We�ve all seen them. Their not quite as abundant as fast food franchises, however they appear to be trying. The first thing the savvy sign buyer should know is that most of the franchise operators have no experience in the business at all. The decision to buy a sign franchise, understandably must have sounded better than making sandwiches. That having been said, the franchises are by no means finicky when it comes to taking ones money. They will sell to anyone with the necessary scratch, offering only minimal training. Its very expensive to operate a franchise sign shop, what with the high visabillity, high rent location. So the cost of your sign is inflated automatically.
Lets visit the words �fast and now�. Its been my experience that these two words don�t go together with the word sign. Those two words go better with cheap, which isn�t what you�ll think when you get the bill. The sign will assuredly be cheap, but your AmEx card will take a big hit. The materials most often used by these so called Sign Makers, are low to intermediate grade at best, where materials more often used by independent shops are high performance and more widely varied in media. Because of the experience factor, the franchise hasn�t the ability to offer much more than cut vinyl. They use it for everything, even where it wouldn�t be recommended. So don�t expect to find a real fabricator in their employ.
Some of these shops even attempt to sell and install electrical signs. You would agree that they shouldn�t if I could show the work I�ve seen them do or the time spent scratching heads. The point here is, these shops are a place you can go to acquire a set of cookie cutter magnetic signs or a temporary banner, but not much else. If that�s what you�re in the market for, by all means patronize a franchise. If you are serious about visual communications as an integral part of your advertising and marketing, see an independent sign professional.
