The year of the pandemic has left businesses scrambling, including printing companies.
Many have laid off employees hoping to weather the storm by slashing expenses.
Yet they’re still covering loan, insurance, and repair costs for equipment that’s under-utilized or not used at all. They’re still paying rent or a mortgage for space sitting idle.
The Problem with Conventional Cost-Cutting Initiatives in the Printing Industry
The problem with conventional cost-cutting is that this is not a conventional time.
The world of work and business is undergoing a major transformation, and it is not going to revert to the way it used to be.
Sure, companies will re-open in the coming months, but work-from-home is here to stay, especially with collaborative technology now in place.
Brick-and-mortar companies such as gyms will re-open, but many people will keep working out from home, enabled by fitness apps and new habits.
And so it goes, in every industry.
As much as I hate to use the word, the next “normal” is in the making.
How has your printing business been transformed? Well, it depends on who your customers were pre-pandemic.
If you find yourself running at reduced capacity, it’s time to ask some questions:
- Do you know if old customers will be returning?
- When?
- And at what volume?
- Will where new customers come from?
- How will you service them with reduced capacity?
The danger in cutting costs to ride out the storm is that there will likely not be a bounce back to a previous ‘normal’ time.
Meanwhile, relentless fixed costs and unexpected expenses chip away at cash flow and credit lines. The “point of no return” draws nearer each day.
Yet none of this cash-draining trauma is necessary. There IS a simple solution to this situation. It’s time to reinvent to match the next phase of this economy.
A trade printing company like us can be a valuable resource to keep your printing business growing, no matter how much you've cut costs.
Our resources, products and services are your resources, products and services.
I’ve worked ONLY with printing companies for decades, so I’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.
And I have the inside scoop on what’s trending now in the industry. We have some ways of dealing with the next “normal” that you might not have considered.
If you want to talk about what that might look like, give me a call at 559-251-8595 ext. 411.
Be sure to check out our directory of tips for commercial printing companies.
