We recently connected with Grant Sullivan and have shared our conversation below.
Grant, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, folks often look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight – but that often obscures all the nitty, gritty details of everything that went into the growth phase of your business. We’d love to hear about your scaling story and how you scaled up?
Scaling up for me has been a process of over 7 years now. With that I mean by scaling up is financially, with equipment, getting clients, and knowledge about screen printing and embroidery. When I started screen printing I found a home made printing press that a guy had for sale on craigslist. I picked up the press from him for $75 and I used that thing for about the first 4 years or so. I remember when I first starting printing, the cost of acquiring everything I needed just to make a print. I needed to get some inks, squeegees, screens, emulsion and figure out a way to even burn the screens. With my full time job being the only source of income that I had at the time, I would have to come up with a plan to be able to get the supplies I needed. My wife and I came up with a plan to budget a small amount out of my checks each week to go into a fund. Over time I was able to buy this and buy that but to be honest, almost 100% of everything I had came from a person who was selling their equipment and supplies. I remember my first client, it was a guy I worked with at the time who wanted to start his own local brand. He found out that I started printing and wanted to use someone he knew. From there everything was word of mouth. As the requests kept coming in so did the desire to learn more and more about the trade. There were times I took jobs that I had no idea how I was going to be able to make it happen. I did not only lack the supplies but also the know how about what it would take. Countless hours have been spent researching, watching videos and talking with other printers to learn the skillsets needed.
After about 3-4 years the business was able to sustain itself (as far as providing the funds needed to buy supplies, expand, and build more clientele). From that point on I started feeling like the late nights and stressful days were starting to pay off. Don’t get me wrong, I still have orders that require late nights, long weeks, and countless hours spent in the shop. There are still orders that can stir up some stress and discomfort when I am approaching the deadline. This is mainly because I’m still working a full time job and I try to be a very present father/husband. In that same aspect this has helped me grow in the trade of screen printing/embroidering because it forces me to be efficient with my time and be precise with what I’m doing.
Last year we took a huge leap of faith and purchased a commercial embroidery machine. Prior to having this I was repeatedly getting asked if I “do hats.” I’ve always been supportive of other local shops so I would usually have to explain that we aren’t capable at this time but can refer a few local places that are great. This happened month after month until finally I realized that I would be better for me to take the jump and buy one and learn how to use it.
So fast forward to now! We have a larger printing press that we bought this year and a embroidery machine that never sleeps. Literally, its running right now! I think we are growing and keeping clients happy. To me, that’s the goal. I want you to want to wear what you get from me. I want you to be happy with the choice of using Brand New Apparel.
Grant, 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?
How I got into the business of screen printing and embroidery is actually kind of crazy. I was wanting to make a clothing brand that symbolized a lot of biblical stories and implement those ideas into creative designs on shirts and such. However, when the process started I was dishing out money for bulk orders due to print shops requiring a minimum quantity order. This left me with a large handful of apparel that I had to keep on hand even if I couldn’t sell it. So my father came up with a solution that would/could fix this problem…print my own shirts then I wouldn’t have to worry about quantities or minimums. At first I thought this was absurd because I knew nothing about printing or even how to go about it. One of the things I was taught at a young age was “people do this everyday for a living, and if they can do it then you can learn to do it.” This was the start of the mindset of making my own brand. From there, I needed a name. One of my favorite versus in the bible is 2 Corinthians 5:17. Talks about we become a new creation and how the old us are gone. So it was easy for me to come up with a brand name for the company…BRAND NEW APPAREL. It’s simple but yet extraordinary at the same time. When starting the business, work ethic came easy for me. That’s something my parents instilled in me and something my wife and I instill in our children. I feel there’s a sense of pride when it comes to working hard, not just at a job, but even in the little things that matter in everyday life. I am a firm believer that anything worth doing is worth doing right. So if that means it takes me a little longer to complete the project or task, then that is okay.
One of the important things that we believe in at BNA is that we want you to love what you get from us. Not just the apparel, but the experience and service as well. We do ask a lot of questions, but that’s because we want to take the time to get things right. And if by chance something is wrong we would like the opportunity to correct it. We want your experience to be a great one and worth your time just as much as our time.
One of the things we take pride in is the quality. We are not a large shop by any means, truth is the shop is at our home, so we don’t have to push orders out to cover overhead or worry about a store being paid for. With that mindset we are able to put people into brands that they normally wouldn’t know about or would pass up at other shops. We don’t push minimum quantities as well. However, I always ask if they would try to order more than just one shirt because of the time and effort it takes to prep everything. Like I mentioned before, we want you to love what you get from us. I enjoy seeing different people wearing something that I’ve embroidered or printed all throughout Kansas City.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
There is this client I have whose trust and actions totally shocked me and also motivated me at the same time. I had an ex-neighbor of mine reach out to me from a new company he was working for. He asked if I would like to embroider some hats for the company he now worked for and asked for a quote on what it would be for a large order. After communicating back and forth over a couple of days we got the quantity and the price sent out to his company. At the end of the quoting process he asked me “what is the time frame for you to complete this large order?” I simply stated that after I receive half the payment upfront and the hats start arriving I would begin immediately and would probably need a month to six weeks after that. See at that time I started requiring 50% upfront on orders over $400 because I’ve had a few situations where I got stuck with product after everything was ordered and the client backed out. At that time I wasn’t aware of their company policy for doing such business on ordering promotional things such as hats and shirts. This was a company that has many locations and are growing beyond the KC Metro area. My friend then explained to me that they do not pay for their products upfront and pay only upon receiving what they’ve ordered. Hearing that caused my heart to sink, because this was a great opportunity for me and would help grow the business and even show that I (being a small shop) could fill such large orders. I had to humbly decline the offer to do business with them. Explaining not that I didn’t want the order, because I did, but I couldn’t take the risk and use all my funds and resources just to complete one order. Communicating that since we are just a “mom & pops” shop that it could certainly put us into a bind if things didn’t flow seamlessly. He understood and told me that he really appreciates me taking the time to explain and take the time to go through all of this with him.
After about 3 weeks or so I received a message from my old neighbor telling me to check my mailbox. The company he works for trusted him and the good things he said about how we do business and sent me the entire amount of the quote upfront. This not only shook me but it was so humbling and honoring at the same time. It motivated me to not only do things in a quick manor for them but do the absolute best I could for them.
Since then, that company has used me two other times, and my friend explained to me that as their company grows they would like me to do all their hats for each branch of business.
**Friend, if you’re reading this, THANK YOU!**
How’d you meet your business partner?
Yeah this part is easy! I met my wife at a football game when we were in high school. I remember seeing her walk by me and I told myself that “that’s the girl I’m going to marry! “Fast forward 25 years and we are still together. This year will be our 23rd year of marriage. My wife may not be the name on the business cards or on the documents for Brand New Apparel, but no doubt about it, she has skin in the game too! She has always been a voice in my ear encouraging me and a advocate for the dream I have for the business. There are a handful of times I wanted to walk away due to messing something up or making a senseless error but she’s right there encouraging me and trying to find solutions for the problems. There are countless times that she’s waited for me to be done for the night so we can go to bed but the projects take longer than expected. There’s numerous times that we’ve had to push off date nights or family time so I can meet a deadline that is important. It’s very safe to say that she is a business partner and has sacrificed a lot for this company as well.
Without her, there is no Brand New Apparel.
Contact Info:
- Website: brandnewapparel.shop
- Instagram: brand_new_apparel
- Facebook: Brand New Apparel