New(ish) Member

[matrixmorso]

Hi all, taking my que from Beth below i thought it was about time i introduced myself instead of being a silent browser. i'm Jay and been into framing for a year or so, am currently out in Iraq with the forces coming back home to Swindon mid January next year. i am using my time out here to try and sort out various elements of business management i.e. quickbooks, estlite etc etc, one problem i have had in the past is knowing what mountboard i should hold, a broad question i know but generally speaking wise could anybody advise me of what their default stock holdings are. i am taking a long road to setting up business as i still have 3 years in the forces but during the interim i still have an Army Garrison to frame for which is a healthy trickle. i have gleaned loads of help and advise from this website over the last few months and would just like to say thanks to you all for keeping it going. best regards

[John]

Hi Jay,

Welcome to the forum.

The stock levels that you will need at startup will depend on the type of business you intend to begin with. Are you thinking of a high street location, with a proper shop front?

Either way, you might want to consider using a chop service, as it does not require that you carry any moulding stock, saving you that startup expense.

[michelle]

Hello jay, good to catch up with you and it sounds as though you are using your time well. We met on the hot press course where I picked your brains and you put me in touch with this site which has been fantastic. I get so many of my niggles (and bigger) sorted by browsing this site it is great. Can't help you on your question about mount board as I buy in small quantities as and when from a supplier who delivers up to twice a week, I know it is more expensive but the only way for me to be able to offer the range due to lack of storage. Let me know how you are doing.
take care
michelle

[Merlin]

Hi Jay. Welcome to the Forum. God help us.... another Pongo!!!

A wise move mate, start now whilst still drawing service Pay and work hard to gather those 'present' contracts. They will come in handy when you make the big move.

I too am Ex forces - Senior Service of course . Three years before I left, we started as a cottage industry - just to see and test the field so to speak. It worked and we outgrew the home workshop and moved into a high street location 1 year before time served.
This doesnt really answer your question, but we started with an excellent 'start up' package from D&J SIMONS and ARQADIA with 150 mountboard colours and 150 ish 'bread & butter' mouldings.

I had a very good resettlement package and managed to organise two residential courses which really helped.
Unless you are 'Pay Corp' or equivalent, the steepest learning curve was Business Plans, VAT and TAX. Hey, as a serviceman that is what a Pay Office if for. So I went on a Tri-service course - Starting Your own Business at Aldershot (Ughhhhhh!!!!) Apart from people in green marching (matelots do not do that!!) and shouting all over the place it was full of very good information and usefull addressess.

8 years down the line, those contacts I made whilst serving, have now turned into Contracts for the local base.

At the time I decided it would be a good idea to belong to a 'professional body'. The FATG. So I sat the GCF. Initially they helped, I will admit. Not so sure now though.
Come on back if you need any more help. I am sure another Pongo will shortly jump in and say a few words as well. ROBO.

[matrixmorso]

Cheers all, its pleasing to see how many people have looked since i posted earlier today, more to the point its pleasing to know how many ex services are making a living in the real world. to dispell any confusion i have a set up from my garage (window & door) being fitted as we speak (hopefully) in order to run home based business, my wife has just left the Army so she will be fronting it whilst im still serving (3 years to collect a pension). i have all the relevant eqpt, Morso, excalibur, cassesse etc etc, im pretty sorted on Frame mouldings and have an easy short notice alternative to stocking too much. i have attended a couple of courses and read more books than i could shake a stick at, this coupled with a keen attention to detail and i reckon were doing allright. obviously going out and spending hundereds of pounds on mountboard is a step in the right direction however (theres allways a however) i wouldnt mind some steerage in the right direction, my main clientbase at present is soldiers, that said i presume they throw just as much variety at me as civvy street will, im trying to meet that market aswell so that i have built up a reasonable clientbase by the time i leave the Army, i didnt realize Arquadia etc did a form of get you started packs, maybe thats an area i should have exploited myself however its a bit difficult at present lol. anyway all thanks once again, the help on this web site is fantastic in all shapes and forms.

[beth]

I agree with John, chop moulding is very handy; you can have lots of samples and not worry about ordering too many lengths.
I would contact your reps from wholesalers and ask them what their best selling mouldings are in your region.
Its worth looking through the catalogues and picking mouldings and mount cards you can get from several different wholesalers where possible. I get all my glass from Glass and mirror and I can get mixed Arqadia mountcards as long as I order 5 sheets.
A lot of my customers are in 30-40s the type of moulding they are after are contemporary, rustic or wooden (oak etc). I find wide gold traditional doesn’t sell at the moment. The type of moulding you will sell depends on your customers.
Deep bevels and box frames are popular. Deep moulding for football shirts and memorabilia also popular.
Conservation glass (Tru vue) is a big seller.

Hope this is of some help

[Roboframer]

Hello and welcome Jay!

Yes I'm ex forces 23 years man and boy - 1/RWF.

One part of resettlement I didn't take advantage of was the work experience bit - dunno if it's still a go-er - but if you can find yourself a good busy frameshop and work there while the army pay you ......

..... one problem i have had in the past is knowing what mountboard i should hold, a broad question i know but generally speaking wise could anybody advise me of what their default stock holdings are.

Anyway - don't worry I won't ignore your main question like everyone else has

My default is alphamat artcare IMHO it's the best there is, great colour range, some unusual finishes/coloured cores and at £3:99 per sheet (list - IOW - discounts are available) very competitive. Nielsen/Bainbridge are also very helpful for start-ups - not sure about how they feel about non-retail premises - are you gonna open a shop?

If you are into washlines (and if not - THAT would be a good course to take) then alphamat artcare is inconsistent, but I use alphaRAG artcare for those; which IS consistent - plus it outspecs other makes of cotton board while remaining cheaper than most!

My default dry-mounting board is artcare restore and my default backing board is artcare foamboard.

I like artcare!

Oh, and if you are not going to be 100% chop on mouldings - get an account with D&J Simons - esp if you are in to hand staing plain mouldings and just generally like a good price.

[kev@frames]

slater harrison antique white or arquadia hayseed (textured whites). Thats 75 percent of your customers taken care of, then arquadia plaiin cream or slater harrison plain cream, and thas another 20 percent.
The other 5 percent are all akward baskets so order theirs in on a weekly from your wholesaler.

That started as a joke, but actually its not far from the truth.

and always keep an extra fortnight's stock of the white and cream mount boards, because you can guarantee the suppliers always run out once or twice a year for some inexplicable reason.

And... Hi and welcome!