Since the crisis began, the shop has been busy producing various products such as face shields, plexiglass and desk shields, floor decals, retail signage, and computer numerical control (CNC) -cut ear savers (respiratory mask accessories that prevent the ears from chafing).
Mistakes to avoid
Jeffreys believes the first thing to avoid in the vehicle graphics business, or rather any aspect of one’s job, is overpromising.
“You never want to promise a client more than you can deliver,” he says.
He also strongly advises against trying to beat someone else’s prices and using low-quality products.
“You need to know how much it costs you to produce a wrap, including the expenses of running your shop, and the time you are devoting to the project,” he says. “Also, don’t use inks or materials you’ve only seen in a picture, but not in person. Up-close, a lot of the finished results may not look as great as they do on social media.”
While Jeffreys offers his clients a one-year warranty on vehicle graphics, he typically ends up honouring the warranty until his clients are done with the vehicle.
“I hate to be charged twice for anything I buy, and I believe my clients feel the same way,” he says. “Fortunately, we don’t have to do things over very often.”
Helping clients through COVID-19 and beyond
Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 crisis has had a ripple effect throughout the economy. For example, one of Jukasa Designs’ major clients has transformed their business to manufacture hand sanitizer. Even though Jeffreys shop was operating with a skeleton crew at the time, he and his team stepped up, producing 1500 bottle labels for the client each week.
“Our digital equipment can print and cut precisely, which made the label production easy for us to take on,” says Jeffreys.
Since the crisis began, the shop has been busy producing various products such as face shields, plexiglass and desk shields, floor decals, retail signage, and CNC-cut ear savers (respiratory mask accessories that prevent the ears from chafing).
“I’ve worked in every area of graphics,” says Jeffreys. “It’s nice to be able to pivot our production to meet the current circumstances. I’m certainly not getting bored.”
Ginny Mumm is a freelance consultant for digital inkjet printer/cutter provider Roland DGA. For more information, visit www.rolanddga.com.
