Hey any1 know anything about Printing?

[Double_S]

hey i plan on opening up my own print and copy shop within the next year

does any1 know anything about these types of businesses????

[dd7]

What info are you looking for? The printing industry is full of stress.

[mface1]

My father has owned a print shop for 30+ years. dd7 is right...high stress! The copy side is awfully hard to make money on with a Kinko's on every corner and very small margins on making copies. You have a better shot at higher margins with the printing side, but equipment is also very expensive!

[Double_S]

i currently work @ a printing shop and i really love it... i want to open up a printing centre in Canada (theres only 1 kinkos in my area) (plus kinkos is extreamly expensive)


to my knowlegde of working in the digital printing industry i no printing doesn't make alot of money but other things like business cards, posters, finishing projects makes a really high profit margin..

machines are leaseable


the profit part is just what i heard, does anybody know the facts? Plz reply

[Double_S]

The print center i work for makes approx. $600k a year with a 40% margin of profit

what are the road blocks that i bump into?

im guessing competition


im guessing the best thing to do is keep my overhead costs as low as i can??


advice plz nd thank u

[BizGuy]

Double S,

I can confidently say that if you are not in a saturated/cut throat printing market and you have done a thorough market evaluation, then its a superb business. My brother and I purchased a mis-managed, struggling printing and graphics company many years back and overhauled the branding, marketing, systems and hired GREAT staff (head hunted the Kinko's managers). It was definately a lot of work in the beginning and we got rid of all the old machines and signed new leases with Xerox (leased a few Docucolors, which I highly recommend). The major key to success in this business in my opinion would be:

1) Negotiating an EXTREMELY aggressive lease contract on the digital copy machines. We negotiated such a low cost per impression and had unlimited ink/toner included. Make sure you get the model of machine that suits your needs (how many copies/prints per day you estimate) and also make sure your machine suits your needs (will you be doing high speed copies mainly or business cards or flyer's etc.) All of these factors will play an important role on which machine will fit your needs and budget accordingly.

2) Your Staff/Team! You need to be able to feel confident that your team will provide a top notch level of customer service and go above and beyond the call of duty. Clients expect to be treated by knowledgeable, courteous and efficient staff. This digital print shop business is all about providing a quick turnaround while not making mistakes. Your staff needs to have a good eye to ensure you are not making several FREE copies due to them not double checking their work. A great graphic designer will help build your business rapidly. Someone who knows their graphics and has the ability to LISTEN to what the client needs and wants will help make your clients feel like your establishment is cutting edge and a good bang for the buck.


I hope that helps as I know that this digital print business can be very lucrative if operated properly. Prepare to learn everything about the business and also plan on being there every day to ensure a good start, from start to bottom. We built our biz quite quickly by putting in the time and effort and sold it for a substantial profit in less than 11 months (don't go into this business thinking of the quick flip, go into it with the mentality that you are going to do whatever it takes to ensure it succeeds).

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I will be happy to help.

Good luck,

Adam T.

[Double_S]

whao .. wow great post ... im speechless... thanks for the advice bud.. thats all i can say

[Double_S]

Adam can you explain .. the unlimited toner.. what you meant by that... you worked out a really good lease.. ok but u got unlimited amounts of toner???

[leggomygreggo]

Double S,

I can confidently say that if you are not in a saturated/cut throat printing market and you have done a thorough market evaluation, then its a superb business. My brother and I purchased a mis-managed, struggling printing and graphics company many years back and overhauled the branding, marketing, systems and hired GREAT staff (head hunted the Kinko's managers). It was definately a lot of work in the beginning and we got rid of all the old machines and signed new leases with Xerox (leased a few Docucolors, which I highly recommend). The major key to success in this business in my opinion would be:

1) Negotiating an EXTREMELY aggressive lease contract on the digital copy machines. We negotiated such a low cost per impression and had unlimited ink/toner included. Make sure you get the model of machine that suits your needs (how many copies/prints per day you estimate) and also make sure your machine suits your needs (will you be doing high speed copies mainly or business cards or flyer's etc.) All of these factors will play an important role on which machine will fit your needs and budget accordingly.

2) Your Staff/Team! You need to be able to feel confident that your team will provide a top notch level of customer service and go above and beyond the call of duty. Clients expect to be treated by knowledgeable, courteous and efficient staff. This digital print shop business is all about providing a quick turnaround while not making mistakes. Your staff needs to have a good eye to ensure you are not making several FREE copies due to them not double checking their work. A great graphic designer will help build your business rapidly. Someone who knows their graphics and has the ability to LISTEN to what the client needs and wants will help make your clients feel like your establishment is cutting edge and a good bang for the buck.


I hope that helps as I know that this digital print business can be very lucrative if operated properly. Prepare to learn everything about the business and also plan on being there every day to ensure a good start, from start to bottom. We built our biz quite quickly by putting in the time and effort and sold it for a substantial profit in less than 11 months (don't go into this business thinking of the quick flip, go into it with the mentality that you are going to do whatever it takes to ensure it succeeds).

Let me know if you have any specific questions, I will be happy to help.

Good luck,

Adam T.

Wow. He just gave you how to run your business down to a T. You should def take this man's advice

[BizGuy]

Double S,

To answer your question about 'unlimited toner'....

When you set up your meeting with the account executive (I like to ask for the sales manager when I set up negotiation meetings) you want to be stern on the MONTHLY LEASE DOLLAR amount to include MAINTENANCE and UNLIMITED TONER. This way you only get one bill for the xerox machine and won't need to worry about any of the headaches involved with maintenance fees etc. This should all be included! The xerox maintenance program was SUPERB. If we had a problem with one of our machines, they would send a tech out within 4 hours. I was impressed.

The fact of the matter is that one of your MAJOR overhead expenses will be your equipment leases, so get aggreesive with your negotiations.

Feel free to research some of the companies that supply good digital machines like Canon. I know they were working on some great technology.

Best of luck and keep us in the loop of all your success, trials and tribulations!

We are here to help!

All the best,

Adam T.

[Double_S]

Thank you adam i really appreciate the advice

[carrera87]

i designed a lot of artwork for sites like myspace etc..

[rubons]

hey i plan on opening up my own print and copy shop within the next year

does any1 know anything about these types of businesses????

I am running a export and import manufacture of printing and scrapbooks, if u have any problem , we could discuss, or we may bulit some business relationship in scrapbook between China and the USA