Small Businesses Ideas 038

Happy Signs

Everyone has seen them - a sign with a few balloons attached to somebody's house saying something like, "Many Happy Returns Jack on Your 50th Birthday". Most people have the need to announce and celebrate things like birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, a birth or a retirement. Yet most people can only cobble together a sign using whatever they have lying around, or at best place a small advertisement in the local newspaper.

Signs like these tend to last only a short period of time before they fall down or are blown away by the wind, and the newspaper ad is an expensive way to announce something that will only be noticed by a few people on one day only.

There is an alternative that will not only look far better, but for the amount of time it lasts will also be relatively inexpensive - the "Happy Sign".

Brightly coloured hand painted signs, often in weird and wonderful shapes, are a common sight outside American suburban homes and businesses. One particularly popular American passion is to place a pink or blue wooden stork outside the house to announce a birth, proudly proclaiming, "It's a Boy/Girl" and giving the new baby's name and weight.

The signs are popular because they look good (far better than a tacky home-made sign), last a long time and express the individuality of the person who orders the sign. They are likely to be a hit in this country with anyone wanting to celebrate a birth, wedding or similar occasion.

A business making and selling the happy signs is ideal for anyone who has artistic talent, or who can market the signs on behalf of someone else. You should develop a catalogue of signs in order to advertise the wares of the business and get it known, and ideally you should be able to offer the flexibility to produce original products to customer's specifications.

Many people will only want a sign for one day at a time, so the business could provide a hire service. For example, a birthday sign could incorporate removable lettering in order to announce a certain person's birthday, or else could be repainted for the occasion.

As well as the personal customers, businesses may often require signs to advertise sales, long service, new appointments, and new contracts. Also, they might want to invite new business, welcome new customers and reps, or announce moving to new premises.

Once the first templates have been cut and the initial sign ideas developed, the amount of time spent making them will be minimal, so time can then be spent marketing the business to expand the number of customers. The usual advertising and selling methods can be used although ideally you should use your own signs to advertise.

After a short period, in any reasonable sized town, the happy sign business could have 20 signs hired out at a time, for an average fee of £5 per day - a total of £100 per day. Also there will be new commissions coming in, with a rate charged of perhaps £20 to £50 per sign.

Bearing this in mind, happy signs can mean a healthy income.

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