We're joined by Maggie Harlow – the successful owner of Signarama Downtown in Louisville KY. She's a leader in the industry and also a columnist for Signs of The Times. We talk about her journey in the sign industry – from jumping into ownership without any industry experience, through managing large national projects for clients, and then to completely "re-modeling" her business when the old model no longer fit. There are lots of great nuggets and advice in this episode.

This episode is sponsored by:
GCI Digital Imaging
Your large/grand format trade printing partner

Owner T.J. Bedacht and his team focus on providing old-school customer service. You can check out Episode #9 to see for yourself.  So if you're looking for a wholesale print provider for banners, coroplast signs, vehicle wraps, and other digitally printed graphics

Learn more and place your first order at https://gci-digital.com.
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In this episode...
00:00 - Intro
01:21 - Welcome
04:41 - Welcoming Maggie
06:20 - Signarama vs FastSigns
07:30 - Maggie's story
10:20 - What is perfect about the sign industry?
15:15 - Love/hate relationship with the industry
17:43 - 1st full year as a franchise owner and doing a million
23:30 -  90 buses in 90 days?
26:20 - Other managed projects
31:00 - The time frame for the transition
37:10 - Picky about doing projects
38:50 - Saying NO to customers
42:40 - Favorite type of sign to make
44:00 - Advice for shop owners  
45:55 - Present trends and the future of the industry
48:45 - Future of Maggie's business
50:00 - Maggie's leadership team
58:00 - Thanks to Maggie
01:02:23 - Rapid takeaways
 
Ready to systemize and scale your shop?
Start by creating your free account on the Better Sign Shop platform at https://my.bettersignshop.com/

Are you a sign or print shop owner?
Join the Better Sign Shop Community - our free Facebook group exclusively for shop owners and managers (https://www.facebook.com/groups/bette...)

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Want to follow the crusty sign guys?

Bryant from Better Sign Shop
- Better Sign Shop Website: https://www.bettersignshop.com
- Better Sign Shop Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/bettersignshop

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Michael from Letterbox Sign Design
- Letterbox Sign Design Website: https://www.letterboxsigndesign.com/
- Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Letterboxsig...

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Peter from Sign Shop Consulting
- Sign Shop Consulting Website: https://www.signshopconsulting.com/
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