On Starting A Framed Prints Ecommerce During A Worldwide Pandemic –

Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?

I am Kofi, a young aspiring philanthropist interested in the art industry and fascinated

about all things design. I am also versatile multimedia and IT specialist. [design, photography, drawing, illustrator, web development, mobile app development, technology advocate, digital marketer].

I run revvedinterior.co, a website that provides its visitors with affordable framed images. Soon, I look forward to expanding to sell interior design elements such as curtains, carpets, furniture, bed linens, etc. Art and Canvas frames are revved interior’s flagship products and our target market includes anyone that is looking to start their journey in the design space.

I have always wanted to be more than just a freelancer. I liked satisfying and providing

top-notch work for my clients but I decided to diverge my services to more of a product-based business. I wanted to see my clients’ design elements that I love, carefully select, and appreciate hence the birth of Revved Interior.

Currently, the site generates $100 a week with an organic marketing strategy. Not a lot, but the main goal here is to build a sustainable brand, allowing people who want to dip their toes into the world of design by providing little design elements that will add quality artsy atmosphere into their space.

As a designer and an innovator, my image thrives on self-improvement and creating the best version of myself. I aspire to reach the heights that I set for myself because I believe that I compete with myself. I’ve also focused a lot on self-discovery in terms of finding ways to realize my full potential and what I could do with it. As such, this translates into the image of my business; always pushing to create and present the best versions of my work, and to relay who I am through my work.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.

From my childhood, I’ve always had a strong artistic side to my personality, sketching portraits of family and friends were very natural skills for me. Growing up and engulfing myself in design and graphics, I learned a couple of tricks that I used to earn income while in senior high school and college. I then thought I couldn’t possibly do this for my whole life and sought more out of my talents.

It is easy for entrepreneurs and people to start new businesses with new ideas to feel overwhelmed with a lot of responsibility, trials, and difficulties. Not every day is a good day, but being disciplined always helps me move forward.

Every product starts with an idea, depending on what I want to portray. It may be a new artistic technique or a picture I’ve taken from a different perspective. Every artist takes time on their craft, trying to reach perfection, but I have found that most times you will never attain perfection and in that space, you decide to put out the idea. That makes the beauty in art. After designs are ready, our manufacturers receive high-quality resolution image files which they print out and frame with the best materials for the budget. Revved Interior seeks to help anyone begin their journey in the art and interior design world, our products try to undercut market prices to allow everyone to find and purchase what they want.

Describe the process of launching the business.

The birth of an interior design business had already been set in my mind in December 2018, where I saw my designs and wondered why they were just sitting on my computer. I decided, since I already had the service (freelance work) running on the side to make a living, I could include a product-based business as well. I dilly-dallied for a year, contemplating if they were good enough. During this time all ideas and plans as to how I was going to operate the Revved Interior business had been mapped out.

It was not long before I had a kick, in reality, to take the leap and set up the storefront and social media platforms to showcase the ideas and art I had. In December 2019, I got myself together and worked on my best success path. Still wallowing in indecision and fear of what could be. I stalled myself for 2 months and finally, in February 2020 got a little more push. I released a fully functional website that could display the art and designed frames with categories, which could also process payments.

Unfortunately for me but yet still, fortunately, COVID 19 had its plans and hit the world preventing the start-up to fully blossom in all its awesomeness. From 20 products to almost 400 products available online now it has not been an easy process of launching the business but you will realize after all the hassle and pummels of life that as humans, we have the power and ability to prevent, halt, stall and impede our progress in life.

Revved Interior has been running for almost 6 months now and is on slow but steady growth.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

I believe that people are drawn to quality and good customer service. I always ensure that my clients are satisfied with their products, and I always strive to produce high quality, innovative products that my clients will enjoy. I also always ensure the safe and effective delivery of my products to my clients, allowing them to trust the quality and efficiency of my business.

