Two decades of business for 4K Prints

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

What started as somewhat of a shot in the dark has turned into two decades of successful business for Robin Thompson.

In the summer of 1998, the owner of 4K Prints was 20 years old and unsure of what her next step would be.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to college, so I decided to start my own business,” Thompson recalls.

4K Prints had very humble beginnings.

“I just started with one printer in the back of my parent’s office,” she says. “I did everything on my own, all the deliveries and printing myself for the first couple of years.”

There was a huge learning curve, Thompson admits.

“Starting from scratch, I didn’t really know what I was doing and pretty much taught myself everything. There was a lot of nights spent at work until 2 or 3 in the morning, trying to get jobs done by myself.”

As this was a time before social media and she was not yet in a position to advertise, she began promoting her business the old-fashioned way.

“I did a lot of knocking on doors – going to businesses myself. A lot of phone calls,” she says. “When I had enough money, I started to advertise.”

On why she got into the printing business, her parents own an architecture firm in Whitby and she was familiar with blueprints.

She credits her mother and father for helping her through the challenging first few years.

“Still to this day, if I’m stuck with something, and I need advice, they are there for me,” she says.

Eventually, 4K Prints became more established, and she moved to another location in Whitby.

However, this was in an industrial area and she wanted to find something that gave the business more prominence.

Twelve years ago, she found that at 212 King Street West, and has been there ever since.

“It’s a better location because we’re right on King Street. It’s definitely more visible,” she says.

As the business expanded, so did the services.

While Thompson says blueprints are “still our main business,” 4K now delves into posters and banners as well.

“Basically anything wide format,” she says.

They now have an employee who can manage design work for her clients.

“Now that we do design, we can do everything for them and they can just come pick it up.”

The printing business has changed significantly since 1998.

Thompson admits that as technology evolved, she wondered “are a lot of people still going to want copies, as everything is on computers.”

“But they still do, so that’s good for my business,” she says with a chuckle.

Over the past 20 years, Thompson says copying services have become much more efficient and affordable for her customers.

And what stands out is the speed.

“Especially for colour copying. You can print a 24 x 36 drawing in a minute, whereas before it would have taken 15 to 20 minutes,” she says.

The equipment has advanced as well.

“It’s definitely more cost efficient. The speed and quality are a lot better.”

And if something happens to go down, it’s never much of an issue.

“If we have a problem with the machine, the [service company] are here within a couple of hours, whereas before it would have been a couple of days.”

Thompson admits that reaching 20 years of business hasn’t been something at the top of her mind.

“I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet, it’s gone by so quickly that it doesn’t even seem like it’s been 20 years. It’s crazy.”

The success of 4K Prints can largely be attributed to its customer service and reliability, Thompson says.

“We don’t want to turn anyone away. We have competitors who are too busy, and tell them to go somewhere else,” she says.

She is proud to say that she serves customers from Port Hope up to Peterborough and right across to Toronto.

As for the future, Thompson says the long-term plan is continuing to grow, and perhaps opening another location.

“Oshawa is a good place to have a business right now,” she says.

For more information, visit fourkprints.ca