Hey, I'm Kacie. In honor of 2023 (a GREAT year for us here at Custom Prints Central), let me take you through the brief history of my journey. Starting with the pre-pandemic days when I was a high school history teacher, dealing with quarantine in my tiny one-bedroom place in Torrance, California. I wanted a new challenge. I begin drawing sticker designs on my iPad and selling the designs on Etsy. I got a little traction and decided to also start printing mugs. From there I realized, my real passion was business. I wanted to print other artists' designs and do so quickly and efficiently.
I finished my Masters in Education and then decided it was time to pursue my dream of owning a successful business. Within a month of graduating, I ordered a Roland BN-20, a fantastic small printer perfect for beginners. It turned out to be a workhorse, and even now, it's still being used at my friend's business, Candy Closet Co. This printer paid for itself in about one month of online orders. I thought, wow, how can this be? I am a teacher and I don't make that much money, but now the sky is the limit.
After getting the BN-20, I started getting orders for vinyl stickers very quickly, mostly from friends and Instagram followers. I blame it on the pandemic--many people were revisiting their artistic roots during the pandemic and wanted to print stickers for themselves. However, it got overwhelming, and my little apartment felt cramped with sheets of vinyl everywhere and the constant noise of the printer.
The BN-20 is an amazing printer. It's about the size of a large desk and can print on smaller rolls of vinyl. It has extremely high resolution and is an affordable option. I loved it. However, the issues with the BN-20 were starting to outweigh the benefits. It was a bit slow for me when I started to receive large orders. Another issue was that the ink had to fully dry before I laminated any stickers, which took about 24 hours. Now, not only was my dining room filled with vinyl sheets, but so was my living room. Basically, I outgrew the BN-20 in a few months, and needed a faster, larger solution. It was a good problem to have.
I teamed up with my friend Larry, moved the print shop to his machine shop in Carson, California and got a massive HP Latex 335 printer, a real powerhouse. This beast can print 60 inches across and weighs about 800 pounds. Now, instead of printing all day on the BN-20, I could print efficiently within a few hours and save time and money. With the big printer handling the workload, I could finally focus on the business side.
After a year in the machine shop, I decided to set up an office closer to home in Redondo Beach. I brought the printer, plotter, and laminator with me, hired some great workers, and things exploded. Starting with a few orders a week, we quickly started receiving several orders a day. We peaked at around 80 orders daily. Our Redondo Beach office also got a little too cramped for us. I spent 1.5 great years in the Redondo Beach office! It was a fun, but tiny office.
Now, at the end of 2023, we've moved to a bigger location in Torrance. What started as a small sticker operation in my dining room is now a full-blown print shop. We offer Big Heads on a Stick, Custom Vinyl Stickers, and just recently added DTF Transfers. I'm excited to see where Custom Prints Central goes in 2024.
So in 2023 here's what Custom Prints Central has achieved:
400% increase in revenue over last year
I am so proud of the growth the company has experienced and I am extremely excited to see what happens in 2024. I am prepared for anything, and I know with my excellent team we can achieve anything.
-Kacie