Saige Nicoles

Kudos go out to all our fellow moms and dads who juggle career and family and everything in between; we decided to  write this section for today’s Modern Moms who have also decided to (or may be thinking to)  take on the role of business owner and entrepreneur!  So, why ‘Mompreneur’?  Because that is who we are and what we know.  As a mother,  I was driven to find a business where I could flex my time to meet the needs of my children.  Although I loved my career, my flexibility was still limited.  So, I decided to branch out on my own and see if I could incorporate the knowledge and skills I acquired during my many years in business and make it work for me and my family by starting a business of my own.  Have there been sacrifices?  Oh yes,  absolutely; however, those sacrifices dim in comparison to what I’ve gained.   

So,  stay tuned for articles and points of interest by yours truly and/or my colleagues and fellow “Mompreneurs” as we share our experiences, triumphs and failures while juggling the responsibilities or motherhood and starting our own businesses and making it work.  

March:  Mompreneur
Laura Buelke, Founder/Owner
Vertical Printing and Graphics
http://www.verticalprinting.com 

SN:  Please tell us about yourself and your family.

VPG: My name Is Laura Beulke, wife to husband Michael of 9 years on 3/6/08 & mother to my wonderful daughter Abigail who is 16 months old. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and have live somewhere in southern California all my life. I graduated from High School in 1993 and knew right then and there I wanted to do something with my creative mind as my career. So I dove right into it. I am a self taught graphic artist and a marketing specialist. I do say I have the gift of gab and truly enjoy what I do. But most of all I feel my life is complete because of my wonderful husband and most of all my daughter.

SN: Tell us about your business.

VPG: I own and operate my company, Vertical Printing & Graphics, Inc. I opened my business in 2002 out of my garage where I worked long and hard hours, but it paid off and in July 2003 I moved my business out of my garage into its current retail location. Vertical Printing & Graphics is of course a printing & graphics company. We also offer mailing services, bindery services, and of course GREAT customer service.  

SN: Why did you choose this field or type of business?  Do you have any special training or background related to your business?
VPG: I decided to open VPG because this was the field I had been in for close to 10 years and truly LOVED it. After working for other copy/printing companies I moved forward into the publishing side of the industry where I worked as an art director/production manager for close to 5 years. I use to work LONG hours and was away from home so much that I felt that it was time to take the chance and go out on my own.

SN: Tell us how you felt when you took that first step to start your own business.
VPG: Let’s see when I decided to go out on my own I was of course was scared who wouldn’t be. I knew I had the support of my husband and family of course, but it was very thrilling to know I had the support of my clients as well, many of which were saying to me it was about time that I did it. So I know I was doing the right thing. It was hard of course because I was putting our savings on the line to make this all work. I am happy to say IT WORKED!!! Now almost 6 years later, I have 7 employees and a business that I am truly proud of.

SN: What advice do you have for moms who want to start their own business?
VPG: Being self employed is not easy. You have to not only have to be committed to what you are doing and truly treat it as a business and not a hobby if you want to make it successful. You have to be prepared for rejection for your audience as well as the pats on the back from a job well done or great product. Most importantly you have to remember that it take money to make money. Marketing is important to the success and growth of your business as well as making sure you are not selling yourself short. Everyone in the beginning wants to sell there service or product cheap to get people in but the most important is to remind them and yourself that it is only a “special offer” and that you can’t honor of offer that price forever.

SN: What struggles or obstacles have you encounter on your road to success?  What did you do that helped you overcome those obstacles?

VPG: Struggles & obstacles…. where do I begin. Being a new name in the business and of course a new store from you have to compete with all the old timers and “big” guys in the business. So I had and still have to prove why working with us is a “Good” thing. I would say the best thing that helped me over come this is PROVING to my clients they were getting everything they paid for. Never over promising and underdelivering.. I live by that. I would rather not take the job in and know I did not let the client down, then take in the job and not be able to deliver.

SN: What do you do that allows you to balance your home life and your business life?
VPG: I don’t work WEEKENDS!!! That is the the family time. Of course once in a blue moon I may have to work on a Saturday. But I created business hours. I have it a little easy because I have a store and don’t work from home. So I don’t check the business voice mail on the weekends and most of the time I stay away from the business emails too. The other most important thing is we have Dinner together almost every night. I do however have 2 nights a month that are girls night where I have dinner with my best friend and that helps keep me grounded as well.

SN: What is your favorite business magazine, book, or blog to read and why?
VPG: As for business magazines or books, I read alot of Trade publications, things that pertain to the printing & design industry. This allows me to keep up with new technology as well as software etc. There are many out there and I don’t read as many as I use to. The other things I read are all online, I do searches in google every week just using keyword and try and teach myself new stats on marketing as well as learn new things or ideas.

SN: What “secret” will you share with our readers that has helped you become successful?
VPG: My biggest secret is FOLLOWING UP with my clients. Make sure they are happy and fix it if they are not, sometimes that it as my expense but a happy customer tells 10 people and a unhappy customer tells 100. About 65% of my business is referral and I take that very seriously. The other thing that has helped with my success is remembering my clients, what I mean by this is when they come in my shop is saying hi by name and most of all remembering the last order they did or that old job that they are looking to redue or update, that gets them all the time!!! It makes with feel special and important to you and your business.

SN: What is different about you and your business that allows you to stand apart from your competition?

VPG: What I think makes us different is not many designers offer full printing services that they themselves produce. Many designers are just that designers they don’t print their own work they work with “printing companies” and I do it all. I design, print, bindery services and mailing service too if needed. I am a full bulk mail facility too. The other thing that sets us apart is I offer both digital and traditional offset printing so I can service both small and large clients anything from 25 color flyer to 100,000 postcards designed, printed and bulk mailed. So when my clients come into my shop or order from us online they never feel like their order is to small or to large for us to handle.

SN: What is your next goal for your business?

VPG: My next goal for my business is to grow again. A little over 3 years ago we expanded the business from 1,000 to 2,000 sq. ft. I would love to expand our client base now, my goal is to gain 200 new clients this year. We now service over 25 states and ship work to 3 other countries. I would love to have clients in all 50 states and mostly have a larger client database!!!