Does size really matter?

[LeoLeo]

Hello - my first post on this forum so greetings to everyone here.

I'm someone who is seriously considering starting a framing service from a shop premises and starting to do my research on equipment and materials, techniques, training, business matters and so on... I'm serious enough to be going to view properties and putting my house on the market to try and buy the freehold on a small shop and live above it. At this point, you can guess I need some good advice and I expect I'll be posting on this forum quite regularly in the future, hoping that you will be generous with your wisdom!

My first question is this:
For a one-man (me) framing business running from a high street shop, what are the space and layout requirements? I'm limited on funds so any shop space I can afford is going to be small. I would aim to be using what seems to be the basic professional framer's equipment (Morso F, decent mount cutter and underpinner, workbench etc) and a reasonable range of mouldings. Can it all be accommodated in one room, or would I be better off partitioning space into separate 'clean' and 'dusty' rooms? What size room or rooms would I need, as 'absolute minimum' and 'comfortable' size for this type of work? I need to work out whether the kind of shop I can afford can accommodate what I'm planning, or I might have to have a serious rethink!

Any other advice about premises, workshop layout etc. would be very much appreciated. I hope you can help me!

I look forward to joining in with this community and getting to know you all a bit over the coming months...

[John]

Hi LeoLeo,

Welcome to the forum.

If you scan through some of the previous topics here you will find snippets of relevant information.

Some of the members have much the same setup as you propose and, I'm sure, would be happy to give you the benefit of their experience.

It might be worth your while to chat to a few established framers, preferably outside of your own area. You will find that lots of them will be more than willing to share their knowledge, as long as they know that you are not setting up across the street from them.

[Merlin]

Hi LeoLeo
You will get a lot of advice on here. Search the archives and you will also see photos posted, where you can get some idea of layout. Its not easy as you have to go with the bricks and mortar that is already there.

My case is that there is two workshops, small.. 1 @ 4m x 4m. morso, underpinner, moulding on racks. fridge, sink toilet. and 1 @ 4m x 2.5m containing bench where a full sheet of mount can be laid on (or glass) plus now the CMC. this is the clean area.

My one word of advice is READ everything that you can get your hands on wrt framing techniques. Set yourself high standards, that way you will eventually stand out above your competitors. Stick to those high standards. Whenever you get time on your hands. READ again and again. Hit the various picture framing forums, AUS, UK, USA you will learn so so much.

Keep posting on here and ask questions. No matter how silly the question may seem to you. Believe me, it has been asked many times before, and in fact I have probably asked it myself and I am still learning and having only been in a High st location with small gallery and bespoke framing for 7 years, I am a beginner. Others on this forum have a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Seriously think about joining an organisation .. ie Fine Art Trade Guild.

Stll bored. READ again..

Good luck and Welcome to the forum

[Merlin]

Hi LeoLeo
You will get a lot of advice on here. Search the archives and you will also see photos posted, where you can get some idea of layout. Its not easy as you have to go with the bricks and mortar that is already there.

My case is that there is two workshops, small.. 1 @ 4m x 4m. morso, underpinner, moulding on racks. fridge, sink toilet. and 1 @ 4m x 2.5m containing bench where a full sheet of mount can be laid on (or glass) plus now the CMC. this is the clean area.

My one word of advice is READ everything that you can get your hands on wrt framing techniques. Set yourself high standards, that way you will eventually stand out above your competitors. Stick to those high standards. Whenever you get time on your hands. READ again and again. Hit the various picture framing forums, AUS, UK, USA you will learn so so much.

Keep posting on here and ask questions. No matter how silly the question may seem to you. Believe me, it has been asked many times before, and in fact I have probably asked it myself and I am still learning and having only been in a High st location with small gallery and bespoke framing for 7 years, I am a beginner. Others on this forum have a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Seriously think about joining an organisation .. ie Fine Art Trade Guild.

Stll bored. READ again..

Good luck and Welcome to the forum

[markw]

Merlin - you meant the bit about read again!
LeoLeo
some basics that can make life easier -
for your suppliers, especially glass - make sure you have easy access and enough height - lugging heavy materials up stairs can be a pain - some machinery is very heavy.

For your customers. Customers are basically lazy - they need to be able to park outside your shop and practically fall through the door. - when my local council doubled the price of parking my business nosedived - they reduced it after much protest and several businesses had closed. Good display space - well lit 24/7 - best advice given me by local trader of long standing - fit good lights and leave them on - doubled sales almost overnight - slight pun there - i sell lots of art to people who were just passing one evening.

for you. Look at chop - it can save you a lot of capital outlay - racks of moulding are dead stock. a good sized work space will prove invaluable.
Go on a training course - you can then hit the ground running.

Good luck - If you can make it work its a great way to make a living.

[LeoLeo]

Hello - thanks everyone for the good advice so far. I can see this forum as being a really invaluable way to learn about the business and I'm very glad I found it! Everything you've said sounds very sensible. I know I'm on a very steep learning curve and I am not the sort of person who does things by halves, when I get interested in something I want to take it all the way and I intend to spend as much time as possible researching, learning and practicing. At the moment I'm full of enthusiasm and what I think are good ideas but I realise it will take time and effort to become a good professional craftsman. I'm willing to put this in, so I feel quite confident about achieving my goals, especially when I have people I can discuss these things with and come to for advice. I intend to go and try and persuade a few local framers to tell me the facts of framing life face-to-face over the next few weeks. Then if they haven't put me off and I'm sure that I can find suitable premises within my price range, I'll take the plunge, get on a training course and start to develop my skills. I'm planning on taking a few months over this while keeping my current job, setting up my workshop and practicing on my own artwork before handing in my notice and letting myself loose on the general public. That's the plan, anyway.

I'm going to see a shop on Saturday which has a backroom of about 4m x 5m and it sounds from Merlin's comments that although bigger would be ideal, this might be big enough to get by on. I'll have to see what the other factors (accessibilty for customers and deliveries, stairs, parking spaces etc) are like too. Does anyone else have an opinion on whether setting up a workshop in a space this size is viable? Apparently there's a big cellar too but I suspect that if it's damp it might not be too useful for storing mouldings etc. in, and probably not much fun to work in either... will have to see.

Thanks again for the advice, and feel free to keep posting it

Exciting times!

[Dermot]

The height of the roof in the workshop is something to consider….

One of the very successful framing shops in Dublin had a backroom (work area) which was only about 12’ x 10’ the guy who owned it was a master at utilizing space…..he also overflowed some of the equipment into the shop (customer area)……for example he had a fold up part on his counter….underneath was his hot press….the press came flush with the rest of the counter for handling oversize work…..he was also meticulously tidy…

The whole area of his shop was about 300 to 400sq ft. ……he was doing some turnover out of there…..I have a rough idea of how much as I was supplying him with his glass and from that I extrapolated some rough numbers…….he was making a good living….

Good luck with your venture