Many of the best business ideas come during a time of passion and plenty. Others are born amid adversity. With NJF Worldwide, the two most significant aspects of its business model bring these two origins into one. A resilient veteran who runs a manufacturing, apparel, and medical supplies business, Ryan Leonard is making waves as an entrepreneur despite the overwhelming challenge.
NJF Worldwide has a solid portfolio of services that make it an innovative business. One aspect of the business connects deeply with the owner’s passion—a t-shirt and apparel manufacturing business that offers quality products. On the other hand, it’s also a business that meets a growing and immediate need amid a global pandemic—a PPE sourcing and medical equipment business that is helping front liners and medical institutions stay ahead amid the ongoing health crisis.
It was established after its owner and founder, Ryan Leonard, decided to bring his dreams to life after being honorably discharged after eight years of service in the United States Army. Driven by design, Ryan started to learn Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, creating various designs and logos. Upon leaving the army, he started studying all he could about apparel by becoming an apprentice at a local shop. After picking up all he needed to do effective screen printing, sublimation printing, direct to garment printing, and offset printing, he ventured out on his own and started NJF Clothing. Later, the business moved into embroidery and custom screen printing too.
What helped Ryan Leonard grow the business and solidify his core competence was creating solid partnerships with international organizations in Shanghai, China, which provided cut and sew services for the apparel company. In addition, he continued to explore other markets abroad after realizing what arbitrage and quality there was in sourcing materials elsewhere. That move would bring NJF Worldwide to life and help globalize Ryan’s business.
Leonard created international partnerships with a few co-founders in Shanghai and created a one-stop shop for manufacturing, logistics, and distribution for various products. Amidst the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, NJF Worldwide began manufacturing and supplying medical devices and equipment to help curb undersupply of PPEs and other protective equipment for medical workers. “NJF Worldwide maintained fair market pricing, structures, and reduced wholesale pricing even when others were price gouging and capitalizing on the desperation and lack of government supply,” shares Ryan. “This placed NJF Worldwide in the top five companies who provided a constant supply of weekly PCR swab kits to combat COVID-19.”
NJF Worldwide also started leveraging its contacts to source and acquire massive amounts of masks, hand sanitizers, disinfected gloves, gowns, and other health equipment. It also launched an FDA approved Viral Transport Medium to perform COVID-19 tests throughout the country, especially in the Tri-state area.
Leonard considers himself a “Jack of All Trades” and attributes much of his business success and savvy to that. Despite being an “average Joe,” as he would say, he worked hard and persevered amidst difficulty to bring his business to new levels. Today, Ryan has positioned NJF Worldwide for even more growth and hopes to continue serving more clients in other parts of the nation and world. He also hopes to encourage more people, especially veterans, to start business ventures and take control of their own futures.
You can view the original article here: https://nyweekly.com/business/njf-worldwide-veteran-owned-business-born-out-of-crisis-and-passion/
