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Meet Matthew Chevalier of Mikey Designs & Silk Screen in Kingwood

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Chevalier.

Matthew, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I knew what I wanted to be since I was nicknamed “Mikey” as a child: an artist! Once I graduated high school, I enrolled into the Art Institute of Houston’s Graphic Design program. I graduated in 2001, with honors.

While working in my field of study, I dreamt for years of starting my own clothing line. Since 2002 to be exact. In my spare time, I researched how to start a clothing company and discovered screen printing. That dream was put on the back burner as other priorities came up (like starting a family, playing in a rock ‘n roll band, and hotrod projects). My boss at the time also strongly advised me against it, stating, “There isn’t any money in screen printing”.

In 2007, I created a t-shirt design that I was adamant about producing for resale. After calling around and receiving quotes from local screen printers, I couldn’t believe my findings; the price screen printers were charging was the selling point of my starter line. So I collected payments for pre-orders, ordered wholesale blanks, and constructed a wooden press from lumber purchased at the local hardware store.

Was I immediately successful? No! But I honed my screen printing craft and promoted myself to anyone who would listen. Family and friends took notice. They began to ask if I could screen print t-shirts for their companies, and word of mouth references traveled.

Eventually a friend from high school heard of what I was doing. As the captain of his fire station, he recommended my services and they placed an order for a fallen firefighter foundation event. It was bigger than job any I had received to that point. I reinvested all of my profit back into my shop, and was able to offer more variety at a shorter turnaround time.

The orders started coming in faster than I could handle at a part time level. I knew this was the break I had been waiting for, so I quit my full-time job to invest all my time and energy into my own business. It was the beginning of Mikey Designs & Silk Screen.

Since then, I’ve hired additional help and have moved into a larger facility. We’ve even expanded into other services such as embroidery, promotional products, and graphic design services. We do business with clients from all over the country, as well as our regular’s right here at home. Currently we’re again looking into reinvesting our profits into new machinery so we can continue to expand.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
One of the attractions to a screen printing business is the low start-up cost. For $10k, you may hit the ground running and making profit out of your garage. A cost attainable by most start-up entrepreneurs.

The hardest learning curve, for me personally at least, was learning how to create screens consistently. My first successful screen literally took 20 plus attempts.

Another learning hurdle was understanding how to screen print a proper image on different colors and fabrics. For example, I had to learn how to print on color garments, which requires a white under base for bright colors. Black shirts with a white print were a nightmare in the beginning; they’re the Achilles’ heel of the screen printing industry for newbies. Now that we know better, we provide free “how to screen print” solution videos on YouTube for issues like this.

I went to school to learn how to be a graphic artist, not how to run a successful business. So I had to gradually teach myself how to run a business for profit via the internet and YouTube.

I’m still learning how to print for profit. The pricing for custom t-shirts is always shifting amongst the business, and it’s something we need a constant eye on to make sure we’re charging enough to stay competitive yet still holding to the quality of our service.

In the beginning, I was very new to marketing techniques. I had to become self-taught in different platforms for advertising my business. I read and researched everything I could find advice and tutorials on; blogs, organic online searches, Instagram, YouTube, or paid ads on social media like FB, Instagram and Google AdWords.

Incorporating all of my business costs and pricing accordingly was an issue because we thought we had to undercut all the other businesses out there, rather than selling the value of our services. I initially offered cheap t-shirt screen printing, free shipping, no screen setup fees, and low art fees. This was a race to the bottom, and it didn’t represent the quality and value of the service and product we provided. So we had to change some things up.

For instance, we started incorporating shipping into our pricing, charging rush fees if the client needed it sooner than our turnaround time, and we stopped doing free personal deliveries. We also started to match what our competitors were charging for various printing fees. After all, you’re in business to make a profit and to put food on the table. Our products are high quality, and they deserve to be treated as such.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Mikey Designs & Silk Screen – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Mikey Designs & Silk Screen is known for custom screen printed apparel, embroidery, promotional products and graphic design solutions. Our specialization is printing t-shirts with CKMY printing and Spot Process artwork, which produces richer, higher quality results. We work with a variety of businesses, organizations, schools, and individuals. A great deal of our clients are looking for products for their small businesses, family reunions, sports teams, and churches. We’re known for the attitude of “if you can dream it, we can print it.”

With over 17 years of experience, we pride ourselves in our knowledge of our industry. Many of our competitors rely on our expertise, oftentimes seeking us out as an outsourcing resource. This is especially true when it comes to CMYK printing and Spot Process, which many businesses don’t have proper training in. We know how to take a photo image and replicate it to the tee, pun intended.

We refer to every client on a first name basis and know the details of each of the orders off the tops of our heads. We keep clients updated on their order status personally, and one of our biggest objectives is putting them at ease through the process. We understand that while it’s an order, for our clients these shirts and products are personal. You need to see the order from their point of view if you want to truly provide a good service. People don’t want to frequently have to shop around for a new source. Making them happy and giving them a pleasant experience is the best way to ensure a repeat customer.

We go above and beyond our clients’ expectations. Recently, we went out to a client, on site, to decorate uniforms that were needed at the last minute for their child’s high school soccer uniforms. We were the only company that could meet their needs, and they were beyond happy with the results.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking forward to moving into a larger facility, hiring more employees, creating our own custom tee shirt lines (HTX Apparel and Rock, Paper, Scissors), equipment and processes to make our shop more efficient, hosting screen printing classes, and providing more free YouTube tutorials on different areas of the screen printing process.

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Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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