I found this article in some ASI literature and thought this was very interesting. I have been an advocate for American made products for quite some time, but typically they are not an option in our industry. Customers love the thought of an American made product, but not the price tag that comes along with it. When a customer asks for American made products and is willing to go the extra mile to support these products, I always go with American Apparel as they are known as powerhouse in this field. After reading this article I think I might try to find an alternative option. American made should be made by Americans, not illegal immigrants.
"As first reported in a Breaking News Alert last week, American Apparel has been told by the United States government that 1,800 of its employees are working illegally in the U.S. The supplier, whose founder Dov Charney has been a vocal advocate of immigration reform, is one of hundreds of companies that are being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a new effort by the Obama administration to catch illegal workers.
The immigration agency sent notice to the Counselor Top 40 supplier that 1,600 of its employees submitted suspect documentation. The eligibility of another 200 workers could not be verified due to discrepancies in their records. "It is the company's hope that these employees are able to confirm their work authorization so that they may continue to work at American Apparel," Charney said in a prepared statement.
In a press release, American Apparel said that if the workers – representing nearly a third of the Los Angeles-based supplier's workforce – could not provide proper documentation, "the employees will not be able to continue their employment." The supplier revealed the notice from the government in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The government's findings were the result of an inspection conducted by the immigration agency in January of last year. The Los Angeles Times reported that among the infractions were fake social security numbers used by some of American Apparel's employees. In its release, American Apparel points out that the "notice provided no indication that American Apparel knowingly or intentionally hired any unauthorized immigrants."
The supplier says employees will be given a "reasonable timeframe" to resolve their immigration status. Even if it were to lose all the employees in question, American Apparel believes that its current surpluses of inventory and production capability will mitigate any major effects, financially or otherwise. The notion is supported by Todd Slater, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets who follows American Apparel. "This is likely to be more of a human-interest story than one affecting the ability to make enough garments," Slater wrote in a note to investors. "[It] should have no impact on earnings."Charney – a Canadian immigrant himself – and his company have a history of outspoken activism regarding immigration reform. American Apparel has conducted a campaign called "Legalize L.A." that supports the legalization of undocumented workers, and the CEO has continually touted his company as a sweatshop-free organization. "The company remains very proud of its track record as an advocate for the comprehensive reform of the country's immigration laws," said Charney in the press release."
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Firing a Customer: When does this become necessary
I've been in the screenprinting business for more than 13 years. It has always been a valued idea that "the customer is always right." This proves true more often than not. There are, on occasion, situations where it may be time to "fire a customer."
I know what everyone thinking. Why would you get rid of a customer? Customers are your bread and butter. That's how you make a living. Yes, that is indeed the case. But sometimes you will find yourself in a situation, whether by your fault, or the customer's, where you are losing money by continuing to do business with a customer.
I of all people have the hardest time telling customers "NO." This is a phrase that I have trained myself not to say. I was always a true believer that "NO" was something that a business owner should never tell a customer. After all... if you tell them "NO," they won't come back. If they don't come back, that is income lost. But, after long hours spent at my shop after 5PM and countless thousands of dollars wasted on mistakes that were ultimately not our fault... I have learned that somtimes "NO" is the best answer.
The stories on this subject could never end. I'll take a good one for example though.
When we first opened our business, we relied heavily on contract printing to survive. This is a good and bad practice. In our business we like to deal with "retail" customers, wherein we take the order, order the goods, embelish them with the customers design, and make a wholesale price margin for our services. In the world of contract printing you deal with a seller or sales person, typically a promotional products salesmen, who purchases the products and then pays you only for your labor to embelish the garments. Again, this is good and bad. It is good in the fact that you having typically continuous work as the seller is always out "making a sale." It is bad in the fact that you never know what kind of orders are coming in. Everybody likes their seller to come in with an 800 piece order you can turn a good profit on. But they hate to see the seller come in with 6 or 7 orders for 12 pieces, where the margins are so low you're simply working for a slave wage. Why even own a business if you are just going to turn yourself back into a glorified employee.
