Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1451373
B U S I N E S S S T R A T E G I E S 7 4 G R A P H I C S P R O J U N E 2 0 2 2 G R A PH I C S - PR O.C O M M A K I N G S U B L I M A T I O N M O V E S | H O W A R D P O T T E R EXPANDING WHILE MAKING MOVES GETTING THE MOST MILEAGE FROM EVERY SQUARE FOOT OF SPACE All images courtesy Howard Potter A s business owners, our goals are to grow our sales, reduce errors, streamline production, and so much more. By the time we do all that, things like not having enough space sneak up on us quicker. Over the years, our company has done a great job of re- inventing the space we already have to make sure we are maximizing its use. Now, we are in a new situation where we have to reinvent the space, but we also have to put a new building up next to us to expand, so all of our processes have room to grow. REINVENTING A SPACE e rst thing we must do is look at our data analytics on QuickBooks and see the growth in production numbers for each process over the past few years. You can create projections for the next several years by knowing these numbers. is allows you to anticipate your company growth, space needed, and how many more sta members you may need. My wife and I then work together to walk our existing building to see what still needs to be cleaned up, reorganized, or simply what can be improved in the current space. Once we do that, then we try to picture some of the space blank, like a clean slate. In our case, our subli- mation and vinyl graphics areas are two rooms somewhat joined together, and we know we need them in a better-con- trolled environment with more space to grow since every time we work on larger projects, the space is very hard to work in. Our showroom is next to the vinyl graphics room on the other side of the wall. Two years ago, we branched out into oering rst responder uniforms and quickly learned we needed more space to showcase that line of work. We decided to take the vinyl graphic space and add a wall to frame it in and ll in the opening to the joining room. e second room will become another show- room dedicated to rst responder uni- forms with a dressing room. e room with the opening joining the vinyl room will be lled in, and we'll move all the sublimation equipment out and move over all our 2D/3D laser en- graving equipment in, along with two of our sewing machines for altering rst responder uniforms. Both processes need more space, and the processes move very quickly. is space will give the much- needed room to grow over the next ve years and, in a 14' X 14' space, can hold up to four employees working together safely. Since the laser engraving equipment will move from out back, which frees up at least a 12' X 6' space, we will invest in another automated screen-printing press later this year or by next year. is will take the space of our six-color manual press and allow us to go from a minimum of 40 perfectly printed shirts in an hour to a minimum of 100 shirts printed in an hour. is one machine alone can help improve the prot margin to help cover the monthly payment for all the upgrades With all the duties that come with the business owner title, issues surrounding space and space utilization can sneak up on you. We're in a situation now where we have to reinvent our current space but also build a new space next to us to expand.