Building a Print Shop From The Garage Up: Flash Flood Print Studios with May Yang

From screen printing in a garage in 2012 to a 4,000 square foot print shop in 2020, Flash Flood Print Studios in Tulsa, OK was on-track to mature, develop, and grow. We interview May Yang and chat about everything from hiring, why they purchased their first M&R automatic press in 2018, promoting a new production manager, and writing their shop's complete instruction manual – all during a global pandemic.

See pictures of Flash Flood Print's shop and read more here: https://www.printavo.com/blog/flash-flood-print-interview

The story is familiar: a print shop that’s run by people that resemble multitasking superheroes more than regular business owners. “You wear all the hats when you start out, so we never had time to develop outside sales,” May said. Instead of jumping through hoops and trying to survive day-to-day, May planned to use 2020 to develop solid methods to handle training, hiring print shop employees, and even using Printavo.

Despite a steady stream of sales since 2018 that's fed their new automatic press, time for experimentation and development has been scarce. “We’re trying different CRMs and apps, it’s all new. Right before this hit, we were really focused on a solid sales strategy,” May told us.

See inside Flash Flood Print Studios (and see their amazing shop dog, Squeegee): https://www.printavo.com/blog/flash-flood-print-interview

“Hiring is a lot of trial and error,” May said. “We have a strong culture [...] we ask off-the-wall, weirdo questions that wouldn’t normally get asked in a job interview.”

So what kind of questions do they ask? “Well, one is ‘What playlist would you put on during the day?’ We won’t hire you based on your music choice, but it’s a peek into somebody’s character!”

May jumped into Printavo Merch online stores to get the team back together after the pandemic. “Our store is called Rising Tide Fundraiser,” May said. “Our pitch was: we’ll help you with the design, we’ll give you this much money for each sale, we’re just asking you to promote it.”

After finding the right businesses to support, throwing together some catchy designs, and quickly building a Merch store, Flash Flood Print surpassed more than $30,000 in sales through one online storefront.

A huge thanks to May for taking the time to chat with us!

Read more and see inside this amazing Tulsa, OK shop: https://www.printavo.com/blog/flash-flood-print-interview

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