In no way am I stating that contract printing is not profitable, nor that you can build a strong business on that model. What I am stating is that it is few and far between when you find a salesman that is easy to work with, timely, organized, and respectful of the fact that at the end of the day, they are just a customer. In my experience, the salesman see you as merely his own personal print shop, where they can make demands, and tell YOU (even though you are the shop owner) what your schedule should be. They are not prone to compromise, nor do they care if your business grows or withers. They simply care whether or not their needs are met. In my opinion, as I stated before, this simply turns you back into an employee, only now you are an employee that has overhead and expenses to take care of so that you can comply with a salesman's own business needs.
CASE IN POINT: I worked with a local salesman for several years in the early stages of our business. I started out doing his artwork on a contract basis, and as we developed a business relationship he asked if I would like to start doing his printing. This should have been a red flag. He had a relationship with another printer in town for many years and I was aware of this. The salesman asked me if I would "price match" to another printers pricing guidelines. Being young and broke at the time I agreed, simply to have work coming in the door. So as I agreed to price match to what I now know is a terribly low pricing schedule, the salesman slowly started pumping his orders into my business as opposed to his regular printer. WOW! I thought this was great. Now I had a continuous source of income. After several months of building this, as well as other relationships with local promotional products resellers, I had built quite a client base of contract customers, and revenue was steady, but growth was slow.
It was at this time that we decided to create a new business plan for ourselves. It became apparent that we would have to shift the focus of our services from providing quality printing for local sales people who were eroding our base of "retail customers" and start providing our printing services directly to the public. We decided that we need to cut the middleman out and go straight to the public in a much more aggressive fashion. And I will hold true to that principle: I will not help a salesman in my playing field build his business by using my quality products as a growth tool. If anyone is going to benefit from the quality of my hard work and investment, it will be our business, not a third party middleman, that will eventually use my own services against me to aquire a share of my "retail" customers. Contract printing is only beneficial if you provide it to firms outside of your local selling area - typically 100 miles is the minimum you should work with.
With our new business plan we began engaging in aggressive marketing on a public platform. It was at this time that they salesman whom I had price matched for, delivered shirts for free of charge, and worked many long hours for pennies on the dollar confronted me. He stated that I would need to cease all aggressive advertising as I would be targeting his customers, and he couldn't have that. He actually told me that I needed to stop all efforts to grow my own business because it would take away from his ability to use my services to grow his own. I understand his logic and concern, but I find it hard to believe he had the "balls," if you will, to tell me to stunt the growth of my own business for the sake of his. There are many other factors, much to numerous to mention that worked into a decision to phase this customer out. Repeated abuse of his privledges, and my kindness eventually pushed me to a breaking point.
It became apparent that this customer was costing me money, not making me money, and would eventually cripple my business with his unrealistic needs, terrible timelines, and disrespect for the fact that I was indeed a business owner, just like him. To this individual, I was merely a means to an end. As just as we thought, as soon as we stopped catering to his every whim, he pulled his business from us and went back to his old contract printer. After discussing the matter with the other printer (that I maintain an interesting relationship with - topic for another blog) he informed me, as I already guessed, that this had happened many times before. Sadly enough, my competition, that still prints for this salesman, has not yet realized the he is, and has been for many years, costing him money with his neglegence and inconsideration for other businessmen.
Should you fire a customer? YES, if they are costing you money and have no respect for your time or hard work. This can fall over into retail customers as well.. which we'll touch on next time.
I know what everyone thinking. Why would you get rid of a customer? Customers are your bread and butter. That's how you make a living. Yes, that is indeed the case. But sometimes you will find yourself in a situation, whether by your fault, or the customer's, where you are losing money by continuing to do business with a customer.
I of all people have the hardest time telling customers "NO." This is a phrase that I have trained myself not to say. I was always a true believer that "NO" was something that a business owner should never tell a customer. After all... if you tell them "NO," they won't come back. If they don't come back, that is income lost. But, after long hours spent at my shop after 5PM and countless thousands of dollars wasted on mistakes that were ultimately not our fault... I have learned that somtimes "NO" is the best answer.
The stories on this subject could never end. I'll take a good one for example though.
When we first opened our business, we relied heavily on contract printing to survive. This is a good and bad practice. In our business we like to deal with "retail" customers, wherein we take the order, order the goods, embelish them with the customers design, and make a wholesale price margin for our services. In the world of contract printing you deal with a seller or sales person, typically a promotional products salesmen, who purchases the products and then pays you only for your labor to embelish the garments. Again, this is good and bad. It is good in the fact that you having typically continuous work as the seller is always out "making a sale." It is bad in the fact that you never know what kind of orders are coming in. Everybody likes their seller to come in with an 800 piece order you can turn a good profit on. But they hate to see the seller come in with 6 or 7 orders for 12 pieces, where the margins are so low you're simply working for a slave wage. Why even own a business if you are just going to turn yourself back into a glorified employee.
