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1. It’s going to be hard and it’s not going to get easier, but you have to be willing to keep pushing yourself.
2. Someone who is curious is going to be a great addition to your team, because they’re always looking at how to make things better.
3. Even in a field that doesn’t have much to innovate in the traditional sense, there are ways that you can continue to improve.
4. Building relationships with your customers is the first step in a sustainable business.
5. There are growth phases and steady states in any business and it’s important to look at both and decide what your business needs next.
Underground Printing is a screen-printing company that offers far more than the traditional t-shirts and hoodies. In fact, Underground Printing offers just about anything you could think of in the way of personalization and merchandising, from hats and jackets to bags and bottles.
Meet Rishi Narayan, Co-Founder of Underground Printing.
Rishi’s start wasn’t in printing or graphics of any kind. In fact, it was in chemical engineering. After achieving his degree from the University of Michigan, Rishi decided to venture into entrepreneurship instead. That’s when he and long-time friend Ryan Gregg decided to go into business together, co-founding several businesses.
Rishi and Ryan started Underground Printing in 2001 almost by accident. In fact, they met with a tow truck driver who used to own a screen-printing shop. When they decided to purchase all of his old equipment, they kept it in his garage and worked from the ground up. Printing custom apparel was the start of it all. And it was all about meeting people in person as well. But things have continued to grow and evolve since then.
The team at Underground Printing is primarily in person, with several different physical locations throughout the country. The rest of the team is also on location, working in production. While they aren’t located right in the stores, they are reporting to a specific location as well. In fact, showing up is one of the core values of the company for that very reason.
Underground Printing prides itself on a passion for building great relationships. They’ve been around for a long time, and they’re still planning on being around for a lot longer. That means making sure they’re continuing to be there for their customers.
With so many similar businesses out there, Underground Printing has to rely on their skill and their experience. They have to make sure they’re following a consistent process and giving customers a great experience every time. And that means building a relationship, knowing as much as possible about the customers and their goals, and then making sure that they follow through.
One of the printing jobs that Rishi is proud of is their work with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, Ride for Kids. While working with the organization they didn’t just print the shirts, they became supporters of the organization and the events.
Another favorite story from Rishi involved a former sales manager who would always run in the 5Ks and races that he printed shirts for. And of course, printing for college students and organizations always helps you feel like part of the action. It’s about building those relationships and making sure that you’re offering great service so they will continue to recommend you going forward.
With their business model built around printing merchandise, it’s difficult to be innovative with a space that’s been around so long and doesn’t really have a lot of new opportunities. But Rishi and his team are always looking for ways to refine their process and make it smoother, cleaner, faster, easier and more of a value for the customer.
Another important aspect for Underground Printing is the interplay between the physical world and the digital world and how they can be put together. It’s also about putting things together at scale to improve the business.
Rishi is always looking for ways to build the business and that works through location growth and customer growth. In fact, their overall goal is to continue to grow strong and steady through the next five to ten years. He hopes to look back and see that they’ve grown double or even triple the size, but not overnight. Rather, in a steady, consistent way that allows them to build relationships, hone their process, hone their experience, and reach as many people as possible.
What’s the big overall goal? The one that’s so big and crazy that it’s almost crazy even to talk about? For Underground Printing, it’s “Be a Household Name”. If you went to another state and mentioned Underground Printing people would know who you were talking about!
What would Rishi really like to say to new entrepreneurs that are looking to get started?
It never gets easier.
He acknowledges that it sounds harsh, but the truth of the matter is that when you think you’ve got things figured out you actually don’t. Things will change and that’s okay, because anything worth its salt is a grind. Working in an industry is a grind and you may think that it’s going to get easier in the future or when you figure it out it’s going to get easier, but that’s not always the case.
There are still going to be days that are hard and there are going to be even more problems the next year and the next. They never actually stop. But after time you can look back on it and see that it’s all right, and that you still want to keep going.
What excites you about E-Commerce? It’s fun. T-shirts are fun. People get excited about them. They tie you into a community and that community might be a geographic one, or it might be a fandom or a region or it doesn’t matter. Communities take all sorts of forms, right? And it’s an expression of your belonging to a community and everyone can always get behind that.
What's the 1 tool you couldn't live without? Snooze or reminder feature on my email. It’s snoozing in Gmail and reminders in Superhuman. I push emails as a task list to pop up at certain times so I can follow up on things. I feel like it’s the crux of my efficiency and productivity.
Most important quality you look for in new hires? Curiosity. At the end of the day, working hard is very important, but we’re looking for people who want to work smart. And if you’re curious, I got to know how that works, I got to know how to make that better.
Favorite Thought Leaders in the CX/ECom space? ‘My best advice is to stop using motivation as your only fuel. I know it feels great when you’re fired up, but it’s a short-term fuel source…The only lasting fuel is routine. And you only get a routine by dragging yourself on the days when you have no motivation. Over and over.
’ – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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