Sharing in success
The idea for The Vinyl Guys was born in 2014 when Alex Liggett and a
friend were working on a motorsport project as a hobby. The pair had a
number of quotes for sponsor graphics and Liggett says the prices seemed
high compared to the quality they were receiving. So, Liggett decided
to try and save some money by researching the kit needed to produce
their own.
He explains: “We found a package deal for a 600mm vinyl cutter, a
computer, software and some mixed vinyl for around £700 and I decided to
buy it and see what we could make ourselves. Other people quickly found
out that we had the kit to do basic numbers, lettering, graphics etc,
and we started selling to other motorsport teams.”
From this, Liggett grew a side business selling motorsport graphics
alongside his full-time career in the police. Since the beginning,
Liggett has utilised the power of social media to generate business and
to spread the word about what he is doing.
Operating as Race Vinyl, Liggett produced logos for BTCC (British
Touring Car Championship) cars, Clio cup cars and a number of other cars
including a GT4 team. “I loved motorsport, so it was great to be
invited along to race weekends to support the teams. But as time went
on, I realised that as race budgets were so tight, the margins that
could be made by solely focusing on motorsport customers were low
compared to commercial work.” He says, adding: “Having met a few other
sponsors at race weekends, I started to look at designing and installing
commercial vehicle graphics. There was a huge market out there and the
margins were much higher too.”
Continued growth
Over the two years that followed, Liggett honed his focus in on
commercial vehicle customers which led to him producing signage and
other promotional print products. All this was done from a spare bedroom
using the 600mm cutter and then outsourcing any print work that was
needed.
“As this was only a sideline to my full-time career, I had been
saving any money I had made from this little venture and as I had been
outsourcing so much print towards the end of 2016, I decided to put that
money into buying my own wide-format print and cut machine,” Liggett
explains.
In late 2016, Liggett purchased a brand new Roland SG 540 and by
this time had already taken on a small office space as he had outgrown
the spare room, dining room and garage at home. “Much to my wife’s
frustration,” he adds. To match the company’s growth, Liggett also
changed the name from Race Vinyl to The Vinyl Guys.
“Almost every time I went to install graphics at a race team, van
dealer, or customer premises, when I’d go to sign in I’d hear people
shout: “the vinyl guy is here!” Liggett says, adding: “The pluralisation
of the name was from my desire to sound bigger than I was at the time
which seemed to work well, along with an 0800 number that I’d had to
forward to my mobile. I wanted fleet managers to see me as a proper
business and not as just a guy doing it on the side.”
The concept of being “just a man doing it on the side” didn’t last
for long and Liggett explains that the purchase of his wide-format
printer completely changed his business. He describes his motivation to
sell more, grow his design and artwork skills, and push more
eye-catching vehicle branding solutions as “unstoppable”.
Over the next three years, Liggett moved into a larger space and
bought finishing equipment and a Roland VG2 640 printer. He also took on
a part-time member of staff, grew his customer base and began to see
the business as something he could do full time.
Liggett plans to continue to grow The Vinyl Guys and offer more training and education to the industry
Seeing the business grow so quickly was the push Liggett needed to
finally make the move and in July 2019 after 18 years in the Police
Service, he left his job and took on the business full time.
The business wouldn’t have been able to grow so quickly if it
wasn’t for the support and advice of Liggett’s loved ones. Because of
this, there was another more personal reason for taking the plunge,
which Liggett explains: “Back in 2017 I had lost my dad and
father-in-law both quite suddenly and within only weeks of each other.
They had both been a huge part of the development of my business,
supported me and advised me when I needed it.
They had both worked hard their entire lives before being only
able to enjoy a very short time of their own retirements before being
taken from us.
“This made me reconsider many aspects of my life but mainly the
realisation that life is too short. I knew there was something there
with the business, something that I could grow and something that could
support my family and give me more freedom to see my wife and daughter. I
had to explore that opportunity now. What’s the worst that could
happen? If it failed, at least I’d have tried.”
I had to explore that opportunity now. What’s the worst that could happen? If it failed, at least I’d have tried”
The risk was worth it and today, The Vinyl Guys is operating from
brand new 2,600sq m premises with a purpose-built print room and
training centre to help new businesses grow. The company has four Roland
wide-format print machines: SG2 540, VG2 540, VG2 640 and a UV LEC2
640, as well as a BT 12 DTG printer. In terms of finishing equipment,
the company also has a rollover flat-bed application table, a Keencut
SteelTrak 250 and Evo 3, an Easymount laminator, and a Secabo TC7 heat
press.
Liggett adds: “I have some amazing relationships with manufacturers
and suppliers that have taken me years to build, as well as hundreds of
regular customers.”
Liggett now employs two full-time members of staff: Chris who is
the production manager and Carl who has just joined the team to run the
Print Business Growth Centre. Tom is also completing a part-time
apprenticeship with The Vinyl Guys as part of his engineering studies at
a local college.
The company operates around four core values: honesty, originality,
integrity, and love. Honesty in being straight and open with pricing,
the process and turnaround times; originality in creating individual,
custom designs in-house; integrity in what they say is what they do; and
love by caring about the products the company sends out and showing
customers they love what they do. This is in turn reflected in the care
and attention to detail of the work produced.
From producing solely car graphics to designing, printing, and
installing graphics for vehicles, signage, wall and floor graphics,
printed workwear, banners, site boards, custom stickers, labels and
graphics, it’s clear to see how far The Vinyl Guys has come in a short
space of time.
Paying it forward
One element of the business that has only recently been developed
is the launch of the Print Business Growth Centre. Starting out from a
desire to help others in a similar situation to when Liggett first
started out, the business started to host regular workshops to educate
and inspire those just dipping their toes into the industry.
This quickly grew and in August, The Vinyl Guys opened its doors to the
centre. Small business owners who currently outsource their print can
use the centre as a way to experience what it’s like to operate a
working print room. They can also get to grips with the latest
technology and software, giving them the confidence to perhaps invest in
their own kit.
Inside The Vinyl Guys’ purpose-built print centre
Liggett explains: “People can come and hear about the way I started
and grew the business and how we find our customers, materials and
pricing. The idea of these workshops is to show the nuts and bolts of
the business to people who are maybe in the position that I was in four
to five years ago and give them advice and tips on growing their own
business.”
Looking forward and Liggett’s goal is to grow this side of the
business and to continue to build on his strong relationships with
companies such as Roland, Signmaster Systems and Metamark, and as a
member of the ISA-UK (UK's International Sign Association). The hope is
to develop the workshops into industry recognised courses to help people
develop skills, network, and bring like-minded print business owners
together to regularly discuss things like products, materials and
finding customers to help build a strong community of printers.
Over on the print side, the aim is to expand next year with further
investments in machinery and to grow the team. Liggett adds: “I’ve
always planned ahead in great detail; it’s been the key to our growth so
far. With the growth in our business we have seen through lockdown, we
are 14-18 months ahead of our current business plan which is great. But
it has meant that I am now having to look further forwards than I had
previously been.”
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