History

After earning his Masters in Business (MBA) from University of Southern New Hampshire (formerly New Hampshire College), Mr. Anup Gupta moved to Ohio to further his career in Marketing. It was then he landed his first full time job as Sales & Marketing Manager with (removed the company name) a printing franchise center in Akron, Ohio in March 1991. His hard work and dedication to his profession bore fruit in relatively short amount of time. By 1995, his center won the award of highest sales in the country. “That was a tremendous honor that I am very proud of. My knowledge and education in Marketing, my strong drive to succeed, coupled with support from the company management were the key factors in helping us earn that national honor,” says Mr. Gupta. Akron beacon Journal, the largest newspaper in the city published a story on this honor in the business section as well. He worked for five and a half years before circumstances forced him to look elsewhere. Decision had to be made if he should explore other job opportunities or fulfill his dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

After discussing with his family, Mr. Anup Gupta decided to start his business to sell printing services, labels, and marketing materials in 1996. “The year 1996 has a special significance in my life. My first child, Aaina, was born in that year as well,” says Gupta. We used to live in a small two bedroom apartment in Stow. One bedroom was used as the family bedroom, and the other was the “office”. The home phone was used as the company main number, with a separate fax line. The family room was used to store some of the merchandise. As Gupta looks back, he vividly remembers one frigid Friday. He had to make a delivery of 576 mugs to his customer. To meet the customers’ needs and also to make (removed the) additional money on shipping charges, he drove two hours to pick up the 16 cartons of mugs. Because of the frigid weather conditions, by the time he got back, it was already 5:30. Since the delivery could not be made until Monday, and not to ruin the struts in his car, he had to carry all those heavy boxes up the stairs to his apartment. On Monday morning again, he had to carry those boxes down, load up his car, and deliver to his client. Five hours of driving, and all that loading and unloading to make $185.00 in the shipping charges? There are numerous similar episodes and hardships he had to go overcome to get through those early years in business.

Hard work is not foreign to Gupta. He has worked extremely hard from the get go and given his best to his clients. As a result, referrals have been the main source of new business over the years. Today, he is proud to report that his business has grown in double digits every year except one. The business moved into the present location in Cuyahoga Falls in the year 2010, when the need arose to hire additional employees. This new location is three time in size compared to the one they were, and boasts a 1000 sq ft showroom. “This showroom has been a tremendous investment for us. Our clients can now visit the showroom, and see, feel and touch products before placing orders. It completely takes the guess work out and makes buying that much easier with additional peace of mind,” says Gupta.

In 2003, his wife, Mrs. Anju Gupta, quit her job as accountant with a local CPA firm, and joined her husband. “Numbers are not my expertise, so I was ecstatic when my wife agreed to assume the accounting and financial duties of the growing business. She has a Masters’ in Finance, and is better suited for that role. I must say, she has done an outstanding job,” says Gupta.