The business that Michael Tufankjian started while a student at Wellesley High School is now expanding, and he's now selling his products at colleges across the U.S.
Tufankjian is the founder of License Plate Designs, a startup that uses images of cut-out, individual license plate letters and numbers from different states to create pillow designs. The letters are arranged to spell out the names of schools, mascots or towns, depending on where they are sold. Tufankjian started out selling his products at a single shop on Martha’s Vineyard and is now expanding his reach to stores at universities including Boston College, Babson College and Stanford University.
While Tufankjian’s business focuses on pillows now, the company started out working with actual metal license plates. Tufankjian said he comes from a long line of entrepreneurs, including his great grandfather who founded the family business Tufankjian Auto Group. One day while hanging around the dealership during his sophomore year at Wellesley High School, Tufankjian saw how old license plates were being thrown out. He liked dabbling in woodworking and building things, so he decided to see what he could turn them into.
“I noticed you could spell out different names, numbers, anything of the variety with these. It was sort of a lightbulb moment for me that I could start a business from doing something like this and I’m sure other people would be interested in customizing them,” Tufankjian said.
He cut out letters and built a Martha’s Vineyard sign to take on the family vacation to the island. In between relaxing moments with his family, Tufankjian visited over 25 stores on the island to see if they’d be interested in selling his signs. Tufankjian said he got a lot of rejection: Sorry, we’re not buying right now; the decision maker isn’t here; we’re not interested.
“The next morning, I actually got a call back from… Tracker Home Decor, and they asked to meet with me the next morning and they ordered 10,” Tufankjian said.
As the business grew, Tufankjian began to focus on screen-printed pillows to make the products easier to produce on a larger scale. The pillows at the schools he serves feature the name and mascot of the college. Tufankjian, now a 21-year-old student at Villanova University, said this made it possible for him to continue this business while attending school. Tufankjian attended Babson College for a year before transferring to Villanova to get a bit further away from home.
License Plate Designs sells its products in over 10 retail stores and recently secured a license with Follett Corp., which sells products to over 1,200 campus bookstores. Tufankjian said his products are for sale at stores served by Follett at Babson College, Boston College, Villanova University, Stanford University and Purdue University.
“I’m definitely looking forward to continuing to expand through the Follett system. I’m just scratching the surface of that right now,” Tufankjian said.
After graduating from Villanova, where he studies finance and business analytics, Tufankjian said he plans to continue growing License Plate Designs while finding a full-time role — ideally one that combines finance analytics and sports.
After running his own business through high school and college, Tufankjian said he’s developed skills in resilience and independence that will carry him forward in his current venture and other endeavors.
“I’ve learned through getting rejected at many stores and being able to understand how to deal with that rejection and move on and continue to stay passionate with the motivations that drew me to start the business in the first place,” Tufankjian said.
