We were lucky to catch up with Paul Francis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Paul, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Overall I would say yes, I am happiest being a business owner, what’s not to love about setting your own work hours and schedules? I have always been somewhat of a business owner since a young age. At 19, I started my first business as a partner in a skateboard company. I can tell you that it was much easier at 19 to start your own business and become satisfied with the outcome vs today at 47 and realizing I don’t have as much energy, carefree attitude and sometimes drive I once had. However, when it comes to having a regular job, I honestly wouldn’t know what that feels like except for this one I had. I was a stock manager for a company called Structure, today it is now known as Express Men. I learned a lot from my manager about shipping and receiving, invoicing and employee relations along with customer service. It was that experience that led me towards wanting to be a business owner of my own. While I understand the value of corporate retail companies in the fashion industry, I feel that it is also important for smaller clothing companies to exist and be created. Other than the job I had at that time in my adolescents, the thought of having a regular job now has not crossed my mind, I just don’t think that’s for me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Well, this would be a long long story to answer so I’ll keep it short and sweet. As I said before, I started my adventure at a young age. I was 19 and in community college and at that time, my mind was really on skateboarding rather than a community college education. I had been a skateboarder since I was around 8 years old and by 19, all I could think about was how cool it would be to have my own skateboard shop. This was also around the time I was very social, I frequented skateboard shops, art galleries and bars whenever I got the chance. I met a lot of people and artists at this time, some of these people would later become my inspiration to follow through on my creativity. Around the same time, a best friend brought the idea of doing a skateboard company together. While our friendship and partnership didn’t last, my self taught education on business surpassed my expectations that eventually evolved into opening a skateboard shop 4 years later. This was also the time I got introduced into the screenprinting industry. I was searching for someone to print my shirts and being young, filled with an eagerness to succeed and lacking patients, I decided that I wanted to print my own shirts. Eventually I found a printing press in a pawnshop and began my long journey of becoming a screenprinter.
While I’ll leave out the details, I can sum the rest up. I’ve been a partner and owner in a few skateboard shops, a clothing brand owner and manager, a screenprinter and recently, in the past 8 years, I’ve been a small business adviser specializing in either clothing brand startups and or expanding businesses in marketing pertaining towards expansion into clothing (mainly t shirts, hats, totes and whatever that seems to go with whatever business/person I am working with).
When it comes to the discipline and craft of what I have become in my industry, I would say that everything I have ever done and learned was mostly through trial and error with a few colleagues throwing some advice my way. However, the best things I learned was not by trial and error, the best things I’ve learned is by seeing how others work in other industries. One piece of advice I usually give to people starting out in any industry is this. Try to reduce your amount of trial and error and pay attention to others in the same field. Remain silent and pay attention, the mistakes they make are free learning experiences and some of the best things in life are free. When you can see what others did wrong, you can use those challenges towards your own respective business in the future to reduce long term problems.
What I feel that sets myself apart from other printing businesses is how I make myself readily available towards my clients. I have a lot of clients that have my personal phone number and when some clients ask for my personal opinion on how they should approach expansion of their merch or marketing, they know they will get an honest answer. Here is an example, recently, a friend/client has a record shop and he had been talking about bringing in more merch for branding and marketing. I mentioned how maybe he should incorporate a mascot into this equation and we both came up with a quick little mascot idea, while he doesn’t have the time to hire a designer, marketing firm and brand manager, I figured out quantities and colors of whatever merch related things he should purchase, I took time out of my schedule and found the perfect designer to not only draw up with the mascot but also be able to come up with optional mascot designs for the rest of the year. I printed up his first shirts, totes, koozies, stickers and turntable mats. All of this was done in the span of 2 weeks and without my client having to take time out of his schedule. While it’s still too early to tell, it is safe to say that the work I’ve done has now brought his business extra income and also a new mascot design to incorporate towards rebranding and building up his business. All of this was done without him having to hire a graphic designer, brand manager and marketing manager. To me, that gives me a personal pleasure and satisfaction that my client has faith and trust in me to help with his business. In return, he knows he can get me as a printer and friend to help his business grow and save money in the long run without having to hire design, branding and marketing firms.
Sorry, I got off track for a second. Let’s just say this, I have always been somewhat of a self starter and entrepreneur at a young age. I am a lover of music, arts, photography and design. I tend to want to help others, including my clients with what I can do to help their business grow. I am a self starter and appreciative for the opportunities that have been given to me. I was nominated for the San Antonio Fashion awards 2 years in a row (2016 and 2017) and I am currently working on a pictorial book giving my viewpoints on t-shirt streetwear in and around New York City and what that means to the streetwear industry.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Great question, the best source of my new clients has and always will be my current clients. I personally do not advertise or give cold call to get new clients. I’m not sure if this was mentioned in previous questions but I am my only employee. I have no others working for me, I am a one man operated business. So, with that said, having a personal connection to all my clients is what I aim for and with that, those clients in turn recommend me to others. I believe having that personal connection is why my business has been growing every year in sales and clients.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Believe it or not, screenprinting was my side hustle. I had started out my career wanting to be a skateboard shop owner and screenprinting my own merch was a way to increase profit margins. When random friends and colleagues began inquiring if I could print for them is when my side hustle began. However, at that time, it was a slow start and I wasn’t putting enough time and effort on screenprinting. It wasn’t until I had a personal tragedy in 2013 that truly made me rethink and focus on screenprinting as my main source of income. I started to put more time into my craft that eventually led me to where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/crookedarmprinting