Advertising through social media is a very large part of reaching a larger client base, especially during this current pandemic. I advertise through my business’ website, Facebook, and Instagram, and hope to expand to other media.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

Launching a business hasn’t been easy in this part of the world during the pandemic due to the many constraints it has caused. Regarding the movement of necessities across foreign borders, I’m trying to stay afloat, and concentrating my efforts on ensuring that I maintain the standard of quality my clients have become accustomed to, while still making this as safe for them as possible.

Though such circumstances have created some hiccups in certain aspects of the business, I am currently working on settling all these to continue to serve my clients and keep putting out new products. Despite the difficulty, there are still many of my products available on my website. Starting a business in these times should be very easy, but it is not as easy as everyone would make it seem… people who already started before this are just dealing with adaptation, but this business started in the pandemic period and makes it hard to allow it stands on its feet nevertheless, I am in for the long run and so pandemic or no pandemic, the future certainly looks bright for Revved Interior Co.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

It is easy for entrepreneurs and people to start new businesses with new ideas to feel overwhelmed with a lot of responsibility, trials, and difficulties. Things may be slow at first and even days in between. Not every day is a good day, but being disciplined always helps me move forward.

I’ve come to understand and experience what the expression, “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.” The first few steps are always slow, filled with anxiety and worry, but if you press on, you will always be a step closer to your destination. No matter how dehydrating and discouraging the journey gets, don’t abandon the ship or about your goal. Also, consistency is always a virtue that drives you forward. Consistency is KEY.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

I have 6 years of experience in developing websites. I know of technologies such as HTML, CSS, javascript, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, WordPress, and the many others that can be made available to consumers. I stuck to building WordPress with woo-commerce functionality for processing payments and inventory management.

I could have used any other but why WordPress? For me, it became evident that I needed to just get it out there. So I got a functional and good looking website up and running with WordPress. My experience in that content management system suits the criteria of a highly functional and ready-to-market platform.

Unlike before, social media plays a vital role in any modern business or organization. It has wonderful and varied tools that can be utilized to increase awareness and create an engaging community with your customers.

Since the Revved Interior finds itself in a more artsy and picturesque industry, it thrives on Instagram and Facebook social platforms. In my opinion, they are the biggest photo-sharing companies in the world. However VSCO is also visually appealing, even though there are no profiles of Revved Interior co there, it’s more centered on our target market. We find that our customer base lives on Instagram and Facebook.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

The attention span in the world right now is less than a minute, I consume a lot of content on Youtube and Instagram that increase my indulgence, passion, and drive for my goals.

Feeding on content from Tai Lopez took me from a lost wanderer to someone ready with a roadmap to success. Gary Vaynerchuck pushed me to make the effort. Talk is cheap, and since I was broke, I did a lot of talking. Gary snapped me out of that trance and made me want to get things done either way with or without money. I finally understood how to make my actions a more significant statement and reflection of myself.

Biaheza is a Youtuber that creates content on dropshipping and start-up businesses. He gave me the extra push I needed to build the website immediately after watching his video. I was psyched with the now or never ambition and went right ahead to building and completing the Revved Interior Co website.

Reading books also plays a vital role in giving me a kick in the butt to get stuff done and to learn more in a short period. I don’t enjoy reading so I find audiobooks more appealing. Getting these books exposed me to endless possibilities and ideas.

Books like these Zero to One by Peter Thiel, Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting?

I believe that at the root of every entrepreneur is a dream or a goal. I want to remind every young person to always keep in mind their idea, their dream, their goal. Every step they take is toward the realization of that dream. Believe and have confidence in it. Fight for it. Don’t rest until you can see that dream, goal or idea come to fruition.

Remember that you are your biggest enemy. With whatever you are trying to achieve and accomplish, you as an individual have all the power and abilities to make it a reality. Don’t allow yourself to be your enemy by retarding your progress and success story. Always affirm and work together with yourself to reach your goals!

Where can we go to learn more?

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