The launch of any business, especially in this current economic climate, needs to well-designed, organized, and exceedingly well thought out in order to guarantee the best possible chance of success.
When looking to enter the professional printing world, then, one of the most important aspects of your preparation and business planning stage is to conduct as much thorough and all-encompassing research as possible into the industry itself.
For those who are ready to, or indeed are simply in the planning stages, launch a print business, this article is tailormade for you, as here is your concise guide.
Ascertain Your Type of Printing Business
Firstly, hopefully you already have experience in the printing world and as such, you will already have a strong working knowledge of the different types of printing techniques, which are as follows:
- Offset printing: also known as lithography, this is a widely used and versatile printing method. It involves the transfer of ink from a metal plate to a rubber blanket and then onto the printing surface.
- Screen printing: A mesh screen is prepared by blocking out areas not meant to be printed. Ink is applied to the screen, and a squeegee is used to force the ink through the open areas of the mesh onto the substrate.
- Digital printing: Digital printers use inkjet or laser technology to apply ink or toner directly onto the printing surface, such as paper or fabric
- Flexographic printing: A printing technique which utilizes roller-shaped tools and equipment and is often used for larger publications, such as printing on cardboard and for newspapers, as it requires less ink than other printing techniques.
Focus On Advertising and Marketing
The target here should absolutely be winning new print business and to achieve this consistently important goal, both for the success and the longevity of your new company, the right kind of promotional advertising is essential.
The most important aspect of a productive advertising campaign is to ensure that you convey why your new print business is the company that new customers should choose over more established competitors, and to do this your unique selling point (USP) is everything.
For example, perhaps your company has an unwavering focus on providing customized apparel and offers a substantially larger range of choices for fonts, colors, and finishes on items than other businesses.
Regardless of why you believe your print company to be the best, make this the central point of any and all of your advertising strategies.
Thoroughly Prepare Your Starting Capital
Another crucial component of preparing to launch your new printing company is to ensure you have a sufficient printing capital to invest in the right supplies and equipment for your first few months of operation.
As a basic guide, the following four categories are the primary considerations when organizing your start-up budget:
- Operational costs including electricity, facilities, and employee wages
- Maintenance costs of all printing equipment
- The cost of the equipment and supplies themselves
- Rental costs for the unit
Ensure High-Quality Order Fulfillment
Once your printing company is open for business and regardless of whether you have decided to first launch online, in a retail shop, or both, creating a buzz around your new brand is essential and to do this, you need to ensure the highest quality of order fulfillment each and every time.
Even if you start off by producing local community flyers for little to no payment as a way of testing out your brand-new equipment, make sure your work is to the highest level of professionalism and stunning printing quality, to ensure your company fastly becomes recognized as the best one around.
