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Vicki Simpson returned to Springfield in 2001, leaving a full-time job with a sports ministry to open Bigfish Screenprinting. The Missouri State alumna says the decision was based on a desire to return to the area and to own her own business.
Vicki Simpson returned to Springfield in 2001, leaving a full-time job with a sports ministry to open Bigfish Screenprinting. The Missouri State alumna says the decision was based on a desire to return to the area and to own her own business.

A Fish and a Prayer: Bigfish Screenprinting LLC

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Bigfish Screenprinting LLC

Owner: Vicki Simpson

Founded: 2001

Address: 1915 N. National Ave., Springfield, MO 65803

Phone: (417) 869-1700

E-mail: sales@bigfishtees.com

Services/products: Textile screen printing, embroidery and promotional products

2006 Revenue: $350,000

Employees: 6 full-time, 3 part-time

Vicki Simpson knows about answering a call.

After graduating in 1984 with a Southwest Missouri State University degree in recreation, the Independence native joined a Southern California-based ministry to travel the globe with softball teams.

But she returned to Springfield in 2001, leaving the ministry to satisfy entrepreneurial desires, as well as to build on her love of art.

Despite the interesting journey Simpson took to get to her current point, she says she doesn’t have an intriguing story as to why her six-year-old company is called Bigfish Screenprinting. It was an enlightenment.

Simpson contemplated several ideas. She thought about calling the company Big Dawg Graphics – an homage to her dog, K.C. – or maybe K.C. Graphics. But those names didn’t seem quite right.

“So I said, ‘OK, Lord. I need a name that’s going to be easy and memorable,’” Simpson recalls. “And, I’m not kidding you, it just popped into my head.”

The name recognition, which she says unintentionally draws on the popularity of fishing in the area, seems to be working – Bigfish Screenprinting posted 2006 revenues of $350,000, up 40 percent from 2005.

Keep them happy

Her combination of faith and business acumen is apparent when Simpson describes the reasons the business is growing – she says that while faith has helped keep the company afloat, she and her eight employees work hard to keep customers happy.

“You can’t buy a good reputation; you have to back it up,” she says. “Even if (a mistake) was the customer’s fault, if they’re upset, we’ll fix it. It’s not worth having them out there unhappy.”

One of Bigfish’s happy customers is Kay Meeker, owner of Sunshine Bike Shop. Bigfish designed and printed T-shirts for the bike shop’s employees late last year. The shirts have the company logo on the side near the bottom, similar to a bicycle racing jersey.

“This was a new design for us – we had done sort of the same shirts all along, and she offered some options for us,” Meeker says. “She’s so easy to work with, and she gets her product out on time.”

About 85 percent of the company’s business comes from screen printing, Simpson said. The rest comes from embroidery – 10 percent – and promotional products.

A special deal

While the cost of printing a shirt can vary from $6 to $15 depending on the complexity and size of the order – Bigfish requires a minimum of 12 shirts per order, and the average order is about 75 to 100 pieces – Simpson’s ministry background shows again in the company’s policy of providing discounted rates for churches and nonprofit organizations.

Several churches are on the company’s customer list, including Praise Assembly, Central Assembly of God and Christ Community Church, as well as nonprofit groups such as AIDS Project of the Ozarks and the American Red Cross.

Lauri Massey is director of client services for AIDS Project of the Ozarks and chairwoman of the group’s annual Red Ribbon Ride. She says Bigfish has supplied printed shirts for the Red Ribbon Ride for the last three years at no cost; last year, the company provided 700 shirts.

“Their staff members are very kind and easy to work with,” Massey says. “They have just gone above and beyond what’s expected.”

Simpson says the deals offered to charities and churches are her way of giving back to the community.

“For whatever reason, God has chosen to keep our business open,” she says, “and we want to honor that.”

Lured in by Bigfish

Here’s a sample of Bigfish Screenprinting’s customers:

AIDS Project of the Ozarks

American Red Cross

Buckingham’s Smokehouse

Central Assembly of God

Christ Community Church

Church on the Rock, Republic

Dynamic Earth

Hillcrest High School

Praise Assembly

Ridge Runner Sports

Springfield Workshop

Sunshine Bike Shop

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