Building a customer base
Following up on the market research she had done for her course, Toupin has focused her efforts primarily on targeting business customers, including wineries, golf courses, restaurants and pubs, which has involved networking through Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce events, though she is not yet a member, and Kingston Connections, a business referral and networking group.
“Compared to my job in Edmonton, what I do now is certainly sales-oriented, but I get to be more of a product person,” she explains. “I’m a go-getter and I love to call people up, but I’m not a salesperson per se. I believe in good customer service and quality products, which will lead to referrals and more business!”
Toupin does not solely work with aluminum composites. When working with La Garderie Éducative de Kingston, for example, she reproduced a logo in a scalable, vector-based format not only for outdoor signage, but also for an indoor reverse-peel window decal.
She landed her first B2B commission in September 2012, when Black Prince Winery in Picton, Ont., hired her to update its image—including that of its namesake, the black-armoured Edward of Woodstock, the eldest son of England’s King Edward III—on outdoor monument signage.
“When Sarah came across our sign, the prince was fading, peeling and pockmarked,” says Geoff Webb, principal and general manager (GM) of the winery. “The sign had been through 10 winters and taken a beating. It looked dreadful.”
Toupin used design software to manipulate a high-resolution Portable Document Format (PDF) file of the prince’s image. Then, using a digital flatbed ultraviolet-curing (UV-curing) printer, she had it printed onto a 3-mm (118-mil) thick brushed-silver sheet of aluminum composite material, which was cut with a computer numerical control (CNC) router to produce the final 457 x 610-mm (18 x 24-in.) sign.
While Toupin offers installation services, using stainless steel standoffs, the winery’s personnel chose to install the new sign themselves, directly over the fading one.
“The prince went from ugly one day to a shining example of his former self the next,” says Webb. “And the new sign withstood the winter weather very well. It all worked out. We expect this sign to be as good as the last one, if not better.”
Diversifying output
Meanwhile, Toupin also began making customized signs for individual clients’ personal use.
“Some were based on photos, with text underneath,” she says, echoing her original business idea somewhat.
In December, she pursued the consumer market for seasonal home décor with a series of circular Christmas ornaments, in 76-mm (3-in.), 127-mm (5-in.) and 178-mm (7-in.) diameters, for hanging on trees and doors. To create these pieces, she had English and French greetings printed onto the same brushed-silver sheeting used for the winery sign.
“I started selling the ornaments for the season, but soon realized they weren’t just for Christmas,” Toupin says. As a result, she began developing a year-round line of ornaments, which she sells online through Etsy.
