When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in the back of my dad’s printing shop.
My dad printed a lot of different items. He could print on paper, vinyl, cloth, or even wood. The printing shop was rather small, but my dad was always busy. My mom and I did not expect to lose the guy when he was only 47 years old. I was a teenager at the time. My mom was going to shut down the printing shop, but I decided to quit college and come back home to run the business. It was the best way to keep the doors open. I didn’t want to sell the business to someone else after my dad worked so hard to make it a success. When I came back from college, I had a lot of great ideas to make the printing shop a big success. I told my mom that we needed to invest some money to upgrade our printing machines so we could get larger and more lucrative contracts. My mom and I went to the bank and we got a loan so we could purchase several different machines that were capable of manufacturing labels, signs, and graphics. We also purchased equipment that made it easier for us to pick up government, industrial, and military contracts. Within six months, I had my first government and military project. I had the right machines for the job. I manufactured all of the special ribbons for the basic training ceremony at the military installation near my home. Now I have a full time contract with the base.