The industry was bound to head to a tipping point. As printers got cheaper, larger companies with larger resources buying direct, importing machines, etc. When I first got into wide format, MacDermid ColorSpan was almost the only player in town. I thought I was going to rock the billboard industry, because all the media houses were still doing blue backs. Now, they all have their own printers, wider than school buses, print for practically next to nothing, and often times rarely even charge for the banner. They get them on the monthly fees.
And as a business person looking for an industry to get into, and not having any sign background you see that wide format is a huge growing industry. So you research the business model, and printers and see that 200% - 300% is healthy margin that you think you could make work. (Not realizing that most of the smaller sign industry was actually enjoying 1000% - 1500% mark-up this whole time) You are just looking at numbers on a sheet. An import printer you've never heard of, a container full of materials from the manufacturer, and think hey, this can't be that hard.
Meanwhile your deep pockets, and outside sales team is kicking the nads of the smaller mom & pop shops who were bringing up the industry to a respectable income generator for their employees and families. Now it's the backside of the bell curve and a race to the bottom. For the widest, fastest, cheapest. And you know, the quality is really pretty good on the 3.2m machines now. So it's no longer about quality of the print. Just customer service. Which is what you should still be about. This is a solutions based industry. Your clients have needs, you should be coming up with the solutions. Faster, more economically. Take advantage of economy of scale, and the super cheap wholesale print houses.
Now ya hafta figure out how to sell your stuff for less than the other guy in order to make any sales. That's where this place comes in handy.
