Own printing house for the production of printed products can become a sought-after business that brings a stable income to the owner. The demand for promotional materials, printed publications, stickers and other printing is constantly growing, which indicates the promise of this idea.
Among the advantages of the business: a wide target audience, a quick return on investment, the need for large areas, the absence of a seasonality factor. Among the shortcomings are high initial investments and competition. Nevertheless, both the state and private entrepreneurship need printed materials, so it’s still worth it to go into the publishing business.
The main concept – how do printing houses earn money
It is clear that printing houses make money on printing. The specifics of the work is determined by the format of the business: it is either a mini home-type printing house, or an offset one.
From here, the appropriate equipment and type of printing are selected:
- gravure printing – used for voluminous images;
- stencil – transmits the image through a matrix in the form of a grid, suitable for small runs;
- offset – involves applying paint to a rubber sheet, and then to a print medium, used to print books, leaflets, magazines in large numbers;
- high, digital – gives the most clear lines, it can be sheet and widescreen;
- universal – covers different directions of printing.
Based on what you are going to print, your next steps depend. It makes sense to do large-format printing, labels, stickers and souvenirs. Moreover, the latter are the most marginal product.
These include: T-shirts, caps, mugs and pens with custom designs. The cost of such a mug does not exceed 60 rubles, and the selling price is 400 rubles.
If there are few competitors, you can also print promotional products: business cards, flyers, booklets, as well as calendars, notepads, photo books, newspapers, etc.
How to open a printing house – a step by step plan
The first thing to do is draw up a business plan. It is better for newly minted entrepreneurs to stop at a less expensive mini-format of a printing house, and if successful, expand the list of printing services.
Step by step planning will include:
- analysis of the domestic market for the level of demand and competition;
- preparation of premises and purchase of necessary equipment;
- registration of business and permits;
- personnel search;
- marketing;
- financial calculations;
- possible business risks.
Opening a printing house is not a cheap pleasure, the equipment is expensive, it is possible that you will need to take a loan from the Bank for the initial investment.
Demand and competition analysis
Before opening, you need to see how many printing houses of this format operate in your city, what products and at what prices they offer, and also study the database of city organizations. Based on the result, determine your list of services and target audience. The latter can be individuals and legal entities that are in need of copying and printing services: small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, individuals.
Competitive advantages should also be considered in the form of high-quality printing at affordable prices, a wide range of services, order fulfillment in a short time and the possibility of publishing in a small circulation.
Search and repair of suitable premises
The location depends on the specialization of the printing house. When working with wholesale customers and large companies, you can rent a room in a remote area of the city, when serving individuals, it is better to stay on the main streets and first-line buildings, busy neighborhoods with transport interchanges, close to educational institutions, business centers and shops.
Room area – from 50 sq. m. with a division into a working area, a reception area and a warehouse. The room must comply with the requirements of fire and sanitary safety, be ventilated with an air conditioning system and sound insulation, as the operating equipment makes noise and the paint smells. Estimated cost of rent – 45-60 thousand rubles. depending on the location.
When choosing a location, you should be guided by the distance from the suppliers of consumables. It’s good if they are not so far away so that in case of an urgent order, you can quickly get to them and buy what you need.
Purchase of equipment
Most of the initial investment will go to production equipment. Equipment can be bought new or second-hand of good quality: German or Japanese – with finances, cheaper Chinese – with limited funds.
The list depends on the type of services provided and may include:
- A computer with support for the relevant programs on Windows – 55 thousand rubles;
- Printer for digital printing – 450 thousand rubles;
- Printer for large format printing – 900 thousand rubles;
- Printer with sublimation ink for souvenirs – 40 thousand rubles;
- Thermal press for souvenirs (separately for caps, T-shirts, mugs, etc.) – 50 thousand rubles;
- Plotter for cutting canvas – 950 thousand rubles;
- Cutters: wide-format along the length of the plotter – 20 thousand rubles; guillotine for cutting paper and leaflets – 300 thousand rubles; manual – 10 thousand rubles;
- Booklet maker for binding documents – 20 thousand rubles;
- Table for cutting 2.5×1.2 m – 110 thousand rubles;
- Laser engraver for engraving various products 100 thousand rubles;
- Booklet maker for folding leaflets and booklets – 10 thousand rubles;
- Licensed software – 150 thousand rubles;
- Tables and chairs – 50 thousand rubles;
- Consumables: paper, paint, souvenir blanks, thermal film, etc. – 400 thousand rubles.
