Built by a sign shop owner, for sign shops
Bid to Build Signs is run by Max Seay, who has owned Zealot Signs in Powell, Ohio, for the past six years. Zealot builds signage for large multi-family projects. These workflows came out of that work, and now we set them up in other sign companies that want to do the same thing and accomplish more.
Big packages, the same small team
A large multi-family project means a sign for every unit, amenity and door, a takeoff before every bid and a permit set for every building. To keep up, we built AI workflows at Zealot for the work that eats a sign shop's week: sign takeoffs, permit sets drawn up by AI with the code researched first, graphic design and client approval drawings, shop drawings and production files.
They worked, so we packaged them. We set the same workflows up in your shop, on your past jobs, and train your team to run them, so you can take on more without adding desks.
The workflows are built to pay for themselves fast. The hours they take off takeoffs, permit research and redrawing add up quickly, and our aim is for a shop to save thousands of dollars in its first month of running them.
Built in a working sign shop
We still run takeoffs, proposals, permits and fabrication every week at Zealot. So the workflows speak plan sets, AFF and raceways, not software.
Built on real jobs
Each workflow was proven on Zealot's own sign packages before we offered it to anyone else.
Your format, your title block
We set it up on your past jobs, so the output looks like your shop made it.
A person signs off
Every drawing goes out "proposed for client approval" until someone on your team checks it.
What the workflows have made on real jobs
Every workflow has a real sample, sheet by sheet, with contacts and site details removed. These are the drawings as the workflows made them, from childcare ADA packages to a restaurant's permit set to steel marquee letters.
What we do, and what we don't
The shop's own team runs the workflows. We set them up, train the people who use them, and stay honest about where they fall short.
We do
- Set the workflows up on your past jobs, with your sign types, pricing and title block
- Train your estimators, designers and project managers to run them
- Stay on call for your first live jobs
- Say what a workflow got wrong, in the open: that's what Field notes is for
We don't
- Take over your drafting or do your shop's work
- Sell you a monthly subscription
- Seal drawings or promise permit approval
- Show your project anywhere without your written OK
Sign companies whose people are buried in paperwork
The work these workflows take on is the work that keeps good people at their desks instead of on the next bid.
- Owners and GMs who want the shop to bid more work without adding desks.
- Estimators who would rather check a takeoff than build one.
- Designers who redraw the same approval sets, shop drawings and production files every week.
- Project managers and permit coordinators who chase sign codes, fees and permit packages.
- Service managers who quote repair calls from a few photos and a deadline.
Rather talk it through first?
Pick a time and bring a job you're bidding. We'll talk through which workflow would take the most hours off your week, and whether a free sample makes sense.
About us, briefly
Who runs Bid to Build Signs?
Max Seay. He has owned Zealot Signs in Powell, Ohio, for six years, working on large multi-family signage projects, and built these workflows there before offering them to other sign companies.
How is Bid to Build Signs related to Zealot Signs?
Zealot Signs is Max's sign company, where the workflows were built and still run every week. Bid to Build Signs is the line of Bid to Build Systems that sets the same workflows up in other sign companies.
Will you do our drafting for us?
No. We set the workflows up on your past jobs and train your team to run them. The free sample is a demonstration on one of your projects, not an offer to do your shop's work.
Do you seal drawings or promise permit approval?
No. Every drawing stays proposed for approval until a person on your team signs it off. Structural work is sealed by an engineer where the jurisdiction requires it, and approval is the city's decision.
Where are you based?
Powell, Ohio. Reach Max at max@bidtobuildsigns.com or 614-210-3679.