Printing Franchises In the Digital Economy

A few decades ago, pundits were predicting that the advent of the computer age would be the death knell for the paper industry. Virtual documents would replace the paper variety, and demand for paper would dry up is how the thinking went.

Of course, quite the opposite happened. Growing computer usage actually fuelled increased demand for paper, as businesses and individuals wanted hard copies of important documents. The pulp and paper industry continues to grow and now accounts for more than £100 billion in annual sales in the UK alone.

Similar dire predictions have been made about the prospects of the printing industry in the digital age. With consumers and businesses now having widespread capability to zap documents back and forth in digital format, the printing industries days must be numbered, right?

That prediction is proving to be just as flawed as the forecast decline of the paper industry. To be sure, the face of the printing industry is changing as are most industries in the digital economy. 

In the process, it is creating new opportunities for forward looking entrepreneurs. Many of those opportunities lie in the quick printing segment of the industry, which also happens to be the segment where franchising plays its largest role.

It is a relatively young industry, one made possible by advances in computer technology. Computers enable relatively low skilled workers to perform tasks that once could only be done by skilled print craftsmen. The industry began to emerge several decades ago.

Traditionally, these print franchises focused on commercial printing and copying jobs that required a fast turnaround. Those jobs tended to be relatively small in comparison to the work done by conventional printing firms. It has grown from about a £10 million a year business in the early 1970s to an estimated £2 billion a year business today.

The industry is changing, as are most industries in the digital economy.

Several trends drive this business in the 21st century. An important one has been a shift in focus from the consumer to the business to business segment that has taken place over the past five or six years.

Research shows that the average corporation spends between 6 percent and 15 percent of revenue or documents, and these franchises are in a great position to capture a significant share of that business.

Advances in digital technologies are also shaping the future of the quick printing industry. While most shops still offer the pre press, graphics, binding and copying services that have been their historical stock in trade, the majority have also expanded their capabilities to include working with digital files. 

Quick printers can exchange digital files with their customers via diskettes, the Internet, even wireless channels.

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