In no way am I stating that contract printing is not profitable, nor that you can build a strong business on that model. What I am stating is that it is few and far between when you find a salesman that is easy to work with, timely, organized, and respectful of the fact that at the end of the day, they are just a customer. In my experience, the salesman see you as merely his own personal print shop, where they can make demands, and tell YOU (even though you are the shop owner) what your schedule should be. They are not prone to compromise, nor do they care if your business grows or withers. They simply care whether or not their needs are met. In my opinion, as I stated before, this simply turns you back into an employee, only now you are an employee that has overhead and expenses to take care of so that you can comply with a salesman's own business needs.
CASE IN POINT: I worked with a local salesman for several years in the early stages of our business. I started out doing his artwork on a contract basis, and as we developed a business relationship he asked if I would like to start doing his printing. This should have been a red flag. He had a relationship with another printer in town for many years and I was aware of this. The salesman asked me if I would "price match" to another printers pricing guidelines. Being young and broke at the time I agreed, simply to have work coming in the door. So as I agreed to price match to what I now know is a terribly low pricing schedule, the salesman slowly started pumping his orders into my business as opposed to his regular printer. WOW! I thought this was great. Now I had a continuous source of income. After several months of building this, as well as other relationships with local promotional products resellers, I had built quite a client base of contract customers, and revenue was steady, but growth was slow.
It was at this time that we decided to create a new business plan for ourselves. It became apparent that we would have to shift the focus of our services from providing quality printing for local sales people who were eroding our base of "retail customers" and start providing our printing services directly to the public. We decided that we need to cut the middleman out and go straight to the public in a much more aggressive fashion. And I will hold true to that principle: I will not help a salesman in my playing field build his business by using my quality products as a growth tool. If anyone is going to benefit from the quality of my hard work and investment, it will be our business, not a third party middleman, that will eventually use my own services against me to aquire a share of my "retail" customers. Contract printing is only beneficial if you provide it to firms outside of your local selling area - typically 100 miles is the minimum you should work with.
With our new business plan we began engaging in aggressive marketing on a public platform. It was at this time that they salesman whom I had price matched for, delivered shirts for free of charge, and worked many long hours for pennies on the dollar confronted me. He stated that I would need to cease all aggressive advertising as I would be targeting his customers, and he couldn't have that. He actually told me that I needed to stop all efforts to grow my own business because it would take away from his ability to use my services to grow his own. I understand his logic and concern, but I find it hard to believe he had the "balls," if you will, to tell me to stunt the growth of my own business for the sake of his. There are many other factors, much to numerous to mention that worked into a decision to phase this customer out. Repeated abuse of his privledges, and my kindness eventually pushed me to a breaking point.
It became apparent that this customer was costing me money, not making me money, and would eventually cripple my business with his unrealistic needs, terrible timelines, and disrespect for the fact that I was indeed a business owner, just like him. To this individual, I was merely a means to an end. As just as we thought, as soon as we stopped catering to his every whim, he pulled his business from us and went back to his old contract printer. After discussing the matter with the other printer (that I maintain an interesting relationship with - topic for another blog) he informed me, as I already guessed, that this had happened many times before. Sadly enough, my competition, that still prints for this salesman, has not yet realized the he is, and has been for many years, costing him money with his neglegence and inconsideration for other businessmen.
Should you fire a customer? YES, if they are costing you money and have no respect for your time or hard work. This can fall over into retail customers as well.. which we'll touch on next time.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Come by and grab a free Tshirt!
Be sure to stop by and grab a free tshirt at our location - 223 South 40th Ave - Hattiesburg, MS 39402.
I've included some samples of our free tshirts, so don't hesitate to come get one. They're absolutely FREE! Seriously, where can you get shirts this cool for free?
I've included some samples of our free tshirts, so don't hesitate to come get one. They're absolutely FREE! Seriously, where can you get shirts this cool for free?
Be sure to check us out online at http://www.jmhgraphics.com/
also online at:
www.twitter.com/jmhgraphics
www.myspace.com/jmhgraphics
Monday, May 18, 2009
What a great Monday!