- Cash desk – 22 thousand rubles.
The purchase of a complete set will require 3 million 737 thousand rubles. When choosing one direction of work, for example, performing only large-format printing, advertising printing or souvenirs, the costs will be lower.
Registration of permits
The printing business must be registered. For a mini format, it is enough to issue an IP by contacting the tax office with a passport, TIN, paid a state duty of 800 rubles. and an application in the prescribed form. The specified OKVED code is 22.2, which allows carrying out printing activities and related services, the taxable system is the simplified tax system with a deduction of 6% of total income or 15% of net profit. When expanding and predominantly working with legal entities, you should choose an LLC.
In addition, it will be necessary to open a bank account and obtain the approval of the fire service and the SES, which will check the premises for compliance with the requirements and issue permits. You don’t have to get a license.
Hiring
Special attention should be paid to the search for employees, as it is quite difficult to find a professional printer. An employee of a printing house must have a special education and work experience in this field of services. His duties will include the preparation and printing of printing materials, maintenance and repair of equipment. For larger jobs, you may need the help of an assistant.
You will also need to hire an administrator in the office, a manager for working with clients and suppliers, a designer to develop layouts for promotional materials. Accounting can be outsourced, a cleaner can be hired part-time, and department management can be taken over.
Advertising campaign
This stage of the business plan provides for active advertising to maximize the coverage of potential customers.
Effective channels include:
- Own website and group in social networks with a description of services, product photos, price list, printing house contacts, feedback form;
- Advertising in the media, on transport, bulletin boards;
- Information signboard, pointers, pavement signs, banners;
- Distribution of business cards near educational institutions and business centers, in municipalities;
- Calling the database of city enterprises and sending out commercial offers by e-mail.
It will be necessary to allocate 160 thousand rubles for an advertising campaign.
How much to invest at the start
Thus, the opening of a small printing house with a narrow list of printing services will require about a million rubles, a wide range of printing services – about four million rubles.
| No. p / p | Cost item | Sum |
| one | Registration of business and permits | 10 thousand rubles |
| 2 | Premises for rent | 50 thousand rubles |
| 3 | Purchase of equipment | 3 million 337 thousand rubles |
| four | Purchase of consumables | 400 thousand rubles |
| 5 | Advertising campaign | 160 thousand rubles |
| Total: | 3 million 957 thousand rubles |
The presented data are calculated taking into account the purchase of expensive German equipment; in the case of the purchase of Chinese-made equipment, investments will be 2 times less.
260 thousand rubles will be spent on current expenses: in the wage fund, on renting premises, paying taxes and utility bills, buying consumables, and advertising.
Profitability calculations
When calculating the profitability of printing houses, they take into account the amount of the average check and the number of orders per month.
Usually the indicators are:
- the average check for souvenirs for individuals is 3 thousand rubles;
- for legal entities – 60 thousand rubles.
Serving 13 legal entities with a check amount of 60 thousand rubles, the monthly earnings will be 780 thousand rubles, although in practice the check can reach up to five hundred thousand. With such indicators, investments in the business will pay off after 8 months of work, and the profitability will show 20%.
Business risks
The last thing to consider in business planning is possible problems and risks.
The printing house is characterized by the following types of external and internal risks:
- External risks include inflation, economic instability, currency fluctuations, increased competition. In this situation, you need to appreciate each customer, offer them a variety of high-quality printing services at an affordable price, favorable terms of cooperation. It is also worth keeping an eye on new technologies and implementing them in your activities.
- Internal risks include breakdowns and failures in equipment, disruptions in the supply of materials, staff turnover. In this case, it is necessary to quickly troubleshoot equipment, conclude contracts with several suppliers, carefully prescribing the terms of the contract, provide for a system of employee motivation and decent wages.
So, opening a printing house is a universal business that does not require special skills and is accessible to everyone. Profit and profitability depend on the chosen direction, the breadth of services provided, the effectiveness of pricing and marketing policies. By correctly identifying a niche for yourself, you can count on the success of the business with the prospect of development.
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