SM: The strategic moves you implemented seemed to have allowed you to scale very quickly. RK: They certainly did, especially in the 2003 to 2004 timeframe.
SM: What differentiated VistaPrint in such a crowded market? RK: In retrospect, a couple of things differentiated VistaPrint and made us succeed. We didn’t try to apply the Internet just to the traditional printing industry. We came from a desktop publishing background and a manufacturing background.
SM: The catalogue business was at $3 million dollars. What level had it declined to when you sold it, and who did you sell it to? RK: It had declined to $2 million and it was only in Europe. We sold it to the management team in February of 2001. We then put all of
SM: So you did not really take that model to market. RK: When we finally launched I was able to convince Microsoft France to distribute our catalogues in every box of Microsoft Publisher. That gave us a mechanism to reach out to small businesses who were already buying desktop publishing and who we thought would
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course. Robert Keane is the president and CEO of VistaPrint, which he founded in 1995 to provide small businesses print tools to market their business. Robert’s vision for VistaPrint emerged from his experience with the development of a retail kiosk design and printing system as well
SM: Your business gives options back and allows really talented people to have their career and their family. SS: Some of the biggest challenges in our society are parents not being there for their kids. They are not there for dinners, outdoor activities, or teaching kids how to be healthy.
SM: When I look at your service, I think it provides women who are taking a break from their careers an opportunity to keep their resumes alive through flexible arrangements. Resume gap is a big problem. SS: In the last six months we have seen a big change. The primary reason people are coming to
SM: How successful was your business model? SS: HR people are very difficult to get ahold of, and it requires a lot of relationship building. Our price point was too low to support a high-touch customer recruiting model.