What Type of Company Is Yours?

After years of consulting with printing companies of all types/sizes, several things have become clear. There seems to be a logical way to group organizations into one of three types. The first group is the one that makes things happen. These guys are the ones acquiring other companies, diversifying, thinking about 2015 and are in growth mode. Based on my first-hand experience, this makes up a small group of the printing and related industry.

The second group is the one that watches things happen. This type of company is cautious, yet will make a move once it sees other companies moving in a specific direction. An example of this is when printing companies waited until they saw others buying and having success with wide-format and/or digital presses and then decided they, too, should jump into that game. Thus, they went out—many without a plan—and bought such equipment. Again, this is the “watch things happen” group and, based on my experience, this segment makes up a decent amount of printing-related organizations.

The third group is the one that wonders what happened. This group thinks social media and Facebook are the same thing. Note to reader: Facebook is one of countless parts of social media. Many have been lapped. Some have given up. Some do not even realize they are not in the game. There is a way for such companies to turn around, but some do not want to try, are not willing to invest time or money to do so, and they long for the glory days. I call this pure insanity. Definition of insanity: Doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

Here is my question as we head toward a new year. Do you want to get better? Do you want to grow? Do you desire to change? Do you want to think beyond equipment and grow the front end of your business? Are you willing to invest in your human resources and think as a business, and not a printing company? Please be honest with yourself; do you really want to change?