However, golfing every day wasn’t what he had in mind. That same year, he and his wife Marlene decided to open a couple of small businesses to keep them busy.
“We opened a sub shop and, right next door, we opened up a sign company,” Voiln said. “It didn’t take long before we realized we didn’t like the smell of tomatoes going bad.”
|
|
Instead they thought that the future belonged to graphics, and in 1990, Graphic Impact opened for business. That was the company they kept.
Volin has been in the graphics business more than 16 years now and still enjoys helping and making a difference in all aspects of the business of each client. “I wasn’t born a sign person,” said Volin. “But I just never want to quit doing this.”
That didn’t mean that Voiln’s restlessness was over. They moved several times before settling in at their 10,000 square foot facility at 5001 E. Speedway, and now “we’re planning on expanding into an additional 30 percent as soon as the city approves it,” Volin said.
It isn’t just restless that keeps their company on the move. They keep expanding because they need the space. Graphic Impact averages 26 orders per day and 90 percent of those are done overnight. “We’ve seen a 30 to 40 percent increase in sales each year,” Volin said.
With that type of growth, even the walls are pressed into service. One sixteen-foot section of wall, divided into four categories (vinyl, digital, engraving and small format), contains clips holding around 30 separate sheets of paper. The wall is the work to be done for that day.
Volin said he keeps his clients by offering them the ease of ordering online. Businesses such as Raytheon can log into a personalized site through Graphic Impact’s website and order personalized name plates, awards, restroom signs and whatever else they need. “It has worked out well for them because they can order during anytime of the day or night.”
Graphic Impact has the quantity of business that it does today because Volin wanted to move beyond the model of ‘buy one machine and sell to as many people as possible.’ Instead, he went the route of getting large businesses and offering as many products as possible. “If you can understand big companies and what their needs are over the next year or so, you’re really put yourself ahead of the game,” he said.
Even with the roughly $2 million in equipment Graphic Impact has, Volin is always on the lookout for newer and better printers and systems to better serve his clients. “He does a good job of staying on top of technology,” said Jennifer Smith in customer service. “He always has the neatest, newest gadgets.”
On this particular day a new piece of equipment was dropped off and demonstrated to the crew. “This machine is the only one here in Southern Arizona,” Volin said.
“All it does is reinforce the edges of banners, making them more durable in the wind,” he said. “It’s not something that is going to help us sell thousands more banners, but it is something that is going to let us deliver the best product out there and that’s what we want.”
Almost all of his systems are networked together, and they work so well, he can start and operate the printers from his computer at his home.
Staying on the cutting edge of technology has served Volin well. He does all the signage for Raytheon Missile Systems, University of Arizona Athletics, New York fashion designer Jamie Sadock, Sauce, baseball teams such as the Arizona Diamondbacks’ and Chicago White Sox’ (spring training and home locker rooms) and much more.
As well as tehcnology, Volin is a self-described “huge UA sports fan,” he sponsors internships for the university’s athletes and contributed the 100 “Twenty-Five Years of Lute” posters, which were autographed by the Wildcats basketball coach and sold to raise money for the Bobbie Olson Endowment to prevent and cure cancer. Additionally, all the banners around the McKale Center and Arizona stadium were printed by Graphic Impact and all the graphics and signage in the locker rooms were printed by them.
When UA’s football team was looking to redo all their facilities five years ago with banners, pictures and signs, football recruiting coordinator, Dan Berezowitz heard about all the types of jobs Graphic Impact could do and made the call.
“The variety that (Volin) can do is huge. He has a lot of unique capabilities that I don’t think a lot of people in town have,” Berezowitz said. Now, he has started his direct mail marketing campaign for recruitment and has Volin printing and packaging these, too. “He has never disappointed me once in their quality or performance of everything they’ve done for us.”
Volin even donates signage to the UA’s lesser known teams. “They have smaller budgets and can’t afford to pay for some of this stuff,” Volin said, “but they are top notch programs too. Gymnastics is something like 16th in the nation now, they are great teams.”
Three years ago, Volin said that all of their business was done in the store. Now, nearly 20 percent of their business is from online orders. They expect that in five years, online ordering will make up 70 to 80 percent of their business. Yet, despite this and a national reputation, Graphic Impact keeps a local, small business atmosphere. They accomplish this by being a family business, Volin said. His wife and three sons n Rob, Reid and Ryan n all work with him at the shop.
“I love having my family around me,” Volin said. “I love having something that they can always do, and that they are taken care of.” Reid, the last of the sons to return to the business, said he was sick of the corporate world; he was a manager for T-Mobile.
Reid brought back with him a further element of marketing expertise that Graphic Impact prides itself on. “It is important because not everyone knows exactly what they want when they come in here,” Reid said. “It is great being able to be involved and make a difference in people’s businesses. We can ask them questions and, from that, guide them down the path that seems most appropriate for what they want to accomplish.”
The elder Volin said, “The growth of the business depends on your marketing expertise and understanding your customer’s problems. If you have a marketing background, you can help your customer out much more than just printing something for them.”
E-mail comments for publication to editor@azbiz.com. Contact Joe Pangburn by e-mail at jpangburn@azbiz.com or call (520) 295-4259.
© 2006 Inside Tucson Business. All Rights Reserved
Comments