Villanova University student Michael Tufankjian, founder of License Plate Designs, is expanding his business and selling his products at colleges across the U.S.
Tufankjian launched License Plate Designs while he was still a high school student in Massachusetts. The startup 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 regional universities like Villanova, Lafayette College and soon Saint Joseph's University, as well as other schools across the country.
Revenue for License Plate Designs has spiked in recent months, growing 102% year to date as of mid-October, a number Tufankjian thinks can grow as he gets his product into more bookstores. He recently secured a license with Follett Corp., which sells products to over 1,200 campus bookstores.
While Tufankjian’s business focuses on pillows now, the company started out working with actual metal license plates. One day while hanging around his family's car dealership in high school, Tufankjian saw old license plates being thrown out.
“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 said this made it possible for him to continue the 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 in addition to the newly secured partnership with Follett. Tufankjian said his products are for sale at stores served by Follett at Babson, Boston College, Villanova, 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.
