Business Advisor
Yap SBDC
The Copy
Center, newest tenant of the Yap Small Business Development Center (SBDC) which
houses the Business Incubator, opened its doors for the first day of business
on Wednesday, June 25, 2014. The Copy
Center is a new start-up sole proprietorship owned by Anthony C. Tareg, Jr.,
which specializes in copying, printing and multi-media services.
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| Storefront view of The Copy Center |
Anthony
(Tony) was born and raised on Yap Island.
After finishing high school on Yap, he attended Palau Community College
for two years and transferred to the University of Guam where he earned his
Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management in 2000. He returned to Yap and started working at the
Yap Media Division in various capacities including Yap State protocol officer
and radio announcer. After 10 years with
the Media Division, he was hired in 2009 as the general manager of The Office
Place, a branch of Copy Masters International headquartered in Hawaii. The Office Place provides office furniture
and equipment as well as small-scale copying and printing services.
In his years managing The Office Place, Tony
came to see a real need for copying/printing & multi-media services in
Yap. While there currently exists a
couple of small businesses providing multi-media services on island, there is
none that can do large scale printing & multi-media services. Tony saw this as a business opportunity that
can fulfill the needs of government agencies, private organizations and
individuals that often have to place orders off-island for large posters and
banners. While there are many options
for ordering off-island, these often require lead time and orders may take up
to several weeks or months. As Tony
stated, “Providing these same services on island will meet the demand and need
for faster “NOW” service.”
Tony
began discussions and negotiations with the parent company in Hawaii to
privatize the copying and printing services of The Office Place. The parent company was supportive of the idea
with the agreement that The Copy Center would buy all its supplies from The
Office Place. It’s a win-win situation
for both parties.
The
process that led to the opening of The Copy Center is a lengthy and challenging
one. Just like any start-up, it required
careful planning, negotiations, some trial and error, and just plain hard work
and complete dedication. Sometimes,
however, fate brings in great timing, as happened in this case. About the time that Tony had begun to put together
his business idea, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) opened a
Request for Proposal (RFP) to the public for the space and equipment at the
center formerly occupied by an older Print Shop. He submitted his proposal and was selected as
the winner among several other bidders.
According
to Tony, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is a great resource in
the development of his business plan.
Business counselor Michael Gaan assisted him in “crunching” numbers to
determine the feasibility of the project and to put together the final business
plan. But the biggest benefit, he says,
is the incubator space which he is leasing for only $300.00 per month. To put that in perspective, leases for most
places around Colonia town range anywhere from $800 to $2400 per month.
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| Owner Tony Jr. left snap a quick photo with two of his employees. |
While
most business start-ups seek financing from lending institutions, The Copy
Center is one exception. Through careful
planning and frugal savings, Tony was able to start his business without
additional funding from outside lenders.
He personally invested his own funds as equity for the business. As part of his proposal he negotiated a deal
with the Yap State Government to take over the space which included copying and
printing equipment formerly used by the old government-operated Print
Shop. The old Print Shop had been out of
service for many years; consequently, the machines/equipment had been lying
dormant as well and needed a fair amount of repair work.
One of
the biggest challenges in the start-up process for Tony is cleaning the space
and bringing the equipment up to service functionality. Countless hours after work and weekends were
spent cleaning out the space and repairing the old equipment in preparation for
the opening day. But all the hard work
is worth the triumphant opening day for the Copy Center. As Tony put it, “Opening day is a significant
accomplishment, but is just the first step in a series of stepping stones in
the life of the business.” The owner
envisions the next steps to entail purchasing more machines to accommodate the
demand for on-island printing for big-sized posters and banners within the next
year. After that, the Copy Center will
start producing custom-made coffee mugs, T-shirts and other items with
specialized printing.
While
the Copy Center expects the government agencies to be its biggest customer,
Tony is confident that his services will fill an unmet need from private
organizations and individuals. One of
the most frequently requested services that the Copy Center is already
performing are customizing pictures of loved ones who have passed away. Customers often bring in photos of loved ones
and request the backgrounds of the pictures to be changed and ask for different
blown-up sizes of the photos. In
addition to other services, frequent requests for oversized posters and banners
give Tony assurance that he will have sufficient demand for his services to
ensure steady business growth for the time to come.
Asked
what advice Tony would give to others who want to start a business, without
hesitation Tony answered, “You have to give 110% to the business! While you may
have a great business idea, if you don’t invest a great deal of your time and
energy to it, you won’t be successful.”
If you
are interested in knowing more about our services, programs, projects, and
activities of the Yap SBDC, please contact (691)-350-4801/2 or visit our
webpage at www.pacificsbdc.com.
