PupStix

Since I was very young I've worked around the sign shop trade and have always been fascinated with the idea of customized stickers as a way to express yourself. I came up with the idea of doing custom dog stickers in college as I became aware of my peers who lived a long way from their pets and missed being around them. I created a few samples for friends and then started selling them in person before deciding to create the website and begin marketing.

Starting this business has been an excellent learning experience in numerous fields, but it has come to my attention recently that I may not have the time or capital to be able to continue investing in this business. It's a joy to run (especially for a dog lover!) but as I near graduation, I think it's time I step away in order to focus on growing both professionally and personally.

First traffic is generated through Facebook and Instagram campaigns with a focus put more on Instagram due to its visual nature. Communicating with "pet influencers" on Instagram has helped generate very inexpensive traffic and even sales, but at the cost of being somewhat sporadic. For the best results, an "omnichannel" type strategy should be employed so as not to be too reliant on a single channel. Once traffic is converted to a sale, the customer provides a photo of their pet through "upload kit" on Shopify. This photo can then be edited by either yourself, or a third party. Fiver has many overseas Photoshop professionals who do a great job at a cost effective rate. Once the photo is prepared in PNG format with the dog's face isolate and no background, it is sent to our print shop where it can be loaded into CADLINK Signlab and applied to our template for a sticker set. Once it's prepared digitally, it can be printed, laminated, plotted, and cut. This process is currently done by hand through a separate business I work closely with. We ensure all stickers are produced with quality and will be both waterproof and UV resistant. Once the stickers are cut, they are put in a cardboard flat envelope and mailed via USPS at the first class mail rate.

Invest heavily in Instagram. The visual nature of Instagram and the products we offer make it a great platform to advertise on. This may not just be monetary, but a significant time investment.

A passion for dogs, great customer service, and an understanding of social media. It would be highly recommended to have an understanding of the process of creating vinyl products as well as the potential production issues that can be faced when dealing with vinyl and custom designs.