We had a great day at the store today. Lots of walk in customers and new face. Our Twitter account is going well too. If you get a chance, give us a follow at www.twitter.com/jmhgraphics
We've got a ton of great projects on tap for the summer. We're getting all our local school sites on track for the fall season, as well as printing a ton of free shirts for all of our loyal customers. So stop by an grab one if you get a chance.
Be sure to check us out on www.southernmissgreeektshirts.com where we're offering all Recruitment and Rush shirts for 6.99 this Summer. Seriously. That's a great Deal.
We're going to try really hard to keep the blog updated as well on a daily basis.
Well tshirt lovers.. off to bed. Gotta get up early and print the tshirts....
Until next time.
J
We've got a ton of great projects on tap for the summer. We're getting all our local school sites on track for the fall season, as well as printing a ton of free shirts for all of our loyal customers. So stop by an grab one if you get a chance.
Be sure to check us out on www.southernmissgreeektshirts.com where we're offering all Recruitment and Rush shirts for 6.99 this Summer. Seriously. That's a great Deal.
We're going to try really hard to keep the blog updated as well on a daily basis.
Well tshirt lovers.. off to bed. Gotta get up early and print the tshirts....
Until next time.
J
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Now on Twitter
Hey Guys,
That's right, we've joined the Twitter revolution. We'll see how long that lasts, but for now, follow us at www.twitter.com/jmhgraphics.
Get a special coupon code for 20% off your online order by following us on Twiiter.
Until next time... Gotta print the tshirts....
Jason
That's right, we've joined the Twitter revolution. We'll see how long that lasts, but for now, follow us at www.twitter.com/jmhgraphics.
Get a special coupon code for 20% off your online order by following us on Twiiter.
Until next time... Gotta print the tshirts....
Jason
Friday, May 15, 2009
We're Back!
Hey Guys,
After a long lull in our blog, we're back. It's been a crazy 3 to 4 months since January. Our business has grown exponentially over the last few months and we've added some great clients. We've also added some great new employees including a graphic artist for custom hand drawn pieces and a new Store Front manager that has a graphic design degree as well. We're making great strides to ensure that we offer the best quality products, good pricing, and we get it all done on time.
We've got a ton of new projects on the board for the fall and look forward to keeping everybody up to date on the latest developments at our store.
Stay posted for some new photos of the show room as well as new design samples.
Until next time... Gotta print the shirts....
Jason
After a long lull in our blog, we're back. It's been a crazy 3 to 4 months since January. Our business has grown exponentially over the last few months and we've added some great clients. We've also added some great new employees including a graphic artist for custom hand drawn pieces and a new Store Front manager that has a graphic design degree as well. We're making great strides to ensure that we offer the best quality products, good pricing, and we get it all done on time.
We've got a ton of new projects on the board for the fall and look forward to keeping everybody up to date on the latest developments at our store.
Stay posted for some new photos of the show room as well as new design samples.
Until next time... Gotta print the shirts....
Jason
Sunday, January 4, 2009
SouthernMissGreekTshirts.com Coming Next Week
Next week we're getting ready to launch our new website geared specifically for the Greek Community at Southern Miss.
On our new site you'll be able to design and order custom printed tshirt and custom printed apparel for the Greek Community at Southern Miss.
You'll be able to design party shirts - or bring your artwork by the store and we'll do it for you.
Letter Shirts will be available online in many different styles and colors. If you don't have time to come by and pick them up, we'll mail them to you FOR FREE! And if you do want to come by and grab them, you can also grab a Free Tshirt.
We also have a large variety of customizable garemnts and apparel that you can customize for your chapter and ORDER JUST ONE! No Minimum orders.We're also going to make all your shirt designs available online so if someone didn't get to order one, they can go online and order just one more after the party.
All of our PARTY/EVENT SHIRTS ARE $7.50 PER PIECE - with 1 color on front and up to 5 colors on back - On Every Order! (48 piece minimum on this special)
Many of our customers already know, but we also give you 100 free cups with every order of 48 custom printed tshirts for your party or event - and they have YOUR PARTY LOGO on them.
