Add New Business with a Cutter

Learn how to add profits to your shop with this handy and relatively inexpensive piece of equipment.
Nov 1, 2008

For apparel, the roll goods are backed with a heat-seal adhesive. After the material comes off the cutter and you weed it, simply position the letters on the shirt and use a heat press to permanently affix them to the garment.

To say that you can build existing business around a vinyl cutter is to put it mildly. In fact, my first business, What's Your Sign, was based entirely on a vinyl cutter. The key to expanding your shop's profits with a cutter is to understand the vast capabilities the machine offers — and how you can translate those offerings into new product sales.

I purchased my first cutter in 1994 to make some extra money on the side; I never really expected it to lead to a full-time, profitable business. I figured I would make some self-adhesive vinyl signs, do some banners, and so on. For around $5,000, I purchased the equipment, software, stand and a package of supplies — and within a short time, I was making far more than I had ever anticipated.

Without a doubt, a vinyl cutter is a great complement to your shop's mainstay process, whether it's screen printing or embroidery. Consider the following advantages:

• Diverse product offering: With an inexpensive cutter, you're able to easily create banners, yard signs, window stickers and much more.

• One customer, two orders: When a customer orders T-shirts, for instance, you can offer to modify the artwork and create a banner, window stickers or other graphics to sell to the same client. I'd estimate that as much as 50% of my apparel customers order jobs done on my vinyl cutter.

• New customers: With a vinyl cutter, you'll be attracting an entirely new group of clients: those seeking signage. And just as you offer signage to existing apparel clients, you also can sell decorated garments to customers who come in for signage.

• One-stop shopping: Customers love convenience, and nothing will keep them coming back like the fact that they can take care of multiple needs at one place.

• Diverse customers: Customers for jobs done on your vinyl cutter will be every bit as diverse as those for apparel orders — everyone from churches and schools to local businesses and team sports. In fact, team sports probably will be a big customer base, as many teams want numbers and letters for their uniforms. This is an especially large and lucrative group of clients. You'll find that it takes about 30 seconds to type a name into a graphics template, 30 seconds to cut it and maybe a minute to apply it — and you can charge at least $10 to $12 for the service. It's easy money and the same goes for athletic bags and other team-related items.

Material Matters
I usually opt for high-performance vinyl. Although it costs a little more, it's easier to work with. Less expensive vinyl isn't as pliable, making it harder to lay down and eliminate air bubbles. Plus, high-performance vinyl is a must for outdoor signage and vehicle lettering. I usually keep some basic colors of vinyl in stock and ready to go, stored on shelving attached to my shop's walls. Most of the time, I have about 40 rolls in stock.

Despite their name, vinyl cutters work with much more than vinyl. Suppliers offer a variety of films, twills, appliqués and other materials ideally suited for cutting and applying to substrates. Some materials are intended for outdoor jobs, while others are made to withstand the rigors of the laundering process.

Suppliers even offer rolls of magnetic material that let you create graphics that temporarily adhere to the sides of vehicles; a perfect option for individuals who operate a personal/work vehicle and want the convenience of removing their business signage when using the vehicle for personal use. It is a relatively inexpensive way to diversify their existing marketing plan — it's literally a rolling billboard.

Banners are another source of revenue. Sign suppliers offer standard-size blanks that come hemmed and grommeted. Ordering a custom size will add a small fee that you can pass onto the customer. The sky is the limit when it comes to banners — from a 50-foot "Now Leasing" banner that hangs on the side of an apartment complex to a 6-foot "Finish" banner at the local kids' fun run. The possibilities are endless.

Cut Up
While the particulars of the decoration process vary somewhat by material, the essentials remain: You create a graphic on the computer, then send it to the cutter, which automatically cuts the design. Next, you remove excess material — also known as weeding — and apply the graphic to the substrate.

The software that comes with vinyl cutters lets you import logos and "translates" them for the machine, making things even simpler. Also, the machine's blades are so tiny that it can make extremely detailed, precise cuts. However, keep in mind that the more detailed the cuts, the more difficult weeding will be.

Here's what I mean by excess material: Vinyl rolls come in different sizes. I usually stock 12-inch rolls. If you're cutting a "Now Open" sign with 10-inch letters, after running the job through your plotter you will be weeding away two inches of waste around the cut letters. Also, when cutting the letter O or P, for instance, you need to weed, or remove, the material in the middle of those letters.

You might be wondering how you transfer the graphics from the cutter to the material. Suppliers offer what's called a transfer template, or transfer tape. You lay the transfer material over the graphics, squeegee out the air, and this becomes your medium to transfer it to the substrate. You simply pull the backing away, lay it down on the substrate, squeegee it and remove the tape.

The beauty is that if you make a mistake — if you rip apart the letter "P," for instance — you can simply cut and place another P.

Is the Price Right?
When you're determining pricing for jobs done on your cutter, pay close attention to the labor costs involved. While your material costs probably will be minimal, some jobs — especially the ones with detailed graphics — can be labor-intensive and time-consuming. Be sure to charge accordingly.

You may feel a bit uneasy charging $30 for something that cost only $1 or so in materials, but you're not in business to make a profit on your supplies only. You need to make a return on all of your expenses, including labor and overhead. Plus, the reality is that a fair price is whatever the market will bear. Countless products that you purchase all the time — from consumables to luxuries — are priced relative to what consumers will pay, not necessarily just what they cost to produce.

Another consideration: Some jobs done with vinyl cutters are not recurring ones. For instance, if you do window lettering for a new store, it's not likely that you'll create new window lettering for that business every few months, or even every few years — unlike T-shirt orders, where you may get re-orders every quarter or so. That said, charge accordingly.

Final Considerations
Clearly, cutters represent a great opportunity for additional profits. What's more, they don't represent a big investment. As far as consumables for the cutter, you'll want to keep an extra blade on hand. I usually change blades about three times a year — not a big expense, given that they're only about $25. And on a related note, changing out blades is really all the maintenance required for cutters. They're essentially "plug and play."

You also may want to purchase application fluid, which is like soapy water that you spray on the vinyl material to delay the adhesive process while you correctly position it. After you put it in place, simply squeegee out the fluid and let it dry. This is especially handy when applying vehicle lettering and graphics, particularly when working around the vehicle's curves, molding and door jambs.

This level of simplicity — including the ease of making more money — is what makes vinyl cutters an ideal add-on.

Jill Grininger is the owner of Grin's Graphics, a one-woman screen printing operation in Grass Valley, Calif. For more information or to comment on this article, e-mail Jill at jillgrins@sbcglobal.net.

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