Get up early, plan smart and work harder. It really is that simple.
Jainam Shah is the founder of CanvasChamp, a leading Art Decor prints providing company in the USA, Canada, Australia and still counting. He has commendably portrayed his expertise and in-depth knowledge of the industry which eventually made the business expand rapidly to other countries as well. Founded in 2013, the team Canvas Champ comprises of over 100 experienced brains with a median age of 28. His team primarily includes developers, printer operators, designers, Canvas curators, and market specialist to understand the need and wants of the people.
Canvas Champ also avails free professional design and design proofs to a customer upon his/her request. It is only after the approval that the final design goes for printing. Expanding its circumference, the company today facilitates a range of customizable products like canvas prints, acrylic prints, aluminum prints, engraved plaques, photo prints with frame, photo boards, etc. All of its products come with a 100% “Love It” Guarantee and a unique “Price Match Guarantee”.
Following the proverb, ‘Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do’, he has impeccably earned an average rating of 4.6 from over 50,000 satisfied customers of CanvasChamp. During the session, he shared his vision to be the largest quality Art Decor provider to customers across the globe.
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Where did the idea for Canvas Champ come from?
The Idea of gestating Canvas Champ came from the fact that most of the online customized décor companies were very expensive, making it almost impossible for an individual to have his/her favorite art or picture on canvas without spending a fortune. We realized very early that with the economies of scale, we should be able to bring the costs down significantly and pass them on our clients, in turn, making Art affordable and accessible to everyone. That’s when we conceptualized and executed Canvas Champ.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
My days start early with a cup of coffee and a quick workout. I spend a major portion of a day in my office or networking for work. The fun part of being an entrepreneur is that there’s no “Typical Day”. I might be busy one day at my production, spending the time to understand the ways we can better our quality and costs. The other day I’m working with our marketing team exploring the next big market opportunity.
I think the biggest emphasis that I have on being more productive is to segregate the time between planning and executing. Often when too much time is spent on planning you are left with little time to execute. I think maintaining the balance makes me more productive.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Personally, incubating an idea and growing it is immensely gratifying to me. I try to start small and then eventually grow things bigger. I believe understanding and managing the speed of scaling plays a crucial part in an entrepreneur’s vision. A lot of excellent ideas fail because the growth is substantially lower in compared to planning.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Evolution of cryptocurrencies and the way they are freeing up the payment space from regulations often keeps me engaged. I believe it’ll be exciting to see where they’ll lead to in future.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I’d call this as pretty basic. Get up early, plan smart and work harder. It really is that simple.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Start investing and rearing early. You always wish at a later stage in life that you should have started earlier.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?
Well, I keep telling my friends that AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the beginning of the end of humanity. And not just in existential ways but culturally and creatively as well.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Re-Invent. Keep reinventing yourself. Keep reinventing and innovating your business. Keep doing it daily, Day in Day Out.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
I focused more on the old school strategy; give an excellent product at a very affordable rate. Customers will come back and your business will grow flawlessly.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I believe we all face failures at least once in life. It’s just that as an entrepreneur impact may differ and overcoming the same makes oneself successful. To overcome my failures, I followed the simple key of patience. Sit back, push the rewind button, analyze what and where you went wrong, stand up and act to improve the same. The rule is simple “Keep learning to excel in market”.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
An application which promises its readers a large cash reward (who exposes) if any news on its platform turns out to be fake, a rumor or incorrect reporting. It will serve the society by resolving current fake news issues.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I spent $100 on Scuba Diving during my recent trip to Iceland. The rush of adrenaline and the view made it great.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
MindNode, I love to use the innovation to scribble and visually perceive my ideas.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I’d recommend reading Zero to One by Peter Thiel. It’s basically the bible for businesses.
What is your favorite quote?
“A ship is safest at the harbor but that not what it was built for”
Key Learnings:
• Hurdles might come but you can’t stop.
• Don’t go against your desires.
• Learning is a continuous process. The day you stop learning, you stop growing.
• It isn’t one day, it’s a mixture of 24 hours. Use them wisely. Remember, tiny makes the mighty. A single hour has the power to make a day incomplete.
• The way you carry yourself is the way you’ll carry your entrepreneur journey. The count starts from folding your blanket in morning.
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Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.