How Commercial Printing Companies Can Profit from the Recession
The recession has been bad news for companies in many different industries and commercial printers have not been immune to the trend. With many businesses going under and others cutting their marketing budgets in an attempt to save cash and stay afloat, coupled with the increasing popularity of digital marketing and communications, many commercial printing companies have seen their profits dwindle in recent years. Yet there is a way that commercial printers can actually profit from the recession – as long as they’re willing to adapt! For the commercial printing company willing to embrace change, there is still a good deal of business to be had. How? By focusing on secondary markets.
In the past, some professional printers have relied on big commercial accounts to carry them through the fiscal year. These accounts carry big returns, but once the project is complete, the printer may be faced with several months – or even a full year – before the client comes calling again. This practice leaves commercial printers with a great deal of downtime. Statistically, most printing companies find that nearly 30% of their time is left unfilled by these regular clients. If your list of regular clients begins to dwindle on top of that downtime, it can be a recipe for disaster. That is why secondary markets are becoming increasingly essential. Basically, the term “secondary markets” refers to any client that you do not normally depend on, but whose business could be invaluable to your success. One of the best ways to increase your share of the secondary market is to consider working with the U.S. Government Printing Office, or GPO.
The GPO has well over $400 million to spend on the services of private printing companies each and every year, and all you have to do is apply. There are jobs of various sizes, worth a couple thousand up to many tens of thousands of dollars. In order to take full advantage of what the GPO has to offer, you should focus on being flexible and scheduling your work sensibly in your company’s downtime. Remember, the GPO expects high quality work in a timely fashion – there is no learning curve when it comes to government-commissioned printing jobs, so know your limits and pace yourself.
Before you can begin work for the GPO, you must be certified to work at one of the organization’s four print quality levels. The first level is reserved for companies with the highest quality printing capabilities, such as what you would find in art books or medical journals. In order to obtain level one certification, an on-site inspection of your equipment and facilities will be required. Level two refers to “library quality” printing capabilities, while level three is good quality, as you would find in annual reports, textbooks or catalogs. The fourth level is basic printing quality. This is mainly for utility purposes, like phone directories and technical manuals. Keep in mind that you can only bid on jobs that fall within your quality level.
