Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Fiorucci.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My business partner Kevin and I opened the company in 2008 during the great recession. It was a rough start, but we were confident in our abilities and crazy enough to think we’d make it. If you look at a map of Baltimore screen printers you’ll find a plethora of businesses all competing for your t-shirt business. Even in the face of this, we were still confident we’d be alright. Crazy indeed!
During this time it was near impossible to get a loan from any bank. We both had great credit, but still, no one would help us out. In the end, we found a company that specialized in leasing used screen print equipment. We procured an ancient eight-color automatic press from 1995. It was well built and maintained, so we lucked out in that regard. We had good equipment, but no customers. This was really where the grunt work began, or as my son would put it, “the not fun part”. We opened the phone book and took turns making cold calls. One person would be on the phone the other sending emails. This is what we had to do to bring in our first customers.
As time passed we acquired more and more customers. Our persistence was paying off! The company grew to the point where we needed extra hands so we hired our first employee. Things were looking up and word of mouth was starting to bring in more business. We developed a reputation based on quality work, delivered on time. We felt that’s what most of our competitors were lacking. New customers would always have nightmare stories from previous businesses they worked with. We’d hear things like, the last company took forever, or the shirts were printed wrong, etc. I credit a lot of our quality to the order process. With every order we do a virtual mockup, so the customer knows exactly what they’re getting before we go to print.
Four years later we purchased an additional press and a new dryer. Hired several new employees and the owners could now focus more on sales. This has allowed us to grow exponentially! We’ve been fortunate enough to purchase the latest equipment the industry has to offer easing burdens on our employees and offering a better product to our customers.
Fast forward 1o years and we’re still evolving and still having fun!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
For a business, I’d say it’s been pretty smooth, but not easy. The amount of time we invested during the first couple of years was nothing short of incredible. Many days and nights were spent working. Countless hours. I believe in order to be successful, you need to be willing to invest everything you can. Not necessarily money, but yourself. Literally, give it your all. Your business will survive as long as you want it to, as long as you don’t give up. A word of advice, don’t over extend your payroll or bills. Initially, the owners need to wear as many hats as possible. It’s not easy, but it will allow you to expand when the time is right. Make conservative decisions.
This is probably true for most businesses today, but Covid and the shutdown was one of the worst things that happened to us in our 13 years in business. We watched our sales come to a screeching halt for two months. During our busiest time of year! The fact that we never over-extended ourselves and still try to wear more than one hat each day allowed us to comfortably weather this storm.
We’ve been impressed with Charm City Screen Print, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At Charm City Screen Print we provided custom t-shirts and embroidered apparel. We’ve always put quality and delivery at the forefront of our business. When you place an order with us you can rest assured it’ll look great and meet your deadline.
As the owner, I’m extremely passionate about what we do. I’m fortunate that I get to go to work each day and have fun. I enjoy the design aspect as well as the printing aspect, and I’m a firm believer that everything can always be improved. I spend spare time doing R&D for the business because I enjoy it so much. My wife will tell me to stop working, but really I’m just having fun.
It’s our drive that has made us successful. There will never be a point where I feel like we “made it”. There’s only, how can I improve on what we have? This has and will keep us ahead of the competition.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Email us direct at sales@charmcitysp.com
Contact Info:
- Email: sales@charmcitysp.com
- Website: www.charmcityscreenprint.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/charmcitysp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charmcityscreenprint
