Pssst! In a nondescript strip mall in Richmond, not far from Ikea, there’s a hidden gem. Around Greater Vancouver, deal-hunting business owners know about it – now you can, too.
The company, FuTech (www.futechinc.com), can be best described as a business-to-business one-stop store. You name it; chances are, FuTech has it.
Need a security gate? No problem: a three-by-seven-foot gate feet is $175. How about a counterfeit detector? Got it: $19.50. A sidewalk sign-holder with a metal A-frame? Yup, $39. Retractable trade show banner stand? Uh-huh, $39. Clothing rack, yours for $29. LED “OPEN” sign, $69. Magazine racks in all kinds and sizes, even hard-to-find items like impulse heat sealers – FuTech has ’em all.
FuTech is the brainchild of owner and founder Jack Lo, who came to Canada in 1990 from the then-Portuguese-colony of Macau. Like many immigrants, Lo landed on Canada’s shores with entrepreneurial ambitions. But before he could realize those, he had to pay his dues, despite his success as a businessman in Macau.
While acclimatizing to his new home in Vancouver, Lo held down a job in food packaging. But he kept his eyes out for opportunities. Like a true entrepreneur, Lo had his “aha” moment: it came when he witnessed first-hand the difficulties of starting a business in Canada. Lo had the idea of starting a company that would make it easier for other businesses to get started!
“I wanted to be a one-stop shop for retailers,” Lo says. “I saw it was very hard to start a business in Canada, so I wanted to make it easier. I wanted to make a business that gives good service, good products and great prices to other businesses.”
Lo left his food packaging job 15 years ago. In launching FuTech he worked 14-hour days. The company began as a signage and metal works shop. Originally Lo sourced all of his materials and products in Vancouver. But, as his customer base grew, so did the reach of FuTech’s operations. Today Lo employs more than 15 people in Richmond, including designers and technicians in the workshop that handles, printing, design, sign manufacturing and installation.
To be consistent with his philosophy of good service, good products, good prices, Lo took control of all manufacturing operations. He set up a manufacturing plant in China. So, FuTech now has complete control over its supply chain, from innovation, to design (often custom), to fabrication, to shipping, to wholesale and retail.
Lo’s plant in China can create customized metal products of all kinds, in addition to acrylic fabrication and goods from CNC (computer numerical control) machines, to punching, bending and shear machines, and a powder coating line.
“This is the way we can have complete control over the quality of the items we make,” Lo says.
In Vancouver, FuTech’s sign division has provided complete storefront signage for everyone from ma-and-pa start-ups to big-name retail brands like Fido, Rogers, Telus and Bell.
It’s a formula that keeps on working. FuTech’s customer base now numbers 5,000, with clients placing orders from as far away as Calgary and Toronto. And it’s a testament to Lo’s business philosophy that business continued to grow even during the recession.
“When the economy is bad, businesses are looking harder for better deals,” Lo says. “That’s what we have been giving our customers for 15 years.”
And today, with his great success, how many hours does Lo put in? He laughs. “Still 14-hour days.” Obviously success hasn’t spoiled him yet.
This Mac guy wants to add years to the life of your computer
For business folk looking for a deal on upgrading their computers, Rick Martin of The Mac Market offers a suggestion: Don’t.
Why? Because Martin can add years to the life of your current computer at a relatively low cost by dropping a new solid state hard drive into your box.
The difference in speed and performance from this one upgrade, according to Martin, is nothing short of miraculous. “I had someone in the shop the other day with one of these new drives.
“His laptop was turned off – and then it booted up in three seconds,” Martin says. “It was incredible. It’s like putting a giant eight-cylinder engine into a Volkswagen Bug.
“He then launched every piece of software on his Mac – Safari, Firefox, Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut, InDesign, and a dozen others – and it took all of six seconds.”
According to Martin (picutred left), the magic is in the design of these new drives. Instead of a spinning disk from which your processor must retrieve information, the solid state drive has no moving parts – just like the USB flash drives that most people carry around in their pockets.
This enables the processor to access information at an incredibly fast rate.
While these new flash drives are pretty pricey (just under $400 for a 128 GB drive) compared to conventional hard drives (two terrabytes for $150), they’ll add incredible performance to what may be an aging computer. Sure, folks in media-intensive industries (music, film, video, animation, gaming, 3D rendering), know that eventually prices of new products will become affordable. In the meantime, though, for speeding up your operating system and applications, this Mac Market service is great.
The Mac Market (www.themacmarket.com) – which specializes in servicing and selling used Apple products – has been around for 14 years helping Mac owners get the longest life out of their machines. And, with the recent recession, the number of repair jobs has gone through the roof.
“Our shop is pretty much recession-proof. When the economy is down, we get a lot more repairs and upgrades because people are holding on to their machines for longer,” Martin says. “People just aren’t going out and dropping $3,000 on a new computer as much anymore. Our upgrades are up 200 percent.”
In running The Mac Market, Martin has seen a steady stream of professionals moving over to Apple. A large part of his business is still in the sound and film industry, but he lawyers, accountants and other professionals have become part of his 4,500-person customer base.
The business is a far cry from when Martin started: driving a BC Transit bus in the morning and rushing to do Apple repairs until late into the evening. But the goal remains the same: help Mac owners get the most mileage out of their machines.