The Phillips family, owners of Signs365.com, like to "work with the little guy" when custom-making everything from yard signs and vinyl banners to vehicle magnets.
Word has spread consistently and persistently among sign shops, trade printers and graphic artists since the company made its online debut in 2005 that Signs365.com is totally committed to quick turnaround, quality product and outstanding customer service.
One key to Signs365.com's success: "We do production at a cost that most people don't believe," allowing shops and graphic artists to focus on what they do best - creativity, said Mark Phillips, a longtime sign shop owner who launched the Michigan-based company after his son saw a niche to use the Internet to service shops and artists who would rather focus on concepts "without the grief" of bogging themselves down with manufacturing their creations themselves.
"He told me, 'Hey Dad, we can do this,'" Mr. Phillips recalled. And just like that, the Phillips family put Signs365.com on the web, went on a family trip to California and got their first order - a $64 banner for a produce market - as they were enjoying the sights of San Francisco. They were all set to get to work before their 10-day vacation was even over.
Mr. Phillips makes a point of seeking win-win scenarios. His company, he says, exists to do the labor of printing signs and banners with expensive, state-of-the-art machines that most shops cannot afford to buy themselves. "We can save people aggravation by being partners in profit. Customers make us profitable. We make them profitable by giving them back what they want."
As the business has grown - now with a fulfillment facility in Arizona as well as Michigan - customers have received a clear message from Signs365.com: It's that we really care.
"We support people and we're consistent. our bread and butter's entangled with their bread and butter," Mr. Phillips said. "When we take care of their needs, I won't have to worry about mine. When they do well, we will do well. We make sure every little thing we do for them is perfect."
Mr. Phillips, who got into the business by hand-painting signs in Macomb County, MI, after he served a stint in the Marine Corps, ran the Banner Signs shop in the northeast Detroit suburb of Utica for 20 years - 10 of them from his home.
At Signs365.com, Mr. Phillips has included his family as co-owners and managers of the company and plans to keep it that way. He empowers his family by welcoming their input and leadership and considers them partners and equals in the business, not underlings. He believes this philosophy will help the company thrive and not just survive.
Mr. Phillips' children represent the third generation of the Phillips family in the sign business, which began when his father, Edward, owned Phillips Signs in Roseville, MI, an east-side suburb of Detroit. Mr. Phillips hopes his grandchildren become the fourth generation to run what has become a burgeoning family business.
Wholesale customers like Jason say the expertise of Signs365.com makes finishing a job for clients a snap. In an e-mail to the company, he told us: "You took a tedious job off my hands. … You saved me a ton of extra labor. … You amaze me. I wouldn't have done this in-house with the same quality at the price you were able to pull it off for."
Signs365.com relies on the strong work ethic and abilities of its employees to get orders done correctly and on time. It comes down to trust.
"We don't micromanage anything," Mr. Phillips says. "We find good people and let them do their jobs. My people are amazing."
