I’m Building a Business My Sons Can Build On — Not Recover From

I’m Building Something My Sons Can Inherit.

I’m seeking a $6,300 Kiva loan to launch Anykos™, a family-owned brand and merchandise design studio that helps founders, creators, and small businesses turn their brands into merchandise people recognize, connect with, and wear.

This loan will help Anykos move from a home-based creative operation into a dedicated production business capable of serving more customers, improving production capacity, and creating a stronger foundation for long-term family income.

My Story

My name is Duane Washington. I’m a brand strategist, designer, and father from [X].

I grew up in a household where PTSD, addiction, and instability created challenges many families understand.

During those years, creativity became my foundation.

Art gave me a place to focus, create, and imagine something different.

Drawing, music, design, and creativity showed me that even in uncertain environments, something meaningful could still be built.

As I got older, I taught myself graphic design and eventually began printing shirts from home.

I traveled throughout the Midwest selling apparel while learning branding, merchandising, and what makes people connect with products.

There were nights I printed shirts while my son slept only a few feet away.

Not because it was a perfect business plan.

Because it was the opportunity I knew how to create.

Over time, those experiences led to opportunities working with artists and organizations including Bob Dylan, Wu-Tang Clan, and G.O.O.D. Music.

I’ve spent more than 18 years helping businesses build brands that people remember.

I’m grateful for those experiences, but they taught me something important:

Success helping build other people’s visions does not automatically create security for your own family.

What I want now is something different.

I want to build a stable future forward business my children can one day inherit, improve, and continue long after I’m gone.

About Anykos™

Anykos™ helps founders, artists, and small businesses turn their brands into merchandise people recognize, connect with, and wear.

We provide:

• Brand identity guidance.
• Merchandise design.
• Small-batch apparel production.
• Product development for growing brands.

Most print shops simply produce what they’re given.

Anykos helps clients define what their merchandise should communicate before it’s ever produced.

Because merchandise should do more than display a logo.

It should represent something.

When designed with strategy and intention, a T-shirt becomes more than apparel.

It becomes a lasting message — something people choose to wear because it reflects who they are and what they believe.

Why I’m Applying

The hardest stage of building a company is often the beginning.

Before production can happen consistently.
Before there are major resources.
Before people recognize the potential.

That is when early support creates the greatest impact.

Every meaningful business has people who believed before it became obvious.

The first customers.
The first partners.
The first supporters who saw what was possible.

Kiva lenders make those beginnings possible. Your support isn’t simply funding equipment. It’s helping transform years of experience into a sustainable business that will continue creating value long after this loan is repaid.

This Kiva loan represents more than equipment.

It represents the foundation of a company designed to create opportunity for my family, serve other founders, and build something that lasts.

How This Loan Will Help

This $6,300 Kiva loan will allow Anykos to move into a more reliable production workflow and create the infrastructure needed to serve customers consistently.

The equipment will help me:

• Produce apparel in-house.

• Shorten turnaround times.

• Improve production quality.

• Accept larger client orders.

• Build a reliable source of family income.

The goal is steady growth built on quality work, repeat customers, and strong relationships.

How The Loan Will Be Used

The funds will be used for:

• Shocker Deluxe 6×6 manual screen-printing press + Micro-registration upgrade — $1,400

• 288 Gildan G640 Softstyle ringspun shirts for startup inventory — $950

• Screens, squeegees, water based inks, emulsion, flash dryer, reclaim chemicals, shirt boards, and shipping supplies — $1,850

• Exposure unit and washout setup — $650

• MacBook Air M3 with 16GB RAM — $1,000

• Production tools and contingency expenses — $1,250

How The Business Works

The business focuses on consistent weekly production rather than growing too quickly.

Most weeks will include:

• One or two client apparel orders.

• One in-house merchandise release.

• Design work for upcoming projects.

• Production preparation for future orders.

The goal is to create a repeatable operating rhythm that allows the business to grow steadily while maintaining quality.

Revenue and Repayment

The business generates income through:

• Custom merchandise production.

• Merchandise design services.

• Branded product releases.

Typical apparel sells between $25 and $35 per shirt, with estimated production costs between $6 and $10 depending on the order.

My first-year goal is producing between 50 and 100 shirts each week while building repeat customers through consistent quality and service.

Loan repayment will come directly from ongoing production income generated through customer orders and merchandise sales.

Rather than relying on rapid expansion, Anykos is designed around consistent weekly production, careful expense management, and steady reinvestment.

Why This Matters

Entrepreneurship has always been part of my family’s story.

My great-grandmother owned a neighborhood candy store.
My grandfather built income through property ownership and community service.

They taught me the value of hard work, relationships, and creating opportunities with what you have.

What they did not leave behind was a business system that could continue from one generation to the next.

That is what I’m building.

Anykos™ is not simply about printing apparel.

It is about creating something stable enough to outlive me.

It is about showing my children that creativity can become ownership, responsibility, and opportunity.

As the business grows, I plan to donate $1 from every shirt sold to organizations supporting PTSD and ADHD awareness and services — causes that are deeply personal to my family’s journey.

Looking Ahead

My vision is simple.

Build a dependable family business.
Help founders create merchandise that carries meaning.
Create steady work that supports my family.
Give back through every product we make.

And leave my children something stronger than I inherited — a business they can grow instead of having to rebuild.

Every lasting business begins with people willing to believe before everyone else.

If Anykos resonates with you, I’d be honored to have you become one of the people who helped build its foundation.

You’ve see the world we live in. Word to De La…the STAKES are high.

Spoetically Yours,

Your Favorite ENFJ. Empathetic Cancerian sun. Go Getter Capricorn moon. Forever deep conversing Libra rising. Commanding Mercury Leo. Forever detailed and service driven Virgo in Venus/Mars.