Impressions - March 2012 - (Page 55)

Screen Printing Production talking SHOP 10 Ways to Save Money in Your Decorated Apparel Shop Eliminating inefﬁciencies, updating your insurance policy and bringing in a consultant are just a few ways you can save signiﬁcant money in your shop. By Greg Kitson, Contributing Writer ho doesn’t want to save money? If there has been one great beneﬁt to our industry going through a recession, it’s that we have been forced to examine and evaluate how we do things. This process has resulted in discovering that we can run our shops leaner and meaner without sacriﬁcing quality. However, as business slowly recovers, I submit that we should continue to strive to run our shops as efﬁciently and proﬁtably as possible. Here are 10 ways I have found to save money in my shop. See if any of these may work for you. Conduct Time Studies Conducting time studies is a practice I endorse for all businesses — recession or not. There always is room for improvement. You must evaluate each task performed in your shop and see how long it takes to complete it. Without a doubt, you will see inefﬁciencies. If you don’t think time studies are worth the effort, your ego is getting in the way of your proﬁtability. As you evaluate your shop for inefﬁciencies, consider these questions: Are you getting things through the art department fast enough? Are you getting ink on the screens fast enough? Do employees get dust in their contact lenses because the fans are blowing in the wrong direction? How long, how fast or how often do you have to touch something to get it done? These types of tasks and countless others should be evaluated with an eye toward improvement. Use a computer program if needed to keep track of time studies, and conduct them routinely. Hopefully, you’ll start seeing patterns in areas where you can work to improve and also be impressed when you compare current studies to those conducted months ago. Never stop trying to improve! impressionsmag.com w 1 Save time and money by starting off selling a customer what you already have. Instead of showing a prospective client a 200-page wholesaler’s catalog, pick out a few best-selling styles that you are familiar with and see if these will meet the need. Otherwise, you may ﬁnd yourself spending a lot of extra time and money special ordering in apparel, thread, ink, etc. All photos courtesy of Mind’s Eye Graphics, Decatur, Ind. 2 Review Your Insurance Policy If you’ve been running your shop for ﬁve to 10 years, it has likely been just as long since you’ve taken a close look at your insurance contract. More often than not, insurance companies raise prices every year. I recommend sitting down with your insurance agent every two to three years to review your policy. Often, you’ll ﬁnd areas where you need coverage and don’t have it, as well as coverage in areas you don’t need; it pays to carefully review everything. I have found through experience that when you tell your agent you want to sit down to review your policy because you are putting out your insurance products for bid, he suddenly starts paying a lot more attention to you. In fact, he may get more competitive on prices, which works in your favor. 3 Have Your Insurance Agent Bring In A Consultant When you invite your insurance agent in to discuss how you can save money, he may want to bring in a risk management specialist or industrial hygienist — at no cost to you — who usually is an engineer that specializes in protecting the health and safety of people in the workplace. If the inMarch 2012 | Impressions 55 http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - March 2012

Impressions - March 2012
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
ISS Conferences
Product Gallery
What Women Want
Fashion Meets Function
The “Blingifi cation” of Decorated Apparel
Online Directory
Shop Spotlight
Shop Spotlight
Embroidery Technique
Embroidery Technique
Embroidery Design & Digitizing
Embroidery Design & Digitizing
Tech Tips: Embroidery
Tech Tips: Embroidery
Screen Printing Production
Screen Printing Production
For Screen Printers Only
For Screen Printers Only
Tech Tips: Screen Printing
Tech Tips: Screen Printing
Digital Decorating
Digital Decorating
Business to Business
Business to Business
Classifieds
Classifieds
Ad Index
Ad Index

Impressions - March 2012