Printing Business Business Plan
Printing Business Business Plan
Printing Business Business Plan Overview
This Printing Business Business Plan covers the printing business. Printing is wide, so wide that we can’t cover each and everything in a single guide. Here we look at the most common and most relevant types of printing in Kenya. The kind run by small and medium enterprises.
This Printing Business Business Plan will help you understand in the simplest of form various types of printing, equipment required, margins, trends in the market, operations and possible opportunities.
It’s not a technical Printing Business Business Plan. However we delve into the technical to the extent that you understand in the plainest of form the different kinds of printing services and equipment. This is crucial in helping you decide what to invest in and in making the right call when purchasing equipment. We marry the technical with the business side of printing.
The printing business in Kenya has grown almost geometrically in the last twenty years or so. There are now hundreds of entrepreneurs in the printing business; from the very small to the big ones with turnovers of hundreds of millions. Growth in the industry can be attributed to, one, advances in printing technology which has made equipment cheaper, more efficient and able to work with numerous media not just paper and garments.
Two is the increase in demand for all manner of printed products largely driven by the expansion of the economy since 2002. This means that there are many businesses, institutions and individuals who require trade and promotional materials such as receipts, business cards, invoices, signs, caps, diaries and the like.
As would be expected, now that demand has increased more entrepreneurs have invested in the printing business. Competition has become intense especially at the lower levels of the market where a smaller amount of capital is required to start. This has exerted a lot of downward pressure on prices and margins.
Present technology makes the cost of production low, but price strain at times significantly reduces margins. Yet this is not to an extent that the business is not attractive enough.
Success in the printing business is largely tied to marketing skills that draw in customers. This do not just involve advertising, lobbying, networking and printing what customers need, but also trying to look beyond the traditional printing markets. This by innovation that comes up with printing products that draws in consumers who normally won’t directly spend significantly on printed items. Also by being proactive in solving customers’ needs and creating new products the market needs.
Tied to marketing and competition is the presence of many brokers in the business. ‘Entrepreneurs’ who don’t own a single printing equipment but are conversant with the business. Very important they have the skill or networks to win printing jobs from customers which they subcontract to those with printing machines. This is not only a sign of what important role marketing plays but also of the idle capacity present in the printing business.
Certainly we can’t ignore that 2017 is an election year. And it being so there will be increased demand for services to print campaign materials such as posters, leaflets, cards, billboards, t–shirts, caps among others. Anyone would be tempted to invest in the business to fulfill the needs of the politicians. And now, than ever before, there will be more candidates running at all elective levels. Thus demand will be at the peak. But as much as that is the case you have to think of how to win printing jobs from politicians. Do you have the networks to win such business?
You have also to think long term. Will you have broken even by election time? What are your business prospects after elections? This is not to discourage you but a reality check.
Download Printing Business Business Plan / guide here