Elmhurst Businessman Will Pitch His Heart Out On ABC's 'Shark Tank' Friday

Two DuPage County business owners will seek investments from millionaires when they pitch their custom tissue paper and gift bag company to the judges of ABC’s Shark Tank on Friday.

Business partners Brad Boskovic, 40, of Elmhurst, and Charlie Williams, 29, of Downers Grove, are remaining tight-lipped about the fate of DigiWrap, Inc. until the new episode airs, but the pair talked to the Daily Herald about their company and experience on the show.

“The truth of the matter is that I don’t really remember exactly what we were thinking, other than looking at each other right before the doors opened and saying, ‘Well, here goes nothing,’” Williams told the Herald. “I guess I might liken the moments right before stepping into the tank to the uphill climb of a roller coaster. You are anxious and full of anticipation of the unknown that awaits you, and honestly, it’s that waiting that’s the most nerve-racking part.”

The idea for DigiWrap was born about five years ago, when Williams was working under Boskovic at Lingraph Packaging Services in Glendale Heights. Boskovic spent his spare time creating a printing process for custom tissue paper and gift bags, and the pair spent nearly three years developing their product.

When Lingraph lost its largest client in 2013 and Williams was let go, he didn’t slow down.

“Knowing...the potential of what we created, Brad and I decided to create DigiWrap to keep our product alive,” he said. “I spent the next year unemployed to devote all my time and energy to creating DigiWrap.”

The company debuted in 2014 and took orders both from companies directly and from individuals through Zazzle.com. Customers can upload their images and design their custom bags on Zazzle before buying tissue paper for about $2 a sheet and gift bags for $8 each.

Companies that have used the custom gift wrap include Toyota, BMW, Disney, the Chicago Bears and PNC Bank, the Herald reported. They’ll usually order somewhere near 1,000 sheets, paying about $1 per sheet of customized paper.

Williams and Boskovic went to an open casting call for Shark Tank last June and taped their episode in September. They only found out their episode would be airing Friday a few weeks ago.

“We wrote and rewrote and rewrote several scripts for our pitch,” Williams said in a blog. “We made sure we knew all of our numbers, concepts, our weaknesses and how we overcome them, analysis, breakdown — then we redid it all and rewrote it again and again. We prepped all this prep, but nothing can actually prepare you to swim with sharks.”

The pair's episode will air at 8 p.m. this Friday.

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