As a native of Belarus built a business on the love of Americans for art

35-year-old native of Belarus Leon Ochs, who once emigrated to America as a boy, now owns a successful company selling reproductions printed on canvas - iCanvas, writes Belarusian partisan.

Photo: Facebook Leon Oks

Oks was born in Minsk and moved to the USA with his parents in 1991, when he was 10 years old.

“Leadership and entrepreneurship have been mine since childhood. The family came here with minimal resources, no money and no language. Therefore, from the very beginning I felt responsible: I didn’t want to be a problem for my parents,” says the entrepreneur.

The difficulties that his father and mother had to endure, building a new life in America and fighting for every dollar turned out to be a strong incentive for Leon.

“It’s hard to imagine what it cost parents: to drop everything they knew, friends, family, and emigrate, not knowing what lies ahead. It was a powerful motivator for me to become successful. I wanted to pay them back for everything, ”says the businessman.

According to Oks, the move to the US was traumatic, but he quickly matured. The experience of living in different cultures gave him advantages over many American peers and allowed him to look at things more openly.

He told me that he once came to New York to sell T-shirts and make money on vacation, and he saw a street artist selling 400 dollars prints on canvas. And his fantasy began to work.

Photos: Facebook iCanvas

The result was iCanvas - an online store that offers today more than 30 thousands of reproductions of paintings, such as classical masters like Rembrandt or Van Gogh, and contemporary artists from around the world.

The company has licensing agreements with more than 300 such authors.

“On the one hand, we sell and get paid for it. And on the other hand, it is also important for us that we help the development of art, get young artists on their feet, ”the businessman comments.

In the store, you can select pictures by author, genre or story, as well as by size, color and orientation - horizontal, vertical, divided into diptychs and triptychs.

Cloths are sold ready-made - strung on a wooden frame. The surface of the canvas is hard to scratch, they are resistant to moisture and stretching.

Prices for paintings range from 50 to 100 dollars, excluding discounts. Any work can be returned if not liked.

“We produce all our products by hand using high-quality wood. For us, the main two things - service and quality. Very often we resort to the practice of a secret buyer, ”notes Oks.

He adds that in iCanvas, they are trying to reproduce the reproductions of the original work exactly the same. Sometimes it is even difficult to understand whether the original is or not.

The company is also proud of its corporate culture. The office is located in the town of Morton Grove, near Chicago, Illinois. During lunch or after work, employees can play billiards, practice yoga or meditate.

Photos: Facebook iCanvas

E-commerce is the sphere of the young, where you always have to go ahead of the trend.

In addition, iCanvas are also involved in charity. Give children reproductions of paintings. And they support development programs for scoker: this is one of the passions of Leon.

If business were easy to do, they would be engaged in everything. Such an axiom, according to Oks, he often repeats to those who want to do business.

“Everything that is worth something is always difficult to do. So get ready to work hard, investing a lot of time, and be passionate about what you are doing, ”the businessman advises.

It is imperative that you have as detailed a plan as possible, which, among other things, provides for an exit strategy for a business.

“And in any case, you should always be flexible, ready to change direction, because the business world is a tough world, and you have to be strong and somewhere even fearless,” he says.

But it is exciting, adds Leon. Having a business is very interesting and responsible.

“You need to understand that a company is something more than you yourself. It is also your employees, their careers, their families. And it all depends on the decisions you make, ”he sums up.

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