We´re looking for fresh ideas to expand our bussiness

[Vinchu]

Hi everybody. My name is Matias, and I´m from Argentina. We own a familiar print shop where my father and I work.
And, as things from print shops in my country (or any bussiness in gnrl) are not so good, we re looking for new products.

I think this is the best place to look for help, as I suppose you guys are mainly from the US where the printing field must be way more developed.

I would be grateful to be given some advices about what can be done to improve our profits. Our main source of income is receipt, and invoice printing, as well as such things as candy bars, T-shirt printing and so on. Im pretty sure that knowing which are the trends in the US may be and advantage, because they will later arrive in my country, I have some ideas in mind, like making kind of polaroid photos (with the frame and those things) kindergarten sets (with a mug, a bib, etc, with personalizad designs). But i would be pleased to hear other options from you.

This is my first post on these forums, so if this is not the correct category, I would move it if required.

Thank you beforehand for your answers.
Matias Marchetto

 

[jwheeler]

Hi Vinchu, I have worked in a few different print shops over the last 20 years of my industry experience. And for the last 5 years I now sell printing equipment, so I visit lots of shops ranging from small 2-4 employee, up to shops with 30-50 employees and everything in between. I have noticed 2 consistent things with shops that are successfully growing:

1) Diversity of offerings: Many shops get stuck at cut-sheet printing or whatever their niche is and then outsource everything else (or just tell their customers they don't offer that service). When shops invest in their own wide format equipment, mailing equipment, garment printing, and so on, that portion of their business really takes off because they can now turn it around faster, make a higher margin, and they have incentive to market it and push it out to their existing customers. It sounds like you're thinking this way already which is great! I don't have one specific thing to recommend, because you can make money at anything you put your mind to. However, what I have seen a trend in is packaging. This could be labels, folding cartons, or cardboard boxes and displays. I have also seen shops have alot of success with t-shirt printing and embroidery.

2) The next thing is sales and marketing: So many shops become content or lazy and rely on their existing customers and the few new accounts they get from walk-ins, referrals, or web searches. The shops that are successful and growing have outside sales people and an active marketing plan. There is no perfect method of marketing, you just have to do it. Send out mailers, email blasts, be active on social media, SEO (search engine optimization), refresh your website, ask your customers to post reviews on sites that are relevant in your county (google reviews, Yelp, and Facebook are big here) be actively involved in your local networking groups, sponsor events/charities by printing their materials and putting "printing donated by" and your logo or advertisement on the piece, and so on.

 

[gordo]

#2 - Two thumbs up.

 

[onprintshop]

Hi everybody. My name is Matias, and I´m from Argentina. We own a familiar print shop where my father and I work.
And, as things from print shops in my country (or any bussiness in gnrl) are not so good, we re looking for new products.

I think this is the best place to look for help, as I suppose you guys are mainly from the US where the printing field must be way more developed.

I would be grateful to be given some advices about what can be done to improve our profits. Our main source of income is receipt, and invoice printing, as well as such things as candy bars, T-shirt printing and so on. Im pretty sure that knowing which are the trends in the US may be and advantage, because they will later arrive in my country, I have some ideas in mind, like making kind of polaroid photos (with the frame and those things) kindergarten sets (with a mug, a bib, etc, with personalizad designs). But i would be pleased to hear other options from you.

This is my first post on these forums, so if this is not the correct category, I would move it if required.

Thank you beforehand for your answers.
Matias Marchetto

Matias, first of all great to see that you are looking for ways to grow. One way to grow is to streamline existing operations. Like automating the daily repetitive tasks so you need less people to process more jobs. Now the concern is you get fewer jobs per day than you need to think of way expanding your reach either via opening a physical shop or invest in W2P which helps you offer all products you currently offer & also the new products like photos, Tshirts. Web to Print will give you edge of reaching out to the audience outside of your local region or geography. We have customers who are digital print shops having 5 - 10 people grown their business in similar ways who are based in South America. Feel free to reach us if you are interested to know more. - www.onprintshop.com

 

[Lorenzo lab guy]

Hi Vinchu,
I think JWheeler's comments are spot on as well. Product assortment and marketing those items are equally important. Based on some of the things you are already doing it sounds like you are willing to get into retail consumer category products as well as the customary commercial printing many shops do. If you add small format sublimation printing and a photo quality large format printer you can add many new products at low cost. Here is an Etsy site that shows some of the retail consumer products we offer using digital press and sublimation printing:

 

[amywatson]

Hey, If your print business are not on the web, you are not in “the competition”. If you are looking for unique and outstanding solution to expand your print business and increase sales, then you are in the right place. I highly recommend Design’N’Buy because this is the best online web to print solution provider and it can be easily integrated with all most popular eCommerce platforms like - Prestashop Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and much more.

I suggest DNB is the best choice as a online web2print ecommerce software for your form and shopping cart.

Are you ready? Start selling your products!

 

[AP90]

Hey, If your print business are not on the web, you are not in “the competition”. If you are looking for unique and outstanding solution to expand your print business and increase sales, then you are in the right place. I highly recommend Design’N’Buy because this is the best online web to print solution provider and it can be easily integrated with all most popular eCommerce platforms like - Prestashop Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and much more.

I suggest DNB is the best choice as a online web2print ecommerce software for your form and shopping cart.

Are you ready? Start selling your products!

Or would you suggest it because it is the company you work for? lol

 

[BobRym]

Hi Matias - we are a family owned and operated small print shop in Canada and have been in operation for over 25 years. We have never owned an offset press - we have always been "digital". We are in a small community (14,000) and do over $500,000 per year in sales with a very healthy profit margin. No one is going to be able to give you any useful answers unless you provide a few more facts. How big is the area you are in (market size?) What equipment do you currently have? Do you have competition in your area? If so what services are they offering? This would give a great start to anyone being able to provide intelligent suggestions. One suggestion was that if you are not "on the web" you will miss out on much business. We do not use the "Web" to do online orders etc. but do utilize our web site to receive files on our FTP service - more extensive web presence (if you even have access to good internet service) may not be critical for the success of your business in your trading area - you would need to do some careful research before committing funds into developing this sales channel.

 

[DesignNBuy]

The online printing business has gained popularities due to its rising business opportunities and minimal investment. In addition, it is easier to open and grow online printing business and reach to prospects. But to the success of printing business needs the right planning that needs to be implemented at the right time. To help you here I have prepared a list of points:

· First, make a business plan.

· Choose your niche whether you are going to offer tshirt printing, business printing, label printing or brochure printing.

· Get your website and design ready

· Get web-to-print software to simplify the entire printing process. You can develop bespoke web-to-print software for your unique business needs.

To learn more, check out our blog