offset business questions from a know nothing....

[billykid25]

How you all doing out there?

I am not a printer, nor do I know the first thing about the industry. About a year ago I became the owner of the entire equipment inventory of a local offset printshop. (Long story). The former owner was an older gentleman who retired and pretty much had his shop sitting there collecting dust for a few years, I had the local printing repair guy check out the equipment and he told me everything was in good shape and really well taken care of. I contacted some local printers about selling the equipment to them, and a few of them suggested it might be a better idea if I hired a pressman to operate the equipment while I took care of the business end of things, thus starting a business.

Here is a list of what I own:
rebuilt AB Dick 9800 with crestline
AB Dick 360
Heat Seal 115 shrink wraper
Plate burner
Camera
numbering unit
Sunraise thermography
jogger
Baum Air folder
5 station inserting machine
ab dick 30 station collator with stitcher
plate processor
film processor
cutter
light table
and a whole slew of tools, paper and ink


So my question to you guys is in your opinion, first; is getting into the industry a bad idea? And if I was to start a business (assuming I hire someone who knows how to run a shop) are there any other pieces of equipment I would require to get this going?

Any advice would be extremly appreciated, I've been back and forth on this idea for about a month now and its coming down to decision time.

Thanks,

Billy

[nhprinter]

Hi Billy,

This sounds like it would have been a fun shop back about 15 years ago, but in today's economy and with the advent of digital technology it's most likely not a good idea to try to start it back up.

This shop is set up for short run, medium quality (at best) type of work. Most of that is going digital these days. You also have to consider you'll be stripping film which will make it harder to compete in price with the shops with CTP.

The good news is that depending on your area of the country....you should be able to sell most of the equipment fairly easy. You won't get as much as you would have a few years ago, but you should do ok.

This is just my opinion mind you, but I've been in the business for 35 years and if it was me.....I'd sell and run like the wind.

Good Luck,
Dave

[Morning Flight]

... just my opinion mind you, but I've been in the business for 35 years and if it was me ... I'd sell and run like the wind.

Hi Billy,

I'm on the fence on this one. Let me start out by agreeing with everything Dave said, then get to the fence part.

I, too, have been in the industry for 35+ years. Started a small print shop back in 1969 with little cash, some used equipment that the former owner had parked in his garage, and most importantly, no experience. None. Thought it might be fun to start a printing business.

Turns out, it wasn't. At least not in the beginning. Once the business got off the ground and actually started making money, yeah, those were the good years. But that was a long time ago. If I had to do it over again today, I would go digital. For small to medium size runs at pretty good quality, as Dave pointed out, that's where the action. More to the point, digital is way easier to learn than offset. And if there is one thing you can be sure of it's this: You're going to have to learn to run those AB Dick's.

So now to that fence. If, and it's a big if, you're located in a small town or rural area and there isn't another printer around for miles, and you don't need an income for a couple of years, and you have savings you can tap into, I'd go for it. Even then, you'll have to add digital capability, and maybe some basic CTP. That camera is a dinosaur.

Otherwise, I'd be looking for the same tailwind Dave is.

Hal Heindel

[billykid25]

Thanks for the input guys, it is really appreciated. Your right about the camera, I wasn't aware it was a camera initially, it resembled more of a prop from the original Star Trek.

Ok, so I am going to try to unload the printing equipment (I am in Canada btw) but what are your guys thoughts about me keeping the Air folder and inserter, moving it into my home garage and trying to get something that resembles a small direct mail business going? I can operate both machines and do have a little extra time i'd like to do something with. Im thinking my plan of attach would be aligning myself with other shops and trying to get their overflow work when they get busy. As I said I know nothing about the business (yet) so if someone with experience could shine some light on this idea would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys,

Billy

[Mike Micelotti]

Hi Billy, personally i'd hang on to the 9800 and the bindery equipment (cutter,folder). There is still money to be made. Grab yourself an HP5000 to make poly plates directly from your pc and learn to run the press. Many small businesses still use NCR forms, envelopes, menus, coupons, flyers etc. I've found that if you offer a personalized service with competitive pricing you can build a loyal clientele and make a decent profit. Outsource the projects that you can't do in house

[postnetnc133]

I agree with Mike. If you are looking to get into printing Mike's plan sounds fair. We have a guy in town that all he does is forms/invoices and I just recently found out he sends out most of his work other then the 1 color stuff as all he has is a 1 color press and only runs black. Everything else is sent out.

I run an all digital and that is what I am trying to do is grow my forms/invoices for higher volumes and having such a hard time. Most if not all of our customers want short short runs.

[ondemandbindery]

The idea of larger volume sure does sound good on paper but it can definitely be a double edged sword. Some of the smaller Printers I do work for are feeling the pressure of the Bigger Printer making their presence known in their markets. I have kind of learned what is best suited for my shop and where I can make some profit. Of course you hate to turn work away especially if there is low capacity but sometimes it works out better to be doing nothing at all. I guess my point is and I am sure seasoned veterans will do this which is do a very good study of whatever market you are looking to get into. Be it some new fangled machine or trying to go into larger volume market. I would not necessarily tuck tail and run but the market is changing every day and as the market shrinks there are certain companies who will "go to the mattress" and take what they think is rightfully theirs. Find a niche and you will be ok.

[Mark H]

Bill,

Everything depends on your local market, desire, and funding. If you have all three, and can find talented/experienced help, then start it up. If not, then your best bet is to pass on it.

Mark H

[Keith]

Bill,

Everything depends on your local market, desire, and funding. If you have all three, and can find talented/experienced help, then start it up. If not, then your best bet is to pass on it.

Mark H

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.Starting a printshop is no different than starting any other business. You could be asking the same question on a quilting forum. Along with the items mentioned in the posts above, a business needs to be managed correctly. Lately, I've been watching a business die because the manager doesn't have systems in place.

The equipment is half the battle. The other half is finances and cash flow (I'm assuming you have tons of it. I think the economy is a little better in Canada. LOL!). And the last half is personnel. I don't know about Canada, but here in Maryland we have plenty of graphic designers and pressman looking for jobs. Although, I think most of them are simply un-hireable (is that a word?).

I started my own shop after running a 1-color press for someone for 7 years. And I went all digital because I felt that my area needed a shop that could do shorter runs in less time. I do miss running an offset press. Ask Hal about that.

And finally; I have an idea that I always thought would be cool. It splits the difference between running a full blown shop and not doing it at all- make it a hobby. If you got the space in your house/garage, set it up in there, learn the equipment, find a niche or some kind of specialty application, and network/get referrals. I've heard of a lot of guys doing this that have an old platten or hand press.

I love talking about this stuff. I could go on all day.

Keith

[Luc St-Pierre]

I was in a very similar situation some years ago. Bought this small shop with very little know-how in offset printing but loads of good will to try it out. I had one partner at the time. Producing on-demand orders for small runs, business cards and similar stuff did not appeal to us and did not bring enough revenues also. So we found a niche. We produced for quite a while limited-editions of comic books. We selected and signed contracts with the artists and organized the production and distribution. Much easier and much more profitable and I really enjoyed it. Maybe you should think about some printed product that would be feasable with the equipment you have and market it. The margins will compensate for the costs and may lead you to improvement and growth. Creativity doesn't need sophisticated tooling. You use what you have. Satisfying on-demand customers is a whole different story.