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Print Shop Productivity: How to Be Successful in the Printing Industry

If you're reading this blog, you probably don't need to be reminded of the vicious competitiveness in the printing industry today.
With modern advancements to the printing process making ridiculously high throughput possible for companies with enough money to invest, almost everybody in the industry is able to provide good service and produce high quality print jobs for their customers.

What does that mean for you, the business owner? It means that winning business largely comes down to the price you offer in your print quotes!

So, you're probably thinking, that makes sense.. but how in the world can I build a successful business with my profits being restricted like that?

The answer is simple, but it's a little more complex in practice. You need to improve your bottom line to allow yourself to produce competitive estimates while keeping some nice profit margins.

No-brainer, right? Wrong.

Bringing down the bottom line for a print shop, where your costs are largely dependent on how much your vendors are charging you for materials, takes some serious thought and effort.

Lucky for you, I did the thinking already and am going to share with you what I've learned over the years. So all you need is the effort!

Let's first break down your general costs:
  • Materials/Substrate
  • Labor
  • Equipment
  • Ink/Consumables
  • Overhead/Misc.
We've already established that your material costs likely aren't going down. The same goes for equipment, ink, overhead costs and labor (unless you fire someone, but let's try to avoid that here).

That's the whole list! Are you starting to see my point? You're costs aren't going down. Not in this industry. But what we can do is produce more with the same amount of resources.

In other words, its absolutely essential in this business to get the most out of your resources.

Again, it's easier said than done, but internalizing this concept is a big milestone in your success as a print shop owner. Your mission should be to turn your business into a well-oiled, productivity machine with no labor costs or materials going to waste.

So give that some thought, and get comfortable with the fact that this is how you build a successful print shop. It's all about efficiency and maximizing throughput. Some of my following blog posts are going to be dedicated to specific ways to accomplish this.

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