53% of Sign Managers Think Their Company Will Reach 100 Years in Business

DO YOU OR DON’T YOU: Our Brain Squad is not lacking for confidence!

Published

1 year ago

March 14, 2023

Signs of the Times Staff Signs of the Times March 2023 Issue

QUESTION:

Do you think your sign company will reach 100 years in business?

Yes: 53%

For 25 years they told us, we wouldn’t make it. I’m gonna need at least 75 to show them we did. — Jason Schrodi, Fastsigns Clear Lake, Webster, TX
This is year 38 and my son is taking over in five years. — Paul Havenaar, Sign Impressions, Kalamazoo, MI
We plan to hand the business off to a family member, or sell to an out-of-state customer. — Ali Pournourbakhsh, Vector Sign Solutions, Noblesville, IN
We’re almost at 70 now, and I have a young team that loves our company and wants it to continue. — Sharon Toji, H Toji and Co., Lakewood, CA
We have been in business for 75 years (started in Cuba, 1948) and it is a family business. I have run the business for the past 33 years and my daughter, who is 30, has been involved since graduating from college in 2014. Hopefully, she will also turn the business over to her children. — Harold Pedley, Sign Engineering, San Juan, PR

Early Adopter: National Sign Corp. (Seattle), founded 1915, began offering neon in 1928.

No: 47%

My kiddos are not interested in the business so once my partner and I go, that will be it. — Gwen Snow, Innovative Sign Systems, Vista, CA
As a one-person shop, I don’t expect this operation to last 100 years. — Brian Mortvedt, Westwood Graphics Co., Hewitt, WI
The right individuals would be needed to carry on the business. — William Hylton, Cardinal Blueprinters, Blacksburg, VA
The community we are operating in has limited local ownership. — Derrick Weinbrecht, Creative Signs & Design, Topeka, KS
I’m 57 now… — Kenneth Pease, KP Graphix, Groton, NY

QUESTION:

What is the #1 reason you think a sign business can operate for 100 years or more?

QUESTION:

How many years has your sign company been in business?

What’s the Brain Squad?

If you’re the owner or top manager of a signage and graphics company in the US or Canada, you’re invited to join the Signs of the Times Brain Squad. By taking one five-minute survey each month, you will receive access to some of the industry’s freshest data on sales — including your fellow members’ comments on what’s selling and what isn’t — and can make your voice heard on key issues affecting the sign industry. Sound good? Sign up here.

Signs of the Times Staff

Signs of the Times has been the world leader in sign information since 1906. Contact Signs of the Times' editors at editor@signsofthetimes.com.

click to Comment(Comment)

Up Next

Very Few Sign Companies Promote Their Sustainable Practices

Don't Miss

We Asked Sign Pros: Are You Superstitious?

Introducing the Sign Industry Podcast

The Sign Industry Podcast is a platform for every sign person out there — from the old-timers who bent neon and hand-lettered boats to those venturing into new technologies — we want to get their stories out for everyone to hear. Come join us and listen to stories, learn tricks or techniques, and get insights of what’s to come. We are the world’s second oldest profession. The folks who started the world’s oldest profession needed a sign.