Shop Grows Into Top-15 Franchise

AHWATUKEE (Wednesday, November 08, 2006) - Brian and Sue Eichenberg own Sign-A-Rama, which was named the business of the year for 2005 by the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce.

Brian, 56, and Sue, 53, met in high school and have been married 35 years.

They are one of 700 Sign-A-Rama franchises worldwide and, they said, among only 15 that exceed $1 million in annual sales. Their store is at 3400 N. Arizona Ave. in Chandler, (480) 821-1100.

How did you get started?

They started in 1997 and chose the firm because it has a cap on its annual royalty franchise fee and they haven't had to pay the royalty fee since their first year of business.

"We had only $400 in sales the first week, so we started walking every street possible in Ahwatukee, Chandler and Gilbert, going door-to-door for business. By the end of that year, we had $80,000 in sales and we expect to reach $1.8 million this year and we advertise very little," Brian said.

What's the most unexpected thing you've learned?

"You think if you own your business that you can set your own hours," said Brian, who had corporate management jobs in the past. "When I supervised 1,200 people, I didn't work as hard."

Sue said the couple thought they would work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"We didn't realize at first that you have to be on all the time if you are to be successful."

What's the most surprising thing?

"The cash crunch surprised us," Brian said. "We had great sales. But you get paid 35 to 45 days after a job, yet you're still paying taxes. All the money is going out and you're waiting."

How did you overcome your biggest business mistake?

Not being good at collecting bills, Brian said.

"We just were not good at accounts receivable," Brian said. "We now plan for tax time in September by looking at the business and where it will end up and we buy equipment with business cash to write off on profits, so we don't carry loans anymore. Now, we're big enough the cash flow is such that we can deal with it."

What do you know now that you wish you knew then?

"I wish we had done this 10 or 20 years before we did so we'd have more energy," Sue said. Brian said he should have known long ago that he was capable of owning a small business.

"This is more rewarding than the corporate world," he said. "If we had started earlier, who knows how big we'd be now?"

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