strong relationships built on mutual trust with other local business owners. That means more to me than anything else we have accomplished here.
Please tell us about Dawn’s Sign Tech.
We are a full service sign shop. We manufacture, install and service all signs. Something as small as an ADA directional sign to a 20′ square double sided free standing electrical sign. We stock real estate frames and posts. We also supply trade show displays like imprinted tents, flags, back drops and table cloths. We offer 3 extras to save our clients time: business cards, pens and clothing. We also provide town requirement services such as permitting, zoning board of appeals, historic commission and design review. We also provide police detail when necessary.
We provide free estimates and site surveys so we can help with materials, size and location. We pride ourselves on the best customer service anywhere. We answer the phones, return calls, reply to emails and keep the client apprised of the progress of their project.
Because we do municipal, state and federal government work we must carry the level of insurance they require. This can make our install rates higher than most small shops. But ensures the safety of your property and workers comp. We have a 3000sqft facility with a vehicle bay. We have 4 full time employees and 2 part-time.
We have a spray booth and that means that most of our paint is sprayed instead of rolled. This gives an incredibly smooth finish and a very professional look to your sign vs rolling paint.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have started out working with a smaller bank. The big banks don’t care about small business. They make no effort to find better financing options or put you in touch with resources to help get started. The smaller bank went out of their way to get my business and put me in touch with state and municipal resources.
I would have used an attorney to set up my business rather than an on-line company (who did everything wrong and charged e through the nose). Specifically an attorney that specializes in small business. They make sure all your bases are covered before they charge.
I would have sought out an insurance company that specifically covers businesses only. Not someone who may do it once in a while, who has no idea about state laws and industry requirements.
Pricing:
- Vehicle vinyl is $13-$15/sqft depending on printed, reflective or other specialty types like carbon fiber or color flip
- Substrate sign pricing will vary depending on the substrate IE. aluminum composite starts at areound $33/sqft
- Labor is our shop starts at $120/hr. In smaller shops it can range from $60-$100/hr depending on their overhead and insurance level
- A standard vehicle wrap is between $15 and $17/sqft installed, depending on material and vehicle
- Carved signs start at $100/sqft. add about $50/sqft for a 2 stage enamel or automtive paint and add approx $100/sqft for 23k gold leaf
Contact Info:
- Address: 33 Flagship Dr
North Andover, Ma 01845 - Website: https://dawnssigntechinc.net/
- Phone: 978-208-0012
- Email: dawn@dawnssigntechinc.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnsSignTech/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/dawnsigntechinc
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dawns-sign-tech-north-andover
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