“We spent lots of time working and promoting (the business) but the money was going out faster than it was coming in,” Jason Buxton said.  “We both took other part-time jobs just to pay the bills the business had created.”

Jason is happy to say that at the start of 2006, sales did pick-up but that they were just able to pay the bills and had no extra income for little things "like food and gasoline."    Then Jason says he heard of a Farmington man who’d increased his business' sales after attending a program called Operation Bootstrap. He said he told his mom about the story.  She’d already heard about another class and gave Jason the newspaper advertisement for the new class Operation Jump-Start.  Jason called the Innovation Center at Southeast Missouri State  University and said he was told that space was limited, but he could fill out an application for the class, and would be notified if he was accepted into the class.   He said he then worried that he could not possibly take time away from his business to attend the classes two nights a week for six weeks; it was a big commitment.

What Jason remembers most about Operation Jump-Start is that right away, the group began learning the basics of building a business plan, identifying customers and explaining their products and services to others.   By applying what he had learned sometimes the night before, Jason said he saw his sales increasing, but also saw his expenses increasing.

“We went through the chapter on pricing, business expenses and priorities,” Jason said. “As we worked through this (section)….our bills started to level out. We were just on the edge of staying open or closing for good.”

At the end of the 6-week course, Jason applied for the up-to $5000 in grant money to fund expansion of his business.  As luck would have it, one of the two computers the Buxton’s used for the business “had died, Jason said.  He and his wife would actually take their one laptop home at night in order to keep up with the demands of the business. He said at work, his wife would have to stop designing a graphic on the laptop in order just to print an invoice.  It just wasn't efficient to have only one computer, but they did not have $1000 or more to buy another computer.  They held out hope that their business plan would be accepted and they could at least get a new computer.

Another major problem with the business was the heat press that they used to print T-shirts.  Jason said that the heat press would “spike in temperature for no reason. It was possessed.”  Jessica would have to stop for hours at a time in the middle of a T-shirt printing job, just to let the heat press cool down.  The business was just not operating as efficiently as it could, and the Buxton’s had to take more personal time to make up the down-time.

“Now the happy ending,” Jason said. With the grant money the Buxton’s “got the machinery we needed and some we just wanted (and was) able to get down to working an 8-hr day.”

“With the information we learned from the class, we are paying our bills,” he added.  “And with the help of the grant, we are accomplishing a good amount of work in a reasonable time frame which allows us to now take home some of the profits of all of our hard work.”

His advice for anyone struggling with a business idea, business plan, or expansion issues is this: “Operation Jump Start will be the best boost you can give your business without a doubt. 

"We feel so incredibly blessed. You should see us now; we are real business owners, with a real business and real rewards.”

Graphic Options can print your logo or photo on T-shirts, signs or sports paraphernalia.  Jessica designs custom signs and posters.  Jason also does custom graphics on motorized vehicles.   The couple resides in Farmington, MO., and their office is located in Festus, Mo. 

Graphic Options
2563 US Highway 67
Festus, Mo.  63028
Graphic_options@hotmail.com
www.graphicoptionsonline.com
(636) 937-3044

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