Ventajas
The work is always different. Creative, colorful, fun to make all the different kinds of signs. No nights, no weekends most of the time. Our store is very clean, but there is no air conditioning, so gets really hot in the summer. Technology is important. You will be working with sophisticated computer software and expensive output devices. If the store is profitable or the owner is smart, you will have access to some of the latest technology like laser engravers or flat bed printers. If you work for a good owner who understands the value of taking care of people and customers, life can be good. Some employees have been working at my location for over ten years, through two different owers and make well above $20/hour plus benefits. They are given wide latitidue to run the business. FASTSIGNS does a lot of TV advertising and their cusotmer satisfaction is high.
Desventajas
Most stores are run by small teams. Each person is critical to the success of the business and there is no extra help available to fill in. Even if everyone is cross trained, if someone is out sick or takes vacation, it can cause some problems and stress. Again, if you have a good owner, he should know how to do every job in the place and step in when needed, including doing installations and deliveries. There is no opportunity for advancement for anyone, becuase that is the nature of a small franchise. It is a franchise, the owners have their life savings invested in the business. If the location is a good one and profitable, there is money avaialble to pay well. Many locations are not profitable and struggling. The franchisor makes 6% of the gross sales. The franchisor doesn't care if the owers are making a living or if the sotre is wildly profirtable as some are. The franchsor gets their money no matter what and are the first ones paid through their ability to take money right out of the owners bank account at the beginning of the month. The owner must sell enough to cover fixed expenses of running the store and only gets to keep 94 cents out of every dollar a customer spends. These are real expenses that must be paid just to stay in business. Getting behind can be a slippery slope to failure of the business. There are owenrs who have lost their life savings investing in a FASTSIGNS that never sold enough to make money. So even if the owner would like to pay more, if the sales aren't there to support it, he can't do much. Remember, the owner has to make payroll twice a month. Even if sales are slow, even if customers are late paying their bills, the payroll and the rent must be paid on time. Being an owner isn't a cake walk, unless you can get the business to operate well over fixed costs and make profits. We are constantly being squeezed by FedEx Office on the low end and by state licensed sign contractors who can do the big jobs like electrical signs.