Sometimes little things mean a lot. This is especially true when trying to build a business. I have seen employees who convey that their employers don’t know what they’re doing. They act like they have all the answers. I say to them, why don’t you quit your job and start your own St. Louis T-shirt printing company? Evidently, you think it’s easy and seemed to have figured out. Two years later they’re still working there. There is an old quote that reads, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

When I first started this St. Louis screen printing company many years ago, I didn’t have any experience in the industry. I used to be in the asphalt business. Although I was able to earn a living, it was a very hard job which was also seasonal. It seemed like you were making money quickly, but then winter would come and it would be too cold to work. What took eight months to save would disappear within four months. It was frustrating to go from there are not enough hours in the day during the warm seasons to not knowing what to do with myself all day after it got cold. It seemed like by the time March came and the weather was starting to turn in a positive direction, that I felt a great deal of pressure to make up for lost time. Fortunately I was young and strong enough to take it. I remember how much I wanted to get out of that line of work.

I can remember going up to the mall just looking for something to do and to kill time. I am a student of people and enjoy people watching. I took note of the fact that everyone who was walking by was wearing some kind of custom T-shirt or a hat with a logo on it. I can remember thinking to myself that I can sell that. I don’t know the first thing about it, but I believe that’s something I could sell. So I can remember going out and getting some business cards printed up with my new company name, as well as St. Louis screen printing and St. Louis embroidery. I would have put digital printing on there as well, but that hadn’t been invented yet. So I went around the neighborhood and just started knocking on doors to try to find someone who would currently be in the market for some custom T-shirts and silk screening. I must have talked to about 35 people before I walked into this landscaping company who actually happened to need some custom embroidery. I gave them a price and worked out a scenario that was equally beneficial for each of us and walked out the door with a down payment. I can remember being so excited about selling my first job and then the realization that not only are they going to want their product, but I only have a two week window to get it completed.