By the time this article is in print, even areas up north will be having to mow grass again. Down here in Texas, we start early, and our mowing season is long, so through the years we wear out lots of mowers.

I have a large yard, and we also have three shops within about a half mile of each other, and each of them have yards, one of which is an acre or two of mowing by itself. Before the first cut, I was already concerned about how long our little green riding mower would last before its next major repair. My concerns were not unfounded.

After I purchased a new battery for it, Sloan mowed a good deal of the Rick’s Sign Co. yard, the largest one since it has a lot of area back behind the building. Later, Cory took it across the highway to the WPC Services shop, which involves about a half acre of cutting of its own. But, before he finished that chore, a bearing in one of the two main spindles on the mower deck must have come all apart, and somehow shattered the spindle housing and “pow!” It broke completely loose from the deck. 

Decision time. Do we buy another Home Depot-type riding mower, and with all the work we have to do, keep mowing for a while and then repairing for a while? Or do we finally go down and buy a commercial-grade mower that can stand the workload it will be subjected to? The spring rains and warm weather were not going to give us much time to make a decision. Pay cash for an inexpensive mower, or take a loan on one to keep for years to come.

We bit the bullet, and though I do not want to mention name brands here, we got great terms on a diesel powered, zero radius industrial version, with a beautiful orange paint job. The mower deck, and I know something about fixing these things, is built like a tank. The engine has all kinds of power, and it will turn on a dime and give you back change. 

Folks, this machine will mow, and believe me, it will do it in a hurry. It’s five times the mower we’ve ever had, and once and for all proves my point with Sharon that it really is impossible for a Texan to have too big a yard. The problem is with having too small a mower.

Needless to say, we made the right decision.

Now, besides the fact that it’s springtime, why am I writing in a sign business publication about riding mowers? Because I have one more time experienced the foolishness of putting off the right purchase for years and years because of the cost, and then see what a mistake it was. And, the frustrating reality of it is that we often do this type of major purchase procrastination in business, specifically in the sign business, as well. 

A few years ago I remember my dad, who still does a lot of our welding, coming in the shop very frustrated when the cheap metal bandsaw he was using cratered on him. He said, “Every tool you have in that fab shop is junk!” And he was more or less right. That spurred an ongoing upgrade of the major tools in the fabrication part of our sign shop, which was way past overdue. Wire fed welder, 50 ton ironworker, and an industrial grade metal bandsaw were the main items we installed back there. All of them were the right purchases, and all of them get used all the time.

But, through the years I’ve been as guilty as anyone about putting off that software or computer upgrade, digital printer, engraver, router (in our case, waterjet), LED sign, or whatever it was we were needing far too long. Every time we finally caved in, made the financial commitment and got what we needed, we ended up saying, “Why did we put this off so long?” 

Now, payments are a pain, and taking on any debt is serious business, but a sign company is only as good as its crew, and the crew members are only as good as the tools they have to work with. 

Though adding equipment and overhead costs in this recession takes some nerve, in most areas of the country there is work out there, it just takes some effort to go out and get it. Sometimes getting that work means adding some capability the shop hasn’t had before. Do we want to fool around, or is it time to make some signs and cut the grass?

We have both to do, and we’ve been getting pretty busy. I hope it stays that way. I hope your business is busy too, and you have a really great month. 

—Rick