YEA! Graduate Builds on Success with Shop Staten Island

By MICHAEL ANDERSON, Content Development Specialist

 Bahij Nemeh’s connection with the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce has certainly come full circle. 

The 20-year-old participated in the Chamber’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) during high school and now finds himself selling items from his company Fulament on Shop Staten Island, the Chamber’s online marketplace -- www.statenisland.shopwhereilive.com -- just a few years later.

“It’s definitely a good feeling. It took a lot of hard work to get here. I’ve known I’ve always wanted to do this,” said the CEO and Founder. “I wanted the freedom of having my own business and understanding that meant more to me working for myself than working for a company. So, I’ve been hard at work for the last couple of years making this happen. The YEA! Program definitely had a huge impact.”

The Emerson Hill resident was only a sophomore when he participated in the 2015-16 YEA! Program, which aims to provide high school students the business and life skills needed to become successful entrepreneurs.

“That program gave me a huge insight into the business world. I think the most helpful part of the program was the field trips when we went out and met the local different business owners on Staten Island,” he said. “They gave us perspective into their daily lives, how they operate, and how things work. At that time, I was a sophomore, and I was pretty naïve. I didn’t really know most of the stuff that went into a business, such as the difference between an LLC and a corporation, plus all the technical aspects like business plans, organization, and legalities. Learning a lot of that stuff was very helpful.” 

Nemeh’s business plan was to design a 3D printer to sell it as a kit. Although that plan didn’t materialize, he kept his entrepreneurial spirit alive by selling 3D-printed fidget spinners, then cases, and moving onto producing other items via laser cutting and woodworking. Upon graduation from Staten Island Technical High School in 2018, Nemeh used eight 3D printers to churn out new pieces for sale from his dorm room at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.

“That wasn’t a scalable business. Each piece took 18-20 hours, so there’s only so much I could produce. Plus, the profit margins were slim,” he said.

Nemeh went back to the drawing board and came up with a new idea about selling filaments, which are plastics that melt rather than burn when heated, can be shaped and molded, and solidify when cooled. In other words, filament is necessary for 3D printers as ink is necessary for traditional printers.

“At the time, I was really shocked that nobody had a subscription service for filament. Subscription services were the new thing. Everyone seemed to be coming up with a subscription box for something,” he said.

The subscription box idea was abandoned, but Fulament released its first line of Polylactic Acid (PLA) filament in April 2019. Despite no website and all sales conducted on Amazon, the first 1,000 rolls sold out within three months.

Fulament – which can be found at www.fulament.com -- launched Fula-Flex two months later and saw a tremendous response as over 5,000 units were sold within the first eight months. Nemeh then introduced a matte-finished PLA in July 2019 with high tolerances, a neatly winded roll, and an affordable price. 

That new product was a huge success and took Fulament to new levels. With this success, Nemeh knew he couldn’t juggle school and the business, so he left Stevens in January after three semesters (that third semester was a co-op). 

“I always went against the grain. When I wasn’t strong academically, I spent all my free time teaching myself real-life skills,” he said. “One of the reasons why I decided to leave college was because this is really an emerging market, and to be one of the players, in the beginning, is essential to our growth.

“The applications of 3D printing are limitless. And I do believe in the next 20 years or so, these printers will be a common household item,” he added. “I really enjoy doing research, especially on 3D printing, and that’s one of the things you really can’t do without college. So, I definitely plan on going back to college at some point.”

While his online sales were strong, Nemeh decided to open a storefront on Richmond Road in Dongan Hills in February. The COVID-19 pandemic restrictions came shortly after that, but these new regulations actually helped his business. 

“The majority of my business is online now. I would say it’s about 99 percent,” he said. “During the first two weeks of COVID restrictions, I sold about three months’ worth of inventory.”

Nemeh attracts many of his customers through Facebook networking groups and Amazon advertising. Last month, he also hired an advertising agency to launch Facebook and Instagram ads for the company. 

While Fulament -- which added an Administrative Director and Fulfillment Coordinator during the summer -- is open Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nemeh says he works about 18 hours per day.

“This has always been my goal. I’ve always been that kid who tries to make everything I do extraordinary,” he said.

One way to continue the growth of Fulament is to expose the business to as many customers as possible. That’s why Nemeh decided to sell his products on the Chamber’s online marketplace, which is free for all Staten Island businesses until June 1, 2021.

“It served as a great push during COVID. I planned on getting more involved with the community and networking with the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce after COVID,” he said. “This is a cool way for us to engage online. The world is slowly shifting towards e-commerce as they’re replacing retail stores at a very fast pace.”