What will I be doing?

You don’t have to be an artist to operate a successful home-based sign service. In fact, you can learn your trade as you go. A sign service designs, produces and/or sells signs to advertise and inform. If you’re artistic you can design unique signs for businesses, churches or other groups. If you’re not artistic, you can construct signs from designed components. If you’re not good at assembling things, you can sell preproduced signs.

Of course, the more skills you have, the more you will be paid. But you can start small and build your skills as you build your home business.

What will I need to start?

Before you start your sign service, take an inventory of your skills and experience. Here are some options: Design and draw unique business signs; repair or restore older signs; produce or repair neon signs; purchase and resell stock signs available from wholesalers or subcontract your services to a regional sign installer.

In each type of business, your startup requirements are different. So decide what sign services you can best offer and start planning how you will offer them. You may need a commercial vehicle to transport signs, or tools for shaping glass tubes for neon sign—or you may need jigs to specialize in producing wooden signs.

Who will my customers be?

Your customers are all around you. Start looking today for the types of businesses and groups that most frequently use the signs you will be selling or servicing. You may decide to specialize in restoring signs in older shopping areas or in producing stylistic signs for upscale businesses. As you drive around, look for such signs and potential customers.

One man found himself in the sign business when he bought a box at an auction. In the box were hundreds of stock signs that said “Open/Closed,” “Employees Only,” “Restrooms,” and other common signs. He loaded them in the trunk of his car and drove along a nearby highway looking for small businesses. If he spotted one with poor signs he stopped and showed his wares. In less than a month he had built sufficient capital to start a sign service employing others to do the same.