Bret Mitchell is the current Managing Director of Pro Con Services, LLC. Pro Con Services is a boutique print media establishment. Pro Con Services fulfills clients printing needs such as: envelopes, post cards, letterhead, business cards, and invitations. Bret Mitchell studied International Relations and holds a Bachelors Degree from University of South Florida.
Seth: Tell me a little bit about yourself?
Bret: I am originally from Kansas City, Missouri and moved to Tampa, Florida in 1984 to attend the University of South Florida where I majored in International Studies with a minor in Finance.
Seth: How did you get the idea for your business?
Bret: I kind of stumbled into this industry. I took a job as a delivery driver for a printing company my last year of college and was offered a job in sales. I was married at the time and needed to get to work earning some real money so I took the job and the rest is history. I later was offered an ownership stake in Pro-Con Services from the gentlemen that originally hired me at the other printing company. He had resigned and started Pro-Con Services.
Seth: Describe your target market/consumer base?
Bret: We sell to all types of business, but have specialized in working with marketing companies and fulfilling membership packages for various programs they sell.
Seth: What is your company’s unique value proposition compared to competitors within your industry?
Bret: We offer our customers a single source solution for all of their printing needs. We give them an opportunity to deal with one individual for every aspect of the process including graphic design, print production, and mail processing if required.
Seth: Have there been any factors that have hindered the growth of your business? What are they?
Bret: The total destruction of the US economy by the current regime is our biggest obstacle. Other than that just the advancement in technology has driven down the cost of production for most printed products. We make our profit based on a percentage mark-up of the cost to produce a product thus the lower the cost the less mark up we can charge. This then reduces the amount of profit we can make on each job. When I first got into the business the majority of business forms were continuous fed and had to run through a dot matrix printer. The production cost to produce a continuous business form is 4 to 5 times more than a form that is a single sheet of paper and can be run through a laser printer. Jobs that you could sell for $500 to $1000 now can only be sold for $100 to $300. A 30% mark up on $1000 is a lot less than $300 so your profit per job is much less, requiring you to sell much more to make the same money.
Seth: Take me through a typical day for you…
Bret: A typical day for me is to go over the days schedule and to coordinate by keeping an eye on current projects I have in production along with sales calls I need to make throughout the day. I try to make an effort to layout my day in the most efficient route since I have to go offsite to different manufacturing facilities around and make sales calls along the way if possible. This is done so hopefully I am not driving over 150 miles each day going back and forth from one side of town to the other. But I will get into the office spend an hour or so then I am out driving around town most of the day with a final hour or two back at the office before days end.
Seth: What personality traits should all entrepreneurs’ posses?
Bret: The most important personality trait you must have in a start-up is your work ethic. You must be able to have the discipline to work on your own without supervision. As a mentor in this industry told me in the very beginning “It is not what you do when people are watching. It is what you do when they are not”. Outside sales gives you a lot of freedom, but to be successful you will need to have the will power to keep working and not goof off when people are not watching and riding your back to work harder.
Seth: What kind of advice would you give to young entrepreneurs?
Bret: My best advice would be to gain as much knowledge as possible about the industry you want to work in and never stop trying to learn. Technology changes so rapidly anymore the learning process is never ending. Other than that just be prepaid to work your butt off for the first three years minimum, with little to no vacation.
Seth: Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Bret: Besides making sure you have a good accountant and lawyer good luck is also necessary! You can be the smartest person in the world but without a little luck it is very hard to make it in business or life. However, I have always found that hard work generates the good luck you need most of the time.
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