How Do I Start a Business
How to Start a Poster Printing Business
Launching a poster printing company is your ticket to owning a good, stable business if you have the creativity and tenacity necessary to be a successful entrepreneur. This article contains nuts-and-bolts information that may be key to your ultimate success.
Thinking about opening a poster printing company? We tell you what you need to know to get started.
Becoming a Custom Poster Printing Entrepreneur
The Digital Age has dramatically expanded the uses and applications of posters. While poster creation was once restricted to large order print jobs, today's technology gives businesses and individual consumers the ability to create customized, high quality posters at an extremely affordable price.
Poster printing entrepreneurs need to be familiar with graphic design and print techniques, and be capable of securing enough startup capital to cover the cost of computer-driven, commercial printing equipment. Individuals with a background in commercial printing will find the transition to poster printing business ownership much easier than entrepreneurs with limited hands-on experience in the field.
Nonetheless, it's possible for entrepreneurs with solid business skills to accumulate enough industry knowledge to launch a successful custom poster operation. How? By finding a mentor, partner or employer willing to train you in custom print fundamentals, with the understanding that your ultimate goal is to launch your own custom poster printing operation.
Key Features of Profitable Poster Printing Startups
Poster printing is highly competitive with any number of online providers eager to snatch up your startup's share of the marketplace. To survive, your business will need to feature several key elements that today's buyers have come to expect from leading poster printers.
- Easy Access. Like it or not, most poster printing businesses offer convenient online access, allowing customers to upload images and poster specs from the comfort of their home or office. If you choose not to offer customers the ability to submit job specs via a robust business website, you'll need to come to terms with the fact that you are automatically limiting the size of your prospective customer base.
- Turnaround Time. More than ever before, poster customers want fast turnaround times. For corporate customers, same day turnaround options could mean the difference between the success and failure of trade show or other event. At a minimum, your operation should be capable of delivering final products (even large banners) within 48 hours and offer faster service for a premium.
- Print Quality. Print quality is a big deal for poster printers. Final products not only need to exhibit image clarity, but also consistency with the color characteristics of the original image. Even small deviations can be enough to generate negative word of mouth, so you will want to implement quality control mechanisms from the start.
How to Create Effective Poster Printing Company Business Plans
A great business plan will lay a strong foundation for growth in your startup poster printing company.
The most effective poster printing company business plans include a comprehensive chapter on finances. Not surprisingly, lenders immediately turn to the financial section and use the accuracy of your forecasts to gauge the value of other parts of the plan.
Subsequently, a thorough understanding of business plan financial basics is a prerequisite to effective business plan writing for poster printing businesses.
Check Out Competitors
Prior to launching a poster printing company in your town, it's essential to determine how strong the competition is. Use the link below to find competitors in your area. Complete the form by entering your city, state and zip code to get a list of poster printing businesses that are close by.
Before you open up shop, make sure you know what you will offer to your customers that provides a significant advantage over your competition's offering.
Learning More About the Industry
Once you've finished assessing the competion, it's a smart move to speak with somebody who is already in the business. Local competitors are not going to give you the time of day, mind you. It'd be crazy for them to teach you the business.
But, a person who owns a poster printing company on the other side of the country may be willing to share their entrepreneurial wisdom with you, once they realize that you are not going to directly compete with them in their community. In that case, the business owner may be more than happy to discuss the industry with you. It can take a while to find an entrepreneur who is willing to talk, but it's well worth the effort.
Where can you find a poster printing company entrepreneur outside of your area who is willing to talk?
Simply, try our helpful link below, type in a random city/state or zipcode, and start calling.
Poster Printing Business Acquisitions: Financial Considerations
Worried about the financial aspects of starting a poster printing company? Most startup poster printing company owners are.
Financial risk management requires you to at least consider the possibility of setting your startup plans aside to explore acquisition opportunities. At a minimum, it's worth exploring the financial benefits of buying a business to get an established customer base.
But most importantly, existing poster printing businesses have documented financial histories. Although you can create pro forma earnings and financial statements for a startup, a business-for-sale should have a well-documented, multi-year history of financial performance.
Franchising May Be a Better Way to Go
Young entrepreneurs are big on innovative marketing concepts, but fall short in the area of real world marketing experience.
A franchised startup compensates for marketing and branding deficiencies, giving your business a highly recognizable brand presence from the outset of operations.
It's possible to perform a successful poster printing business startup using a traditional model, but you can significantly improve your first-year position by exploring the poster printing business franchise startup opportunities in our printing franchise directory.
More Advice for Startups
These additional resources regarding starting a business may be of interest to you.
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs