# Im feeling overwhelmed and somewhat depressed, need some good business advice!



## ochoa_dean (Jul 30, 2009)

Hi everyone, I opened my printing business about 9 months ago. Everything is going great! I have a strong foundation of customers and i get business almost daily.

But i'm having problems with managing my time, and actually making time for myself. I basically work night and day 16 hours is the usual day for me sometimes more. I have dedicated my life to my business and I completely understand thats what i takes to survive being an entrepreneur.

My main concern is that i feel that im depressed because sometimes i just feel so overwhelmed with all of this work that i feel like im going to go crazy! Im only 21 years old and I just need some advice on what i should do. Any tips on managing my time?

My #1 problem is not being able to say NO to customers who need stuff last minute. I cant refuse the money and i feel like maybe this might be the problem.

Thank you


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## 20vK (Jul 9, 2011)

Double your last minute prices

That should give you a day off - if it's too rich for the customer, they can walk away (you don't feel bad because you didn't turn them down, they turned you down & you get your day off), or book the job into your normal working week schedule at the normal price.

If you still get business at 2x your normal price, you can then consider not taking on a normal priced job and take the day off when you would normally have worked instead. And the 2x last minute job price you do would mean you actually get paid for that day you take off! 

At least working for twice the pay makes work feel less like work!

Richie


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## Rusty44 (Apr 28, 2008)

Dean, you've taken on a lot. Organization is a priority in any business. 16 hour days sounds like you need help. It's hard to grow a business, take the orders, print the shirts, ship the shirts, clean up, billing, etc. if it is a full time job. Part time help may be what you need ... but before you do. Ask yourself what would you have them do? 

Knowing exactly what takes up 16 hours in your day is important. You need some clarity ... make a list of what you do every day ... the must do things ... then make a list of what distracts you from the first list. You will begin to weed the time killers out and streamline your time.

It's fun to do what you love, but without proper planning it can become something you hate.

Good luck...and don't give up.


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## scg (Aug 11, 2009)

We started biz 3 years ago and after the first year I had all of it I wanted. A 9 to 5 looked really good 
Since we had a huge investment in equipment I kept going BUT I made one huge change. Saying NO.
I pick and choose my jobs and will only do one off or rush stuff for really good customers. Most one off stuff is done on my time(when I get to it and they are fine with it).

I think the main thing I learned is saying NO doesn't kill your business. Not saying NO means you take on too much, get stressed, and for me it meant turning out stuff I wasn't truly happy with.
Just say NO  you will be alot happier!


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## AtkinsonConsult (May 2, 2011)

Dean:

On certain jobs, farm it out to other printers. Sure, you'll make a little less - but it will free up your schedule and you can get more accomplished in a day. Don't refuse the work, just contract it out. Try to find three or four shops within a ground shipment away from you to handle your overload.

Also, if you are a manual shop - maybe it's time to upgrade to an auto. There are plenty on the market that are used and in good condition.

Finally, sometimes you may need some help - but don't want any employees. You can go through a temp agency and hire some for an afternoon, a day or whatever. Many companies also use these as ways to vet their new hires before fulling committing.

Good luck,

-M


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## JrLey05 (Mar 16, 2012)

As much as I hate working for free, there are others who will do it just for the experience. College Campuses are perfect place to find interns. For credit and incentives. If your business continues to grow, you may find individuals perfect for your company and they already know how to do the job. That's when you opt to start paying and employing part-time or even full-time but always be fair and oversee your business because no one will treat your business like you will.


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

First of all congratulations on your early success. I have a few thoughts maybe a couple will help. 

To give you a little back ground on myself, I am currently in the shirt business now strictly as something fun to do with my time and with my family after first having been retired for a few years. Prior to this I owned another business entirely which I retired from when I was in my mid forties. 

Like yourself I started young, although not quite as young as you did. Also like yourself I worked long and hard continually, early on I even went years without ever taking a vacation. However unlike what your are feeling, I relished in doing so. Now don't confuse that with being easy to do so, it was hard, I missed out on some things I do now sometimes regret, but ask me if I would do it all again, and the answer is yes. 

One difference might be is I always had very specific written goals. I knew exactly where points A,B,C were with regards to where I was headed, and what it would take. I had seen up close people who owned businesses and worked hard yet somehow got pulled in and didn't know when to get out. They were successful yet were still tied to their business when they were into their seventies. IMHO, for me at least that wasn't success. I wanted my business to be a tool to be used for generating a great early retirement. My long term goal from the very beginning was always to retire and not have to work by the time I was fifty years old. I ended up beating that goal by almost five years.

So I would say to you, figure out what you want from this. Put it into the proper perspective for your life. You are young take advantage of working hard when you have the strength and stamina to do so, but have an end to the means. believe me it helps tremendously when hitting that wall to be able sit down read your goals and see exactly how things are going as planned. 

Now as far as goals, they need to be written down. You should have short term goals, some that project a little longer out and then a final goal. Your short term goals should be very precise and specific, the longer ones a little less so, your ultimate goal more specific again. As you learn more about yourself and your business your keep adjusting and fine tuning your longer term goals to benefit your achieving your final goal. Your specific short term goals should be met and new ones created. 

Being specific and writing down your goals allows you to properly make your business decision using logic not emotion. You should never make business decisions using emotions, they will almost always be poor ones. 

Now as time moves forward and your start building up more financial success you may choose to adjust your short term goals that will allow for an easier work load, or some other personal perks. It is easy to do if you have conditioned yourself and are in the habit of setting and achieving your goals. You will have successfully built your self a road map for your business and personal life and personal time will become part of that as well. So if providing yourself some benefit fits comfortable within your longer goals you can now do so with confidence you have that flexibility.

Instead of just burning out at some point and making a decision using your emotions of that moment. If done successfully you should be planning things logically when setting and reviewing your goals. If done successfully you also should feel less stress because you are in control rather then out of control regardless of how hard you are working. The idea is to be successful and in control of your business and not let it control you. Believe me if you learn that at a young age you will greatly benefit. Sadly many people never learn that and become slaves to their own businesses.

I know this is getting long, but let me add at least this point. Make sure you understand your numbers. Learn them inside and out and review them constantly. Know every detail of all your cost and overhead. Understand completely mark ups and how they effect your gross profit margins. Understand completely how your gross margins, sales and costs all work together to create your net profits. I can't stress this enough. You can have all the goals in the world and if you don't understand these things you might find yourself to often missing those goals, or worse yet believing your are hitting them only to really be treading water for years and not truly realizing it. Too many self employed people end up working just to pay bills and not create wealth which should give them the flexibility and freedom one should generate from all the hard work. Don't fall into that trap.

Lastly I want to compliment you on being a young entrepreneur. Good for you, it is not always easy, but the rewards can be great. I am always encouraged when I see young people with drive and a work ethic, we need more of that.

I wish you all the best with your future.


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## Flagrant-T (Nov 11, 2009)

All awesome advice above.

I found myself in a similar situation. The thing that helped me was evaluating my price list and raising my prices. In the beginning I made what I feel is a pretty common mistake of trying to get every job that came my way and trying to compete with all the low ballers, and over time, the combination of cotton prices going through the roof and my prices falling led to me working a lot of hours for not that much money. I raised my prices to a still fair level, and definitly lost some work, but now I'm working less and making more.

Good luck!
Nick


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## ccolors1 (Jan 16, 2011)

Thanks....this thread is helping me a lot....I too am feeling so overwhelmed and overworked. I just Can not keep burning the candle at both ends... I know I need to take a Sabbatical and regroup and get my financial paperwork in order. From now on I will just have to learn to say NO and meant it..
Can you tell me what accounting software you are using. Or did you hire someone to do the financial part? I purchased quickbooks but have yet to use it. 


quote=Flagrant-T;1127613]All awesome advice above.

I found myself in a similar situation. The thing that helped me was evaluating my price list and raising my prices. In the beginning I made what I feel is a pretty common mistake of trying to get every job that came my way and trying to compete with all the low ballers, and over time, the combination of cotton prices going through the roof and my prices falling led to me working a lot of hours for not that much money. I raised my prices to a still fair level, and definitly lost some work, but now I'm working less and making more.

Good luck!
Nick[/quote]


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## ThatGuyWhoPrints (Jul 11, 2012)

20vK said:


> Double your last minute prices
> 
> That should give you a day off - if it's too rich for the customer, they can walk away (you don't feel bad because you didn't turn them down, they turned you down & you get your day off), or book the job into your normal working week schedule at the normal price.
> 
> ...


^^Yeah that should do the trick. haha good stuff! two thumbs up


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## hbapparel (Jan 16, 2012)

I just opened up a few months ago and I wish I had that problem. My problem is I am lining up some very good jobs but they are all in next month or so and I need work now!

Congrats on getting started, but do take time for yourself.


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## p4tfr34k (Jul 18, 2012)

your health is more important than money..you will lose more money if you get health problems.whats the use of money if you dont have time to enjoy it?


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

I read a book once and they suggested one thing, "Double your prices". Obviously there isn't a hard and fast "double" that needs to be put there but it's to point out a fact.

If you double your prices and only get 50% of the work because you are "too expensive", then you still make the same amount but only work half as hard.  This not only frees up your time but also lets you better focus on those people that appreciate your work.


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## missswissinc (Feb 21, 2012)

I agree if it needs to be done next day then by all means charge them double or even triple if they want it like overnight. atleast your going to do 1 of 2 things. either your going to make the money or not get the job. I usually tell everybody 7-10 days and I stick to that. I have at times asked customers like one of our major clients a couple of months ago about do you need it overnight since I have other clients in front of you and I just can't bump them without charging you more. was told won't be like that. Remember your health is more important than that shirt. shirts come and go but your health is more important. if your not healthy to pull the squeege then your not going to be any helpfull to anybody no matter how much you want to do that shirt. I should know been working almost night and day. going to go on a mini vacation shortly. I know I'm a big ******* going to see a nascar race.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Look at FedEx and UPS rates... if you want something overnight it is a WHOLE lot more than regular ground shipping. It certainly doesn't cost them that much and they don't set up a special flight (and likely not even a special truck) just for your package. They are just taking a bit of extra care to make sure it is expedited and ON those trucks/flights that are already in route.

You have to charge accordingly, if they can't handle that then they have no respect for you.

If you need your car fixed and you need it fixed RIGHT NOW, you [email protected] well better believe you are going to pay more for it.


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## missswissinc (Feb 21, 2012)

Hey gilligan love your qoute at the end. have to write that one down.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

I can't take credit for that.

Sage Francis from his song Narcissist, even if you don't really like hip hop you should check him out. He brings it back to where it started, with a message and a purpose, not all that B!tches, Ho's, and money crap.

Sorry for getting a bit off topic there, but hey listening to music is one way to relax.


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## 10sJunkie (Jun 5, 2012)

This advice on how to set prices came from my best friend (who happens to be a very successful, hot-shot, NY advertising and marketing consultant)...

"KEEP GOING UP UNTIL SOMEONE SAYS NO"

I have been using this in my design business for years and it works. I go up little by little, every time I bid a job for a new customer, my rate is a little higher than it was for the last customer. No one has ever turned me down... at least not yet! 

Good LUCK


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## iamavol (Aug 8, 2006)

I agree with most of what everyone else has stated. You need to learn to say NO and charge for last minute stuff from the beginning. If you don't, customer will come to expect that you will do last minute stuff at no additional charge and the "fun" part of this business will go away. Then when you try and implement some standards, you run the risk of losing these customers because you have "changed" your business practices.

How do I know...because I did the same thing when I first started out.


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## Gilligan (Dec 11, 2009)

Good timing on bringing this back up.

One of our GOOD customers tends to be last minute a LOT.

They recently asked for a job which was literally over night for us (order shirts, get them next day, print them that day and ship them out that day!) I charged them for it!

Then when I saw them later I told them "you know you could have saved X dollars if you would have placed that order sooner." They said "Really? Yeah, we need to make sure we get on that sooner... we have another order we want to do... I'll make sure to get you everything sooner this time." I simply said "That would be awesome, just let us know as soon as you can!"

I have a feeling things won't be so last minute with them anymore. 

I doubled my profit and even threw my printer a bonus for working so hard to get that order out that day!


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## beanie357 (Mar 27, 2011)

Great thread.
I set a work sked for whatever it took for 18 months.
Then took a vacation. 1 week. Cruise.
Now have a 6 month window, as have brought management on.
KnoWing I have a major break coming keeps me sane.

Have used this in past with succes.


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

ochoa_dean said:


> Hi everyone, I opened my printing business about 9 months ago. Everything is going great! I have a strong foundation of customers and i get business almost daily.
> 
> But i'm having problems with managing my time, and actually making time for myself. I basically work night and day 16 hours is the usual day for me sometimes more. I have dedicated my life to my business and I completely understand thats what i takes to survive being an entrepreneur.
> 
> ...


I started my biz as a hobby.
I own a farm and had a empty building, that I thought I'd start a sports shop.. added sports trophies, Laser engraving, the the heat press, with plotter, then the tajima embroidery, then dye sub, then a VS540 54" versacamm, now adding DTG.

And I was a One man shop..
sure enough last year I collapsed in a emergency room they said it was stress, I said no way.. I have a beautifull daughter 5 yrs old , wife who loves me with a 6 figure carreer, big country property, Big pool, all the toys.. with lots of good work to pay for it all.. life is good.
Sometimes you just work so much , so hard you don't even see what is going on.
So now a 3 man shop, life is much better and I don't notice the pay cut, as I share the profits paying employess, we now get more done. 
My customers like the added service of people their for them. So I find more business comng in now.

Charging extra for rush orders is fine.
But I find the "just keep raising prices" until buisness slows down that you can handle it to be wrong.

For RUSH a-ok, but not simply because your busy and need to slow things up a bit.
Saying no is not cool either.. charge for last minute and pay overtime to your guys.. bill the customer the 50% for Rush, most will be just glad you offer rush service.

For me Customer service is #1 to success.

not cheap prices, not inflated prices to pad the wallet.
Just fair competitive pricing, and great service.
If that means hire extra help to get it all done, do that.. and watch your business continue to grow!.. all the way to the point that at 40 like me , you can work 4 hours a day managing...
My 2 cents.
worked for me.


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## Keystone Keith (Mar 3, 2011)

Dean, 

Here's some words of wisdom that were passed on to me when I first started, and I'll pass them on to you:

Work like nobody you know for the next 5 years, and you'll live like nobody you know for the rest of your life.

The fact of the matter is that being self employed (successfully) is very challenging. However, the ultimate rewards are the payoff. It's sounds like you need to "catch your breath".

Plan a weekend away with your significant other/friends, and get away for 48 hours. Away from your business, away from town. It's going to take some planning, but it will work wonders. For that 48 hour period, don't take calls related to work, don't do anything related to work. Truly take that 48 hours to rejuvenate.

I do this once a year (although it's up to a week now), and I consider it a "must".

Take care of yourself, because in the end it won't matter how successful you are if you aren't mentally capable of appreciating it.


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## stevegamble (Apr 14, 2010)

Seriously Dean, hire help.
I was Exactly in your shoes.
48 hours off means returning to a overwhelming amount of orders...= more stress.
I did thatt and said Never again, having to return to longer days to catch up was too hard on me.
I like my business, it was just overwhelming.
If YOU like your business, and can enjoy it, hire help.
You will no longer be overwhelmed and be liking you days spent at work again.
It is the Long term answer.
I went from a one man shop of 2,000 month to 60,000 per month within 1 year.
Zero advertising, my website sucks,and just word of mouth in a country town.
The 3 of us now have fun (took some training).. and we make a good dollar.

Work like an animal, just for a break here or there will not be fun those 11 months a year...
you need to create a work environment that you enjoy and can see yourself doing for 30 odd years,, that is the long term sollution and not as hard to do as you might think.
Plan it out, and their are many people with experince who will give you lot's of advice...lol.


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## swagocustom (Aug 8, 2012)

You cannot be successful when you try to be everything to everybody. You begin sacrificing quality for quantity and then you fail. Hire someone to help you even if it's part time in the begining. Stop doing the non income producing work, i.e. bookkeeping, phones, faxing, etc. Concentrate on your customers, production and managing your assistant.


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## Bougie (Jul 12, 2005)

ochoa_dean said:


> Hi everyone, I opened my printing business about 9 months ago. Everything is going great! I have a strong foundation of customers and i get business almost daily.
> 
> But i'm having problems with managing my time, and actually making time for myself. I basically work night and day 16 hours is the usual day for me sometimes more. I have dedicated my life to my business and I completely understand thats what i takes to survive being an entrepreneur.
> 
> ...


Systematize your business and then hire someone to do your job. You can either turn over all your work to other people or else you can pick one important function that you are best at and let other people do everything else. Business should not be about making yourself a slave. You should ultimately make your business a source of passive income. I decided not to print my own shirts because I knew I couldn't stand handling all the work of printing, packaging, and shipping each and every t-shirt. It would drive me crazy.

I recommend you read "How to get Rich" by Felix Dennis. It has some advice on delegating your work.


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## mustangFWL (Feb 27, 2012)

I'm right there with you... Being 21 and a business owner is hard, long hours, struggling to get paid, and all f the stress...

But that comes with any work (Expecially if your working another job too)

But half of the time that's not even the real cause of depression (at least in my case)

I know for me a ton is coming from just being a 21 year old guy... I am starting to look at the rest of my life, long term girlfriends, friends starting tI get married and having kids... Just a whole bunch if stuff... 

I've got this girl I have been friends with for about 7 years, and from the first time I met her I have always had a damn crush in her.. And it's one of those you just can't explain too.. But we have been talkin on and off for the past few years, but just recently after we both turned 21 something changed with both of us, we both became adults.. And started thinking about the future... We haven't really take about it or anything, but I feel like I could spend the rest of my life with her and it's been driving me crazy thinking about it.. I guess I just need to talk to her about it.

But we all get stressed out about things and feel down in the dumps, feel like the worlds pissed at us for no reason, and that everything we touch turns to crap,,, we just need to remember it always gets worse before it gets better and not tI stress the little things..

we do have a choice in the things we let effect us


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## johnbol1 (Aug 19, 2010)

If no one has ever told you you are too expensive..then you are too cheap.

John


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