Zoli Rutter
BA (Hons) Interior Architecture

The beepurple team see Zoli as a classic entrepreneur – he saw a gap in the market and then did something about it and developed a solution to the problem. Zoli was frustrated by university facilities that simply could not meet his specific printing needs to a standard or price he could afford, when preparing his course work. By investing some personal savings and buying a large format printer, he was able to produce his own printed course work, which was of such good quality a few course mates asked to borrow his new machine. A little later and Zoli was selling his printing services to the whole class and printed the majority of his years’ final course work!

Since graduation, Zoli saw the potential to roll out his service to local businesses and now offers a wide range of printing and graphic services, through his company Exhibit Printing Ltd. Zoli works with a range of clients, offering products ranging from fine art printing for art exhibitions through to commercial signage and banner production and he takes pride in the in-house production and the knowledge of printing that his company can offer.

Zoli has found that meetings with beepurple business advisers have been a great way to formalise and record his ambitions and three years after setting up, Exhibit Printing now employs two full time staff (himself and a fellow graduate). Notably, Zoli has managed to double his turnover each year, which is impressive growth for any new business, especially as it’s been achieved in the economic downturn. 

Zoli believes that the more information you are able to offer your clients, the more you empower them to make the correct choices when purchasing. He feels this helps to keep satisfied customers, encourage repeat business and earn recommendations for potential new customers.

"After three years I am very happy with the range of products I offer and increasing our client base is our only strict target. This will be achieved with a mix of social media, blogging, search engine optimisation, sponsorship frameworks and most important of all happy customers! I hope to position Exhibit Printing as a source of information on printing, as part of a long term strategy to increase our relevance within the industry, drive up web traffic and ultimately increase sales. I feel this is why blogging genuinely insightful articles, adding tutorials and talking at conferences can be great investments, especially as some of your competitors might just see them as a waste of time.”

In 2009 The University of Brighton recognised Zoli’s business achievements with an Enterprise Award, which celebrates the best new business ideas and services from current and past students at the institution. Zoli said “Winning the award was not only good for exposure but the prize money helped me invest in new equipment for the business.”

Contact

01273 699735
zoli@exhibitprinting.co.uk
www.exhibitprinting.co.uk