Fresh out of college, Rob and Sandy Johnson bought an AlphaGraphics franchise in West Valley City.
"We did everything. We worked all-nighters. We did everything we had to do to make that business grow. We had a brand new house and and a brand new baby and it was tough," Johnson said. "The store wasn't profitable. We started out basically as a `ma and pa' thing and made it the top-producing store in Utah."Seven years later, Johnson owns eight of the 12 AlphaGraphics franchises in Utah, including an 8,000-square-foot location in the Kearns Building at 140 S. Main which opened Thursday. The new store is the second of its kind in the United States.
"This will really be a showpiece for AlphaGraphics - a lot of new technology in an old building. We think it turned out really well," Johnson said in an interview earlier this week.
The new location offers a complete line of services including high-speed duplicating, single and multicolor printing, desktop design and publishing, custom presentation graphics and a satellite communications network that transmits camera-ready text and graphics to any AlphaGraphics store worldwide.
Johnson, 32, now employs 88 people at the eight franchises located from Bountiful to Sandy. The company generates sales of approximately $4 million annually.
"I've been able to develop really good employees from the start. I'm not a business wizard by any means, " he said.
Yet, Johnson was recently honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration as Utah Small Business Person of the Year. Next month, he will compete nationally for the title of U.S. Small Business Person of the Year.
Johnson credits his success to his "top-notch employees, the very best technology, and super clean neat stores that people want to work in."