![]() ![]() And the owners themselves see every order through from the first meeting to the final delivery. All five employees are tech-savvy young adults. You can shop for groceries at Bi-Lo or Publix, but you could also shop at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods Market - places with cool products, unique branding and a knowledgeable staff.ĭapper Ink is obviously the Whole Foods Market in this analogy, with its cool, vintage appeal. Matt compares this strategy to grocery shopping. Be the best at what you do, and people will beat a path to your door. How much money do you need to earn a profit? If it doesn’t work out, how will you exit the market? If it does work out, how much do you want to grow? Where do you want to be in five years? “Try to answer those questions in the beginning, or else you’re going to be struggling with your identity a couple years down the road, wondering where you’re going,” Matt said.ģ. Find a niche market and gear your products or service toward that market.Ģ. “You have to really be aware of what people need and what kind of market is out there,” Jen said. Having a solid idea is what separates the Joes from the Pros. Jen said they have seen a lot of passionate entrepreneurs try and fail to start a business over the past five years. Okay, let’s break that down a little bit more.ġ. “Do the math right so you know that what you are doing is profitable.” ![]() “Most of business is common sense,” he said. When you go to Greenville, you have to stop at Dapper Ink to get a Greenville-themed T-shirt.ĭespite his ambitious goals, Matt keeps things simple. When you go to New York City, you have to stop at a street vendor to pick up an “I love NY” T-shirt. This new location would help their designs to become a recognized commodity of Greenville. By next year they hope to relocate to the downtown area to gain foot traffic from tourists and locals. Now Matt and Jen have a comfortable business, but they aren’t retiring early. In the fall of 2011 their perseverance paid off when they were able to purchase their current store front three minutes down the road from BJU. In another six months they would move to a better location. In another six months they would get an accountant. In six months they would be on a better schedule. When times were hard, they would set small goals to work toward. At times the business seemed like it was “eating them alive,” according to Jen. I wanted to go into illustration.”īut the side jobs kept coming, and Matt and his wife, Jen, set up a small T-shirt printing shop in their house. “I never thought I’d own my own business,” Matt said. He began to print T-shirts on the side for dating outings, societies, French club, etc., but a T-shirt business was not in his original career plan. ![]() Well, Dapper Ink was started in an art classroom, but close enough.Īt the time, Matt was a graduate student working on his art exhibit. Students like Matt Moreau, a 2007 BJU graduate who founded Dapper Ink Custom Printer & Outfitter, a T-shirt and print design shop located on Wade Hampton Boulevard.Īpple. All were created in college by innovative students like yourself. Over the last three years, Dapper Ink has grown from “a crew of one” to a successful business staffed by five BJU graduates.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |