Custom Ink.

On Monday October 21st our Entrepreneurship class has it’s first field-trip. We went to the DC area to visit three companies. We had insights into the companies facilities and conversations with the owner and employees. These three businesses were Custom Ink., ThinkFoodGroup and M Help Desk. It was a very inspiring opportunity with a lot of learning opportunities. One of the businesses that stood out to me personally was Custom Ink.
    Custom Ink is an online store that allows you to create your own design and print it on a t-shirt, sweatshirt etc. It is based in Virginia and that is where we visited it. Walking into the lobby, we received a warm welcome by Marc Katz and Fred Schaufeld. We then started with a quick tour around Custom Ink. The office was very friendly. Customer’s and Inker’s pictures were framed on the walls. Right away we understood that this company put attention on its key values such as costumer service, quality and fun. These were even printed onto the wall. While walking through the office space, we experienced a nice working atmosphere for the inkers. We arrived at the conference room to get a speech by Mark Katz. He started it of by showing us a video from the previous year, about the development of the business and new projects. After watching the video, he gave us background information of Custom Ink and what helped them to succeed. He informed us about the most difficult time for them, which was from 2008-2009. He considers it to be harder then the start up of the business, because there was much more to loose and the motivation was gone. This was also caused by troubles with Google, because in order for an online site to be successful they need a high ranking by Google. Custom Ink went against the Google rules in the process of getting them on top of the search, which got them banned. This was when Fred contributed to the business, because he saw it’s potential and invested into it. By this investment the company reinvented itself and found a new motivation. They now came out with Inky as their logo and focused on the customer. Fred also helped solving their problem with Google. Now the company is on a good way to grow bigger and bigger. He introduced us to his two new projects, which are also Internet based businesses called Booster and Peach. Him and Fred emphasized to us that it’s important that, if you want to start your own business, you have to love working there. It should not be work but fun. After all questions got asked, he gave us free T-shirts and we all ended up loving it.