We recently connected with David Wu and have shared our conversation below.

David, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

The trade show industry has been around for a long time. Many industry giants still run their businesses the same way they started. Joy Displays separate itself from the competition by doing the following:

1. We leverage product innovation to our advantage. Our products save our customer time and money. The trade show booths we offer are lightweight structures that are portable and easy to install. Our customers can take the products to their show and assemble their exhibit in minutes. Many exhibition companies still use wood structures that are bulky and heavy. The shipping and material handling alone will cost a lot of money. The wood structure also requires specialty labor for installation which will take many hours to complete.

2. We use E-commerce and technology to streamline the ordering process. Everything can be done online. Our customers can purchase the trade show booth, upload their graphics, and approve their proofs with a computer or smartphone. Within a few days, they will receive the product at their location. We put on focus on customer experience.

David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Right after college, I landed a job as a marketing assistant at an Ecommerce company. It was then I saw the power of selling things online. You don’t need to have retail stores at the corner of every street to be nationwide. You just need a website and a fulfillment center.

I also worked at an exhibition company for 4 years. It opened my eyes to how much money can be made in the trade show industry. Many companies will spend ten of thousands at a 3-day event. There is a trade show for every industry and there is one happening every week.

I think everything happens for a reason. I love graphic design when I was in high school. I would spend hundreds of hours in front of the computer doing digital art without knowing any potential use in the future. Little did I know, my graphic design skills, e-commerce experience, and trade show knowledge are the 3 crucial components of my business.

It reminds me of what Steve Jobs once said. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

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

My wife and I quit our full-time jobs and worked on our business. I started Joy display in May 2019 and my wife later joined me in February 2020. March 2020 is when Covid hit and many trade shows were shutting down. We lost 95% of sales the very next month. We didn’t have any money coming in for months and I was burning through my savings. I remember looking at my bank account and would have to call it quits in 2 months. It was the most painful period of my life.

Although circumstances were not in our favor, but we took no time to rest. We pivoted to selling standing desks for people that were working from home. We also pivoted to selling plexiglass barriers for businesses that are trying to reopen. Within a few days of the pivot, we were getting inquiries and orders. within a few weeks, we were back on track. We were getting large orders from universities, government agencies, and national restaurant chains. We filled our house with inventory and use our dining table as the packing table. We were shipping out 50+ orders daily.

This business pivot was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was also a blessing in disguise. We were so close to giving up, but we fought through.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We bootstrapped the funding for our company. After 10 years of working, I saved up 20 thousand dollars and it went all into my business. To date, we have done over 10 million in life-time sales with 4 million in revenue in 2022.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://joydisplays.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joydisplays/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joydisplays/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/joy-displays/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joydisplays710/videos