Be sure to go ahead and check us out online at JMHGraphics.com and get a head start on this semester for your design needs. We'll get everybody a personal message out when the site is ready to go, but we'll be geared up for the new semester to make sure Southern Miss Greek Community has a reliable source for custom printed tshirts and custom printed apparel.
Thanks guys - and enjoy the rest of the break!
JMH Graphics
223 South 40th Ave
Hattiesburg, MS
Visit us online at http://www.jmhgraphics.com/
Saturday, January 3, 2009
What is Screenprinting?
JMH Graphics - 223 South 40th Ave - Hattiesburg MS, 39402
What is Screenprinting?
Sreen printing or silk screening is a printing technique particularly suited for flat or relatively flat surfaces. The heart of the process involves a fine mesh or screen that is tightly stretched around a rigid frame. The areas that are not to be printed are masked out on the screen. To create the print, the framed screen is positioned over the item to be printed along with a dollop of thick ink. A squeegee is then used to press the ink through the screen. The masked areas prevent ink from passing through, but the unmasked areas allow the ink to be imprinted on the material. The final step is to send the item on a conveyor belt through a heat-tunnel. This curing process ensures that the inks dry quickly so that they materials can be stacked or packaged. Properly cured inks will remain on the printed substrate even under harsh conditions. If more colors are desired in the final design, the process is repeated with different screens. Therefore, a design that requires four different colors would require four different screens.
The screens are usually placed on a rotary press which allows the different color prints to be properly aligned or registered with each other. Some screen-printers have fully automatic presses that do not require any manual labor other than set-up and loading/unloading.There are a variety of ways that the screen can be masked. The most straightforward way is to apply masking fluid directly on the screen. This technique is suitable for simple one or two color graphics but is ineffective for more complex prints. For multicolor jobs, screen-printers often use photosensitive emulsions to create the masked areas. First, the design is created on a clear piece of plastic film. Meanwhile, a photosensitive coating is applied to the entire surface of the screen and then dried. The film is placed on the prepared screen and they are exposed to bright light. After a period of time, the exposed areas can be washed off the screen with water which makes the screen ready to print.
Screen printing is most commonly used for t-shirts, garments and other fabrics. Screen printing also used on all sorts of other substrates ranging from plastic to metal. Although small and intricate details can be captured, screen printing is ideally suited for bold and graphic designs.When a screen-printer prints on darker items, a base print may be required to ensure that the colors maintain their vivacity. A base color (usually white) is applied wherever the final print is desired; it is then flash-cured and the subsequent colors are printed on top. This flash-curing technique adds another step to the process, but ensures brilliant prints on on dark or even black materials.
The screen is tightly stretched around the frame which in this case is made out of wood; the blue emulsion is dried on the screen and serves as the mask. The squeegee is nothing more than a strip of rigid rubber mounted in a wooden handle. To begin the screen printing process, the operator positions the screen directly on top the item to be printed. Next, ink is be applied to the area directly above the unmasked logo, and the squeegee is used to press the ink through to the substrate. As the operator firmly presses down with the squeegee, it is slid along the surface to ensure that ink penetrates through all areas of the unmasked logo. If additional colors are required, the process is repeated with additional screens. When finished, the screen is removed and the printed item is ready for curing.
Be sure to visit us online for more information on:
ordering custom printed tshirts, order custom printed tshirts online, screenprinted tshirts, custom printed tshirts, custom printed apparel and more
Friday, January 2, 2009
JMH Graphics - Services we offer
JMH Graphics
223 South 40th Ave - Hattiesburg MS
601.261.2500 or toll free 1.877.733.3615
This is our first blog and hopefully will become an important part of communication with our customers as well as an information base for other screenprinters on issues such as setting up a successful shop, inventory control, employee management, adding additional equipment to an established shop and many other questions that I are brought to my attention on a regular basis.
This being our first post I would like to give some information about our operation and the products we offer.
The services we provide include but are not limited to: custom printed tshirts, custom printed sweats, custom printed polo's, custom printed sportswear, custom printed apparel, screenprinted tshirts, screenprinted sweatshirts, screenprinted polo's, screenprinted logo apparel, custom printed school shirts, custom printed band tshirts, custom printed relay for life shirts, custom printed vaction bible school shirts and many other items.
We have a full listing of our products at our website: www.jmhgraphics.com
In our next post we'll go into greater detail on the different products and services we offer.
Till next time - have a good one!
Jason Spiers
JMH Graphics
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