Enterprise Nation

Steve Crossley and Himanshu Kumar are Unipreneurs. They started a business from their dorm room at Lancaster University and haven’t looked back since winning their first order. Would you like to join them as a regional co-ordinator?

When did you start the company?

We received our first order from Pendle College (Lancaster University) in May 2007.  I’m delighted to say they’ve just placed another order with us today. 

How did you come up with the idea?

We started off by discussing the possibility of a slogan T-Shirt range aimed at the quirky student culture which we then designed, produced and sold in a university retail outlet.  We noticed a gap in the market and decided we could fill it. While designing the slogan range, we conducted some research and found that lots of organisations need high quality clothing printed with their message – we believed we could do this with higher quality, and cheaper than most firms out there, and we’ve not looked back.  This is now the core activity of UNI-T.

Did you start the business from your University room?

We run the business using mobile phones and laptops, outsourcing all production to those that do it best.  We often find our university rooms are cluttered with boxes of T-Shirts and Hoodies waiting to be delivered but fortunately we don’t have to accommodate the printing machines ourselves!   

Did you get any help from the University in starting up?

Yes – Lancaster University has an enterprise support unit called ‘Create’ who provide advice and a small amount of funding at the start-up stage.

How did you win your first customer?

Persistence. We had no track record so it wasn’t easy to convince a college at a university to order 300 T-Shirts from a few students.  Fortunately we’ve built a strong reputation since then and people know they can trust us.  Once we had the first order under our belt, we could quote the satisfied customer in promotional material and instantly become better-trusted.

How are you promoting yourself?

Networking events have been by far the best method of getting our name out there.  However, we shall be moving into more formal methods of advertising shortly to grow sales.

Are you now working on the business full-time?

The business is still part time, but run by three people with two further ‘coordinators’ who manage sales in different regions. 

What are your plans for the next 6-12 months?

Growth! We’ve built up a strong reputation and aim to build on this, making the most of our contacts and pushing the business to the next level.  More specifically, we are looking for more ‘coordinators’ to win orders in different regions and quickly expand the business – we feel networking is key, therefore the more people we have to network and win sales the faster UNI-T can grow and the better it can become.

Steve Crossley talks to Emma Jones

• UNI-T Designs