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3. Service with a Smile
The more a business depends on the quality of its service the better. The reason is that service is far less costly to a company than constant equipment upgrades.
Now I understand niche printing and all the rest. However, if you have a unique mousetrap, chances are it won’t be long before your competitors find the right cheese to make a similar one. If you can bullet-proof your service and show that the income flows heavily from that service, you have a stronger company.
4. Rain Coat
How can a printing company be recession proof? It can, depending on the nature of the clientele. Printers are victimized by recessions because their clients are feeling the crunch.
Insurance companies, huge tax firms, funeral homes, even large pest control companies are raincoat clients. They do business no matter the economic weather. People need to be insured in every economy, the tax man comes annually recession or not, termites don’t knock off during economic downturns, and people keep dying in good times and bad.
This is more a matter of degree than kind. In other words, companies are more or less affected by the economy. The point is this: The more accounts you can get that hold up in good and bad times the stronger your company.
4. Goliath Is Not Your Friend
The broader the base the better. I once had an East Coast client, let’s call him Harry. He was swimming in wealth because he had a contract with a national company based in New York City. They placed the orders, he produced them, and the cash register sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Until that national Goliath opted to redo the contract. That’s right. Year after year, as Harry’s costs went up, Goliath wanted better pricing. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Harry wound up selling his company under duress.
The broader the base, and the less dependent on Goliaths the better.
5. Up, Down, or Sideways
Are sales increasing, stable, or decreasing? More particularly, how much are they increasing or decreasing or how long have they been flat-lining?
