Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Aaron Harris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Aaron, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

I believe staying affordable for all of my clients is my biggest challenge. The last thing I want to do is over charge just to make more money. I like to ask “ do you have a an idea of what your comfortable spending on this project?” when speaking to future customers, just to get a feel for what I can make happen within the given budget.I truly want to help small businesses like myself , and give them top quality signage. With inflation , this year has definitely been one of my most challenging years in business. All of my materials have gone up in cost, and it’s a struggle for me to raise prices. I want to stay affordable but I also have a family to provide for. It’s a challenge to stay competitive, make profit and also factor in my clients budget.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Aaron Harris, Grand Rapids native -I dove into the printing industry and began printing my own apparel in the beginning. That lead to printing clothing and apparel for other businesses. I then transitioned into building / professional signage printing and installing. Currently we offer garment printing,building signage, windows, car wraps, and business graphics. I’m most proud of is having the opportunity to work from home. This has allowed me to spend time creating memories with my family. When you see A1 Graphics and Designs, it’s just me. I print , install, help design and really get to know my client’s wants and needs. I’m grateful that I am seasoned in the industry and my work is top tier. This is my passion and I deliver on each and every one of my projects so that we continue to grow. I feel that’s what sets me apart from others.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My side hustle actually did turn into my main business. I use to be a sports trainer under my business A1 Sports & Training. I needed someone to make my apparel and products so I went on YouTube and learned those crafts. Once I started to get real good other businesses wanted me to make their apparel as well. Next step was they wanted me to print window signage for them so had to perfect that before I could go more corporate. Before I use to be nervous about a 10-15 piece garment order now if I get 1,000 garment order I don’t think twice about it.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had to pivot in my career and life when my daughter was born during Covid. Not sure when businesses were opening back up and when we would be allowed to work again. Good thing is during that time a lot of businesses revamped or started from scratch so I was a person that they could call and bring on board to help them. Now I could work from home and be around my family more often instead of going to different cities for work.

Contact Info:

• Website: A1graphicsdesigns.com
• Instagram: A1graphicsdesigns
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/a1graphicsdesigns/