Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Hoffman.
Scott, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We started in 2013 as a business opportunity (kind of like a franchise but no royalties and no rules), with no brand, logo, or website and built the business up from there. I originally left the CPG industry looking to get another W4 job and decided after looking at the travel and commuting I would have to do to get back into a role I wanted – and chose to stay close to home and start my own business. Our business model was to provide top quality signs and graphics at competitive prices with unparalleled customer service – to build up a base of satisfied repeat customers.
My wife Edith joined me about 6 months later when I needed support so I could spend more time marketing the company, and our results/revenue really picked up from there. Edith is now certified as a 3M Preferred Graphics Installer and leads our vinyl installs team as well as handling the tougher vehicle wrap jobs, and I am a licensed install contractor for electrical and non-electrical signs, and lead our exterior sign installers.
We now have 9 employees and are expecting to need to expand into a larger space in the near future.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting without any brand or brand recognition and no customer base. Definitely more difficult to start than a franchise. We also had no sign industry experience and had to hire experienced employees – that were not always open to new ideas and were not used to our high standards of execution. That was our difficult period, and about 2 years in we decided to take a risk on an opening we had for our key employee – our graphic designer. We decided to hire an experienced graphic designer that had no sign industry experience – because we wanted to mold the employee and wanted to hire for character and desire rather than getting another sign industry “Diva”. Since then we hire without regard for industry experience – we hire good citizens that are hardworking and that we want to work with and want to represent our company and brand. We have a number of college students working for us now, and have a nice distribution of different aged employees, male/female and different ethnicities. This allows us to mirror our customer base and communicate with and serve them better.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Superior Signs and Graphics story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in digitally printed vinyl graphics – although we offer other types of signs like dimensional letters, and lobby logo signs. Within the vinyl graphics category, we specialize in wall murals, window graphics, and vehicle wraps and graphics.
What sets us apart from other sign companies is the quality of materials and equipment that we use to produce, our dedicated employees, and our quality control processes. We only make “Superior” signs. We also have taken the right steps to ensure that we continue to deliver that level day in and day out by getting certifications like the 3M Vinyl Graphics certification and contractor’s license and passing the learnings we got from self-study onto our employees. We also are proud to have an “open kitchen” concept here at out shop (think El Pollo Loco) – so if you want to watch your van being wrapped, you can. You can see the materials we use and watch the design or production process. That puts a lot of new customers at ease. Finally, we strive to be “easy to do business with”, anticipating our regular customer’s needs and providing fast turnaround times.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I don’t believe in luck.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6061 Dale Street,
Unit G,
Buena Park, CA 90621 - Website: superiorsignsandgraphics.com
- Phone: 714-739-2855
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/pages/Superior-Signs-and-Graphics/455093027883634?fref=ts
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SuperiorSignsAG
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/superior-signs-and-graphics-buena-park
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
