From a living room start to an expanding enterprise

For St Ann businessman Omar Lawrence, entrepreneurship has been a lesson in faith and sacrifice, with a hefty dose of hard work and an openness to learn and grow.

What started as a tiny venture in the confines of his living room in Oracabessa, St Mary in 2010 has steadily grown into a thriving business that is once again on the cusp of expansion. Born out of a need to better provide for himself and his family, the proprietor of the Ocho Rios-based Rated M Printery recalls how he left his full-time job in accounting and launched out into the deep.

“What I was earning wasn’t cutting it. I needed something more. So, I came home one day and decided that I was going to lock myself away for three days to seek the Lord for answers. Shortly after that, I went into a gift shop and saw bracelets exactly like the ones I had learned to make in high school. I told the store manager that I could make them and asked if she would buy them from me,” recalled Lawrence, who said he was driven by faith and a strong belief in himself, despite his lack of expertise at the time. “We tested it out and she kept sending me orders. I moved from bracelets, to printing images on T-shirts. But I wasn’t doing the printing myself and that was costing me because the supplier couldn’t deliver on time. So, I decided to learn to do it myself, and that’s how I started in the printing business.”

After much research, followed by a period of trial and error, Lawrence said the road through entrepreneurship has not been straight or even smooth. He reflected on speed bumps that have forced him to stop along the way.

“There were some family challenges that caused me to put the business on pause for a couple of years. I went back to a nine-t0-five for a while, but it was always with the knowledge that it would be temporary. One of the major issues the business has faced since we resumed is having the right equipment. At one point, for screen printing, I was paying a supplier $2,500 for every screen they provided, because I didn’t have a machine. Now you can understand what it cost when I have an order for 100 screens. Eventually, I made my own lightbox for screen printing, and that reduced production cost significantly,” he said.

BUSINESS EXPANSION

With grit and determination, Lawrence said he focused on continuous learning, and the business eventually outgrew his living room. The current home of Rated M Printery at Evelyn Street in Ocho Rios has also been expanding to accommodate the growing demand for its products and services, which include branded promotional items, signs and banners, bumper stickers and decals, as well as school crests and other embroidery products.

Noting that equipment purchases were initially done out of pocket, Lawrence said a friend introduced him to Access Financial Services when he was looking for a loan for working capital.

“The machines I had couldn’t keep up with the demand. I needed bigger equipment. A friend of mine sent me a flyer about their SME loan and I called them. The process was fairly easy for me. I have to give thanks for my accounting days because that’s where I learned how important it is to maintain good records. Because of that, I had all the documentation. My loan officer was very helpful and, two twos, the loan was approved,” Lawrence shared.

New capital helped the 44-year-old businessman move from manual machines to a completely automated set-up.

“I had a domestic embroidery machine that you had to replace the thread manually when the thread runs out. We used to print eight shirts in one day, now we can print 100 shirts in a day. Now, I’m reaching out to schools and hotels who need their jobs to be ready faster.”

Lawrence, who also serves as a pastor at the Bible Way Church of God in Oracabessa, insists that divine guidance has played a significant role in his success, even as he freely admits that growth has not come easy.

“When I started this, I didn’t know anything about printing. But I believe God pointed me in the right direction and, yes, there have been challenges, but I know He is with me.”