Editor's Note

When It Comes to Your Shop, Less Might Be More

Editor-in-Chief Mark Kissling explains with the help of social science.

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2022

Mark Kissling Signs of the Times February 2022 Issue

ARE YOU LIKE ME? Well, I am, and more often than not while I’m perusing the myriad streaming services, despite the hundreds or thousands of choices, I find myself saying, “There’s nothing to watch.” Maybe it’s because too many choices are a bad thing — and not just for me.

Years ago, I edited a book that included scientific studies on how an increasing number of choices leads directly to decreasing satisfaction. Like opportunity cost in economics, with more options comes a sense of giving up more things. In the study, consumers who had only five choices of peanut butter reported greater satisfaction with their final decision than those who had 25.

So, I recently downgraded my cable package and was surprised to find that Showtime had been available with HBO, which I was giving up. I guess I won’t miss that!

The same could be true for you and your sign company. “The Art of Omission” (see page 18) delves into paring down the things from your life and business that represent excess, deadweight and dissatisfaction. Our Brain Squad contributed a number of helpful, insightful and practical ways they have succeeded through “addition by subtraction.”

Speaking of the Brain Squad, we’re sending T-shirts like the one I’m wearing above to members upon completion of their first survey. Join them at signsofthetimes.com/brainsquad! Heck, we’re even — and only — offering two choices for the color of the shirt!

5 Smart Tips from This Issue

An affordable 3D printer can help you produce signs and other elements your competition often cannot. (Tech Products, p. 14)
More opportunities for automation await for office practices than for fabrication processes. (The Art of Omission, p. 18)
If your designer has an idea for a concept that wasn’t originally presented, use it as an opportunity to upsell the job. (Tip Sheet, p. 36)
Bring your customers into your shop when their projects are being constructed as part of a larger effort to educate them. (Heidi Tillmanns, p. 40)
Invest more time and attention in new employees after they have been hired than you put in to hire them. (Maggie Harlow, p. 43)

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.