Five years ago, Omar Smith embarked on a new journey in life when he fell into the print business, which resulted in the setting up of his enterprise 24/7 Ink.

His print shop has an extensive list of services, from graphics, printing, and signage to flyers, posters, banners, labels, web adverts and more. And he has now branched out further with the launch of his Bermudian Onion brand T-shirt.

But back in 2012, he was working as a delivery man when his colleague Laura Trott, who has her own brand, asked if he could print her designs.

Being naturally business-minded he brought his own printer to do Ms Trott’s designs, and also give the option of doing more jobs.

As word spread about his printing work for Ms Trott interest in his business grew and so did job requests.

Mr Smith said: “I started printing for more and more people and making extra money.”

Soon he was giving advice to people on where to edit designs.

“Once I knew that people trusted me with where to take their designs to be edited, I figured I would learn to do it myself.

“I started watching YouTube videos and spoke with people within the design industry to gain knowledge and advance my skills.”

He now designs everything from business cards to tags, bookmarks, invitations and vehicle wraps.

The strangest request he had was someone who wanted custom design lingerie for a party.

“This lady wanted to me design her lingerie. I thought it was strange, but I did it.”

After gaining more confidence in his designs, he decided to launch his own brand of T-shirts in June, and named the brand Bermudian Onion.

“Bermudian Onion represents all the our culture is, on the T-shirts it displays the traditional swizzle, Gombeys, Cup Match Classic and codfish and potatoes.”

Mr Smith believes he is naturally creative and this helps him with designing.

He taught himself the required skills to succeed and now wants to work with others in the design industry.

“We share advice and knowledge.”

Now that he works full time for himself, he has more time to focus on growing his business and perfecting his designs.

“I have now started designing T-shirts, signs, vehicle licence plates and many more.

“I have more flexibility working on my own and it is nice not having to answer to anyone.”

Although the business gives him more flexibility, there is also more work involved.

“Because this is my business I am always working. This is why I came up with the name 24/7 Ink, because I work non-stop around the clock.”

In the future he wants to open a store front with a space big enough for a speciality printer or something that he can introduce to Bermuda.

Mr Smith encourages anyone who is thinking about starting a business to just do it.

He said: “Life is short. Sometimes you will fail, but how can you succeed if you do not try?”

For more information call 532-0247 or e-mail 247ink@mail.com. You can also reach Mr Smith on Facebook at 24/7 Ink or Omar Smith and Instagram @247inktheprintshop