How to Grow a Printing Business

Growing any type of business be it small or mid-scale, isn’t easy. Businesses that grow and thrive, however, seldom do so by chance. For instance, when it comes to print businesses, this is quite true. In order to flourish print business, you have to comprehend the market conditions and understand your target customers. Also, to be sure that your printing business has a promising chance of growing, you’ll require more than simply print management skills. You’ll need to also think about what makes a great sales proposition, how to convert those propositions into leads, and how to close those leads.

With all this, you need to keep an eye out for opportunities to diversify your print business. In what way do you handle all that? Here’s a step-by-step guide to growing your digital print business.

Tips to Scale your Print Business

If you want your print business to grow, here are a few crucial tips:

A Unique Selling Proposition

Comprehending your target customers and their requirements should be the first thing for you to grow your printing company. Take a moment to picture yourself in your customer’s shoes, and visualize why would they pick you. You might think that your prices are lesser, or that your turnaround times are quick, but these are obtainable from many printers – so why do they select you? Why should they choose to come to you instead of your competition? Perhaps you need to have a unique selling proposition aka the USP to make you stand out. It could be your expertise in a specific niche, your technology, your skills, your team, or your dedication toward sustainability. In addition to being unique, your proposition should also meet the wants and requirements of your clients.

Take your Store Online

It is crucial that you take your store online as soon as possible. Having an online store has become a necessity, as the digital age is here. When you make your store digital, you can serve your customers 24/7. Also, since your store is online, customers can place an order at any time and from anywhere conveniently. If you are able to get more customers via the online mode, then this will also improve your revenue numbers. At the same time, an online store will enable you to give your customers a personalized experience. This can aid you to create loyalty and trust among your audience, which increases their engagement with your brand.

Marketing Plan

If a business understands its target audience in a comprehensive manner, then creating a marketing plan is very easy and simple for them. It is also vital to select the appropriate marketing channel. You don’t need a major profile on Facebook if all your clients are on LinkedIn, for example. Marketing channels worth exploring include organic SEO, paid SEM like Google Ads, Social media like Facebook and Linkedin, advertising via flyers and direct mail. Marketing is vital for any business, including printing businesses, so you should definitely set aside some budget for it if you wish to grow.

Research the Competition

When you have determined your target audience, research printing businesses that are currently serving this audience. Get to know these printing businesses by visiting their websites and finding out what services they lack. Make plans to grow your own printing business by researching ways to offer those badly-needed services and improve the printing industry as a whole. This will help you to create a unique selling point for your printing business and make you stand out from your competition. Additionally, by offering services that are not currently being provided, you can gain a larger share of the market and increase your profits.

Recruit the Right Staff

Your printing business can’t be grown and improved solely by one factor. Your employees are more critical than any other factor. A print business will always require effort, but when the only employee you have to worry about is you, at least one aspect is straightforward. However, as a print company grows, it needs more employees. There’s more to it than just skills. The people you hire must be capable of handling the job. However, printing skills can be learned. Problem-solving, leadership, diligence, attention to detail, good teamwork, the ability to impress customers, and the ability to get along with your team cannot be taught.

Diversify your Print Business

No matter how your print business began, chances are it won’t remain that way. A key part of growing your print business is understanding when and how to diversify. Consider these key factors. Are you currently printing business cards and brochures? You could offer workwear, exhibition materials, vehicle wraps, and more. There is a ‘standard model’ for print diversification, which basically means applying your printing skills to other materials.

Excellent Customer Service

You need to deliver more than high-quality work. A successful printing business focuses on providing excellent customer service. The more loyal your customers are, the more word-of-mouth exposure you will receive from potential customers. Customer service can be improved by taking the time to listen to the customer’s needs, answering their questions patiently, and being honest about your abilities.

Print Management Software

Print management software continuously monitors your processes, your spend, and who is spending it. It allows you to compare projects, departments, or clients to gain greater insight into workflow issues, print volumes, device performance, waste, and other costs. With software insights, you can shift strategy in a variety of ways, from reducing bottlenecks to client chargebacks, allowing you to stay efficient and not miss anything.

Investigate Operational Costs

An organization’s operational costs can be challenging to monitor and regulate. The solution to high operational costs may be to adopt an ERP system. You can use ERP software to manage all organizational aspects of your business, such as supply chain management, manufacturing, services, and finance. Printing businesses benefit from ERP tools in the following ways:

• Better business reporting
• An integrated database improves order management
• Better inventory management
• Enhanced cash flow
• Excellent customer experience

About BPX

In recent years, the need for printed material has multiplied as big and small companies have grown around the globe. The reason is that no business can thrive without order forms, receipts, brochures, and printed advertising. This has resulted in a highly competitive print industry. The cutthroat competition, however, has also increased the failure rate of printing companies.

Is your operating cost increasing because of process inefficiencies? The key to running a successful printing business is to get in touch with BPX to address your business problems. Our approach to business problems is unique and custom-built. You can choose the solution that best fits your organization and improve your business performance with our solutions. From process creation to process implementation, and process outsourcing to process documentation, as well as process automation, we can handle it all.