After immigrating from Guinea, he found his niche in printing
Abbi Print seeks to establish a foothold in Philly by offering customers a wide array of services, longer hours and competitive prices.
ABDOULAYE Coumbassa, 40, of West Philadelphia, is owner and CEO of Abbi Print in West Philadelphia. Coumbassa, who emigrated from Guinea in 1998, started the printing company in June 2010. It offers a wide array of printing services, including binding, screen printing, press printing, regular and digital printing, and graphic-art design.
Q: How'd you come up with the idea?
A: A friend's father owned a printing shop in Guinea, and while I was in college we'd go to the shop after classes. After I moved here, I worked in the accounting field and took courses at Camden County College. I put together a business plan for a one-stop shop for all your print needs. In 2010, I quit my job as a controller and started the print shop, working out of my house. In 2013, I wanted to be on a commercial strip and rented this space.
Q: The startup money?
A: No bank would lend to me. I kept hearing this was a business in decline and small print shops were closing. I used some personal savings to buy my first printer, a used Konica Minolta C6500, with $7,000 down. Last year, I got a $4,500 loan from the Women's Opportunities Resource Center, which I used to buy more printing equipment.
Q: What's the biz do?
A: We do commercial printing like business cards, envelopes and letterhead, brochures, fliers, posters and postcards. We also do heat transfers and silk-screen printing on T-shirts and hats. We also do perfect book binding as well as lamination. Most jobs are done in-house and are less than 100,000 in quantity.
Q: What do you charge?
A: Business cards, for example, are based on the number of cards, type of card stock and whether B/W or color. If you want 500 basic business cards, that would be $35 plus tax.
Q: Your customers?
A: We get five to 10 walk-ins per day. We also have law firms, nonprofits, neighborhood restaurants and community health centers. Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, Universoul Circus and Guinea's embassy and U.N. mission are also clients.
Q: The value prop?
A: The first is customer service, it's hands on, and staff works directly with clients to meet specific personal needs. We try to educate our customers and give them the best product within their budget. Our prices are competitive. We're open every day.
Q: Biggest challenge?
A: Finding capital to grow the business. The city Commerce Department helped me fix up this space through its [Storefront Improvement Program].
Q: How big a biz?
A: In 2010 we had $42,000 in gross revenues, and last year over $100,000. This year we're on track for $150,000. We have four full-time employees and three part-time.
Q: What's next?
A: This month we'll launch an e-commerce site where customers can shop online.
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