Late In 2016, they also opened their first international branch: an office in Austin, Texas.

Forced to build their market in the US, since Australia on its own was not enough to sustain the business, Richard and his girlfriend (now wife) Felicity, packed a small bag and headed over to Austin.

Richard & Bryce had visited both New York and Austin earlier in the year to make sure it was a good fit and found the Texas city to be perfect. It was early in the Austin boom, had a good feel, and was similar to home – not nearly as busy (or expensive) as New York, and filled with people that they knew they would get along with.

Moving overseas proved daunting, given that cash was still very tight, and it was an unfamiliar place, but Richard threw himself headfirst into the task, and became instrumental in securing a presence for Milton & King in the US.

Bryce, Hayley, Chris, Hunter, and Marg kept the production wheels turning back home in Australia, regularly sending samples and stock over to Richard so that he could fulfill orders domestically. Richard had secured a long-term rental in an Airbnb, enthralling the owner with the company vision, and becoming fast friends.

But things at home became stressful. Agfa had stopped supporting the Dotrix, and waste was running at about 30%. They were having issues with the black ink, which would case a defect in printing. As they were still printing a run every 2 weeks, if they had an error – which was now happening a lot – Hayley was forced to have some very tough conversations with customers, as their orders were being pushed back up to three weeks at a time.

They were in desperate need of a solution, and they needed Richard at home to help work out what that was. He asked his landlord, Anthony, who was by then totally invested in the vision and wanted to be a part of the Milton & King family, to cover for him. What was supposed to be only a few months turned into a few years.