Lean hard into what I can do?

[farmboygraphics]

With all these post pooping up lately about transfers and DTG I'm wondering where I'm going to be in the next few years. I'm just a one man shop with a 6 color auto (M&R Diamondback S) and a large format printer (Roland VG2-540). Am I looking at becoming irrelevant with what I have or do I just need to lean hard into what I can offer? Is that going to mean lowballing to keep work in or keep pricing fair and turning jobs at breakneck speed without burning myself out. I'm not hurting for work and have kept pretty busy, just wondering what this all means down the road. 

[Dottonedan]

My guess is that you will probably be retired before your business as it is, becomes irrelevant. It's currently changing, but won't be that fast.

I do feel that the business is evolving as a whole. There will still be a need for large auto's and mass production but only a percentage of the industry will stay with that and make a niche for that. I feel the majority of the industry will gravitate towards smaller orders, (even 1 off's) and digital in many if not most all offerings. In both hard products and soft wear.  It's heading there now. The Digital manufacturers are well aware that they need to improve on production speed and they are.

[brandon]

I would say plan on having as many efficient revenue streams as possible. The future is already here and unless you are a contract shop with a few autos and locked in clientele I think the days of offering only screen printing or just a few decorative services are over. You have to offer online services (web stores, fulfillment) plus a reason for them to come to you. Turn around time, all that. Not weeks, days, I am talking within a day. We are a small shop and we do it. Two years ago I had an honest talk with myself and decided that is what we had to do. And with Covid I am glad we did. For DTG and DTF yes it is here and it is not going anywhere. We are installing right after the holidays and I expect with 1 year it will be 50% of our business. We will still have screen printing for sure but I think anything under 72 pieces for us goes on the DTG or DTF. Lots of new tech coming. You will not be irrelevant at all but you will need to hire some help to do it all. Dont burn yourself out. It happens. Get help, get some newer tech in there, and spend the nights with your newest best friend the internet and all of its options for fulfillment. It is here only going to get more overwhelming the longer you wait.

[Homer]

Depends on your market. Offering online stores to schools will be enough for a while, either get on board with that or be left behind. However this opens a whole new can of worms with the need for one offs when Kathy ordered a small but needed a friggen 3XL .....DTG has a ways to go before I'm sold on that. DTF sounds interesting, I need to learn more on that.

Day turn time?! yikes....glad I'm not working in the entertainment industry.

[prozyan]

According to some, DTG has been going to put us out of business for about the last 15 years.

[Sbrem]

I see this issue as well; only a couple of years from retirement, but want to be able to sell the business. It will have to be upgraded to either DTG, which I outsource now, or DTG, which is as interesting to me as others here. Just this morning I had to steer a customer to someone that could do POD for her. At least until we can do DTF, which SEEMS to be less expensive, and less hassle as far as maintenance goes. My eyes are wide open for an answer.

Steve

[tbarnes]

Opportunities are there, I would advise to continue evolving your business but what you offer now will never go completely out of style and become obsolete.

Not sure if you had the opportunity to see the Zeus hybrid machines on display at Long Beach this year, but that technology is continuing to evolve and different companies entering the game will mean the cost will become more competitive.

I was unimpressed with their quality which I am sure they are working on, but I was really impressed with its compatibility with pretty much any press and any brand. I think they were asking around 50-60k and you could put it on your manual press, and if you upgrade to an auto you could move it. I don't think that it would be the most efficient on a manual, but still just pay attention to what is out there and figure out the best way to evolve your shop for your niche to keep you competitive.

[blue moon]

I had a class on this in Long beach this year.

the technology moves through society/business according to certain rules. Once the expectations and technology portion are sufficiently mature there is a shift and it starts becoming mainstream.
I believe we are at that point with the DTG. New printers work very well and most of the kinks are worked out (it is not a photo copier, it is a complex process and there is a learning curve similar to screenprinting, but it is predictable and consistent). The customer's expectations are in line with what can be done and the demand is going up pretty quickly.

gradually, the digital will become mainstream. there is no question about it.

Now what?

if you can keep finding customers that need 48-72 piece orders, you will be OK with the press. If your market needs smaller quantities, you will become obsolete at some point.
Your choices are go with the majority and follow the market or stick with a niche (what you are doing now will become one).

smart move is to add the digital and keep up with the times. There are several good entry level printers that are not that expensive. You can pick up a used EPSON 2100 or Brother GTX for a very reasonable price. With pretreat machine you can be in for $15k.

pierre

[mooseman]

Tom
My thought is you would be wise to keep doing what you are doing, the way you are doing it. You have a strong base of customers only some of who will discover the newer trends in printing IF they ever get there at all. The market we are in is not on the cutting edge of reality. You have been printing far longer than I but in my years I have seen very little change in what  customers around here are interested in.
 Additionally you recently  down sized to a one man shop while  printing shirts and pouring coffee...... two non parallel business streams with one common linchpin...YOU.

Don't "third yourself" by entering a business plan that will not expand your business but realistically only give you another option of how you choose  to produce the products for the business you already have. The jump you made to an auto made sense, you have too much business for a manual operation.  Re-inventing the wheel for a long shot opportunity here in back waters of the planet looks to me like a thin bet. But then again I am old and really set in my ways and far closer to the end of my road than you.
mooseman