New Shop - Need Help

[RyanB]

Hi. I am interested in starting a Print shop. I have a graphic design background and I’m looking to expand to doing printing also. Most of my current jobs are booklets and political fliers and direct mail pieces. I have been looking at digital printers and digital presses but I’m not sure what unit is the best for me to start with. Would a machine like the HP Indigo 7900 be good cost too much or overkill for what I’m looking to do. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Puch]

Start small. The materials you mentioned can be produced with the help of a 5 years old, end-of-lease dumped press, an ancient guillotine and some other cheaper stuff you can buy at Wal-Mart.

But before that, do a thorough cost analysis: add up needed labor costs (twice, as employees tend to go on vacations, or might get ill), add machines+materials price, the cost of enlarging your office, the increased electricity bill, the cost of upgrading your office network, servers. Add some marketing costs. In the end, you might get the feeling that after all, your print partners today don't bill that much – they just try to cover their costs.

 

[RyanB]

Thanks for the reply. We defiantly want to start small. I’m not sure where to find or what type of press to get, or if straight digital is the way to go. I am looking at cost now but I find it hard to find cost on the machines and what machine to select.

 

[easiprint]

What sort of volumes are you looking at doing?

 

[pippip]

Calculate out how many print sheets "clicks" you'd be doing per month. You really want a count of full sheet prints (SRA3), so if 10000 flyers, would be 4up, so 2500 sheets, double sided 5000 clicks.

Once you have a rough monthly click count you can then look at each manufacturer and see what machines they offer in this region.

Also do a bit of research into which manufacturers offer good service in your area. This is CRITICAL. Xerox in your region my be out same day where as Konica may be next day or worse, all the while you're out of action.

 

[MailGuru]

Don't want to rain on your parade. I really wish you all the good luck in the world, but, If I had a nickle for every graphic artist over the years that decided that doing their own printing was the way to go, I'd be able to retire by now..... lol

 

[arossetti]

HP Indigo 7900 be good cost too much or overkill for what I’m looking to do.

I think a new 7900 would cost close to $750,000. Not sure what your business plan looks like but that is a large initial investment.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I think a new 7900 would cost close to $750,000. Not sure what your business plan looks like but that is a large initial investment.

Yeah. Most shops that have been open for years, gaining new clients and projects, can't even afford a 7900.

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

Don't want to rain on your parade. I really wish you all the good luck in the world, but, If I had a nickle for every graphic artist over the years that decided that doing their own printing was the way to go, I'd be able to retire by now..... lol

If I had a nickel for every shop that indigo has put out of business... way overkill for startup, keep overhead really low, see if local Ricoh or KMC dealer has a trade in or demo, play up the startup angle, partner up with trade offset and/or someone with indigo and start building your volume, with hard work and luck in a couple years you will have volume to justify a 7900, but still resist the urge, its overpriced and to much cleaning...

 

[DYP]

I get emailed requests to sign up for linkedin and have always thought it to be spam. What is it exactly. Answers from any user only please, not someone pushing this with only 1 post.

 

[MailGuru]

I'm on linked in. It's kinda like Facebook, but, only for professionals and business. There are discussion groups such as Printing Industries of America, Marketing, etc. I'm on the "free" level, so, I don't get everything, but, it is a very good source and forum.

 

[Keith]

I don't know how much you like doing graphic design but running a print shop is going to take A LOT of time away from that. Unless you like working ninety hours a week.

 

[gordo]

I'm on linked in. It's kinda like Facebook, but, only for professionals and business. There are discussion groups such as Printing Industries of America, Marketing, etc. I'm on the "free" level, so, I don't get everything, but, it is a very good source and forum.

Ditto.

I also receive notices of job opportunities related to my experience. It's also good if you're looking to make contact with folks you used to work with, or search for a person who has a specific expertise, or get background information on a person you are looking to hire, or, as I did in a recent search, get that background info on a person in a foreign country that I'll be working with remotely.

 

[Manafaith]

Indigo.... MAJOR Overkill for a start-up. I would also consider trade printers to start with to see where it goes before investing in everything it takes to run a fully functioning print shop

 

[MailGuru]

Ditto.

I also receive notices of job opportunities related to my experience. It's also good if you're looking to make contact with folks you used to work with, or search for a person who has a specific expertise, or get background information on a person you are looking to hire, or, as I did in a recent search, get that background info on a person in a foreign country that I'll be working with remotely.

Prime example of a usage: I get call from someone I've never done business with before wanting me to quote on a job. I can look them up on Linked In to find out who they are, what they do, who they worked for before, what their expertise is, etc. IMHO, if they are not on Linked In, and, they don't have a company website, they're probably not legit.

 

[gregbatch]

Everyday I see printers dumping their equipment and just doing design and brokering through a variety of sources. There are plenty of printers out there that don't want to work directly with clients. They would rather have designers and smaller printers be their sales force.

 

[wonderings]

I would contact your local digital print players. Xerox, Canon, Ricoh. Tell them what you are wanting to do and let them all try and sell you. Something I would recommend is getting a digital unit with a service contract. You will have problems and having a service contract gives you the support you need to get back up and running again. Service will differ depending on your region. Xerox has been fantastic for us in ours. We are a print shop in business since '61, before we got into digital we contacted Xerox and started looking at what would best suit our needs to start, something we could start with without breaking the bank. At the time they recommend a used Doc12. It was an OK machine to start and learn on, we then progressively moved up as we used digital more and more. Currently we have a Versant 2100 which is an amazing machine. When we first demoed the Doc12 they let us run live jobs on it and when we first got it we had a massive rush job that we could just not finish in time with one unit. Xerox let us go to their local office and use a few of their printers free of charge (we supplied the paper). Turned out it was around 140,000 clicks just that one job. Not saying all will do this, but it really cemented a relationship with Xerox that has kept us going back to them as they back us when we are down, which is very rare now with the 2100.

Long story short, contact the big guys, tell them what you want and let them sell to you. There is a lot of competition out there, hungry for your business.

 

[AP90]

Everyday I see printers dumping their equipment and just doing design and brokering through a variety of sources. There are plenty of printers out there that don't want to work directly with clients. They would rather have designers and smaller printers be their sales force.

Im very much one of those guys. Send me the print ready file (oxymoron, am i right?) and let me print it for you. Eliminates a couple of processes that cause some huge headaches if you ask me, i.e. sales and graphic design.