Multigraph Printing: Your Best Option to Print... and to Grow
29/09/2008
Tall, corpulent and dark, 37-year-old Marcelino welcomes you at his silkscreen printing workshop, located on the outskirts of Estelí, in a neighbourhood where most, if not all, of his neighbours are also former SOS youths. This is a quiet community, but seeing his workshop, you would never guess that a small emporium is bustling inside.
He remembers he joined the SOS Children's Village Estelí in 1973, a four-year-old child. "Although my parents couldn't take care of me, it was very nice to join an SOS Children's Village" he explains. His two brothers were also admitted to the village a little before he was.
For him, childhood is a time to remember. Even though he admits that in the early seventies things were very different from now as SOS Children's Villages was quite new in the country, he has fond memories of his SOS mother, Marta, with whom he still has contact.
For him, it was very important to have grown up in an austere environment, without too many luxuries. "Otherwise," he adds, "when we had gone 'outside' the village, it would have been very hard to achieve an unrealistic level of luxury. That has made me try to work harder for my own development."
The beginning of a career
Marcelino was about five-years-old, attending nursery school, when he found a few rubber figures that looked like stamps. "I was intrigued by the fact that the figures were the other way around, but if you printed something, the image would appear correctly. I consider that was the beginning of my career in the graphic arts business," he laughs. He has kept one of those figures as a memory. "Although I liked to draw, I could never imagine that thirty years later I would have an important career in graphic arts, and that I would be supporting my family, and twenty other persons, with it."
In 1986, while studying accounting in the morning, Marcelino was also doing trade courses on printing in the afternoon. After his military service he came back to Estelí and continued with his studies in printing.
Marcelino's hard work was supported with the purchase of a stamping machine. In 1991 Marcelino seriously started his silkscreen and graphic arts business in his house.
Marcelino was already married to Kenya, his wife, and their house consisted of what is now the entrance to his workshop, a small room where he places the orders that are ready to be picked up. "That first machine was on one corner, while on the opposite side were our bed, a kitchen and living room," he adds.
You would hardly believe he used to live there, especially when you see how the workshop extends room after room to the back, and how he now lives in the nice, big house next door with his wife and four children.
Multigraph Printing
Marcelino baptised his business "Multigraph Printing". "Multi" because it's the effort of multiple persons who work with him, "graph" because they work with graphics, and "printing" because of obvious reasons.
"Multigraph Printing is completely a craft graphic arts business," Marcelino proudly explains. "Craftsmanship work is highly appreciated by many companies, especially tobacco and public companies. You know, to reproduce graphically, it is necessary to make huge investments in equipment, which also reduces the number of employees and increases the costs. Some of the people who started the business with me are still here, and I hope to continue this way."
Most of the people who currently work with Marcelino live in the same neighbourhood with their families and are former SOS youths, but there are also employees from the community, and when there is need, he temporarily hires help.
When asked why he doesn't have a banner outside his workshop, he smiles and explains, "We don't want to have one. Our clients have come to us by referral from others; if we announced ourselves, we wouldn't be able to deal with the demand!"
Hard work and innovative policies
"The sacrifice and effort have been hard, and something important is that I like what I do." That is how he started sixteen years ago by visiting potential clients all over Estelí, and offering what he considers is their best policy: the client doesn't have to give any advance payment; when he is satisfied with the product, only then he pays. Clients seem to trust and appreciate this policy, as they know that the final product will be a quality product.
However, success has not been easy. Marcelino and his employees have spent many nights without sleep, creating samples for potential clients or working after hours because there was no electricity during the day, and they had to comply with a deadline.
Little by little, the business grew, and now they offer more than 100 products. In 1998, he received a loan from SOS Children's Villages to buy computer equipment to modernize their designs. "Thank God, I could pay the loan already, but I am deeply grateful for the support,"Marcelino, says.
What does the future hold?
He is proud of the achievements he has made, like his clients' trust, the many awards he has won, and the important companies for whom he works. He keeps samples of those award-winning products.
His future plans are to enlarge the workshop in regard to facilities, electricity installation, shelves and to hire more personnel. Digital printing is a terrain he wants to explore soon, but he is aware that the investment will require some additional sacrifice, but he is willing to do it.
In brief, Marcelino is also grateful for his employees' unconditional support, but above all, to his wife, who now runs a small printing business downtown Estelí, a gift from him to reward her effort for fifteen years by his side. He is also hopeful that his two sons will take over the business in the future.
Relevant Countries: Nicaragua.