Name of your website?ProGarment Work Uniforms & Corporate Apparel
Your name?
Allan Epstein
Your Location (city, etc)
Wayne, MI
We offer custom embroidery on the best uniform brands in the business. We're one of the only websites that offer full alterations on all of our products.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I built a small business from the ground up, working for a commercial laundry service before branching out on my own in 1989, and starting a commercial laundry of my own. After seeing how the competition treated it's customers, I decided to offer my own hands-on approach to the business with dedicated service to the medical and industrial community.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
2005. ProGarmentUSA was the first incarnation of the ProGarment family. It started with just a few pages of lab coats, and now we've got well over 2,000 individual products online.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
The name ProGarment came about because of our knowledge about garments, how they are made, and what manufacturers provide quality garments for everyone from a professional to a small businessman or individual that just wants to embroider his college team on his jacket. Professional means that you are proficient at what you do, and we have been selling garments, lab coats and scrubs for over two decades. We've also done manufacturing of cot sheets and baby blankets. Being part of the manufacturing process forces you to keep a close eye on the stitch/thread count of what you're purchasing. It also makes you aware of the time frame it takes to produce merchandise. We have learned, not only from manufacturing, but also from being in the laundry business that customers want quality, price, and no excuses as to why you can't deliver on time. So ProGarment incorporates two words, combined into one entity, stating simply that we are professionals in the garment industry.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
We have an easy and clear return policy, fully custom embroidery as well as basic embroidery options right on the product page. We offer complete alterations on all of our products and free UPS ground shipping for all orders over $100. We've got clear pictures and concise descriptions, and more choices for embroidery than the competition.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
To simplify the uniform buying process. All the sites I've come across are convoluted, offer items that are out of stock, or piece minimums. If a student just needs a pair of scrub pants, we'll supply them. We'll embroider a single lab coat for free. We try to go above and beyond the call.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It's getting up there. We're building a solid client base and are seeing a lot of repeat customers. I've got some good people standing shoulder to shoulder with me and we're going toe to toe with the bigger guys. People are starting to pay attention to us, and our competition can no longer ignore us.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I think we would branch out to some of the smaller more specialized suppliers and we'd put a lot more time into unique product description creation and development. Right now my guys are hammering away like robots and there never seems to be enough time in the day. We work hard and we enjoy the work we do. We've also been looking at product configuration software that would allow our customers to view the complete embroidery product before submitting it to us for creation.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I'd like to think so. We've put systems in place to catch overflow, and my guys are very dedicated. If we had to stay open 24 hours and work in shifts until we could find competent help, they would have no complaints.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Advertising, advertising, advertising. Which do you go with? Print? Web? Radio? Billboard? PPC? It's frustrating. Google keeps changing their algorithms so we have to keep changing our SEO. Buying SSL certificates and trustmark banners, paying for directory inclusion, it's neverending.
Fielding the phone calls from off-shore design companies, oil-slick SEO salesmen promising the world, massive waves of Spam
What has been your biggest challenge?
Staying current. Our medical apparel suppliers release new products every quarter, while industrial suppliers do the same semi-annually. New colors, updated prices, new styles, the deletion of old styles, the discontinuation of entire product lines is a full time job.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Surprisingly, referrals. A good portion of our business is word of mouth. We never leave a customer with a bad taste in their mouth, and we ship fast and deliver the goods exactly as promised. It always makes me chuckle when i see two orders from two different customers for a similar product come from the same city a day or two apart from one another, or when they're shipped to the same office.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I thought this was going to be a snap. This is nothing like I pictured it. There's more work involved than most people would believe. Checking my ad campaigns at 3AM, bleary-eyed and yawning only to drag my carcass into the office a few hours later is something I've grown accustomed to. All of our customers appreciate our dedication, and that's what makes it worthwhile to me.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I've been running the site for 3 years, and I plan on passing it onto my kids when they're ready. It's certainly increased my tech savvy and I've been able to apply it to other aspects of my life. I think the longer we're around, the longer we're going to keep building an even larger client base and we'll be able to branch out to other things.
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
I think I would've invested more time in getting organic search results and shied away from PPC and shopping comparison sites. They eat up a fair amount of budget and offer decent returns, but nothing substantial. My advice to anyone trying to make it in the world of online sales, is to take your time writing the many articles and press releases and get into as many directories possible. The more sites you're linked at, the better you'll do.
What is your website address?
ProGarment Work Uniforms & Corporate Apparel
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