Learn from our community entrepreneurs! In this interview, Cory Beal shares the story of building and growingFloodway Print Company, located in Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada
Hi! Tell us about your business and what problem are you solving?
We make custom apparel easy for brands, bands, businesses, and events.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
It’s about helping our clients look great and achieve their goals. A lifelong BMX rider, Beal was introduced to the industry when he came to a screen-printing shop to get some t-shirts printed for a BMX event. He wasn’t totally sold on the process as a customer and realized he could do it better.
Today, clients include businesses, brands and bands of all kinds, and some of them are literally trying to cure cancer. Some are on their last bit of money trying to get some merchandise printed, so again, respecting those resources is integral to every step of the process. But whether you’re into BMX, curing cancer or installing pipes, it’s all the same thing to Floodway.
How do you motivate yourself to keep going every day?
It's the ultimate reward to see the vision of your business come to life. The bonus for us is we often get to see our work out in the wild, too. So it's both the business, and the craft.
What's your one biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
It's a continuous process but learning to hire and lead a team has been rewarding for myself, and the business.
What’s your one biggest challenge you face and how do you overcome it?
The same as the biggest accomplishment! Growing Floodway will come from growing our leadership abilities.
What are your hiring strategies to build a successful business?
Putting the right people into the right places and letting professionals be professional.
To anyone looking to start or grow a business today, what three tips would you give them?
Try to work in your industry first - BUT, don't be scared to dive in.
You'll probably need to hire for your weaknesses before you're ready to hire.
There are more resources out there than you think!