Betting on Big Yields, Big Rewards

Two years ago, four associates and I risked everything and started a “big” printing company. We purchased a 5-color 56´´ KBA Rapida with coater and a digital Kodak NexPress. A second 56´´ Rapida with interdeck UV curing and coater soon followed.

Starting a printing business when so many seem to be failing was a huge risk, but printing is all I know. I left my former job as VP of Multiple Images Printing in Elmhurst, IL—founded by my father and later sold to Consolidated Graphics—to start a company with an entrepreneurial spirit. I invested every cent I had to bet on “big.”

That bet is paying off. In its first year, All Out Print Communications generated over $9 million in revenue. This year we are on track for $14 million, with plans to increase production space by 50%, from 25,000 sq.ft. to 37,000 sq.ft. in mid-2009.

The large-format presses offer numerous advantages and the ability to serve several different and new markets. Not only can we print a larger image, but we can also compete with the short-run web market while still being able to efficiently compete in the 40´´ market. We would never have started a printing company with the limitations of a 40´´ sheet. The 40´´ market is a killing field; it's a commodity market with too many players, especially in the Chicago area. The larger-format presses provided us entry to a broader market place, including point-of-purchase, labels, high-end cosmetic packaging, in-store signage and unique substrates.

For example, printing on plastic is a hot application. When we started up our first big press, all our customers asked: Can you print large-format plastic? Now we do. The UV press is printing on foils, styrene, polypropylene, biodegradable plastics and other substrates. It also allows us to print lenticular jobs. We will add a KBA Genius press in the fall for short-run plastic printing.

All Out's goal is to build relationships with clients by offering unique capabilities combined with stellar service—going “all out” for the customer. Yeah, yeah, that's what all printers say. But the reality is too many firms focus on transactional sales instead of focusing on the customer and the relationship. The large printing conglomerates don't value the relationships between the account reps and the clients. They want to get rid of the account rep. I believe that's wrong.

“Big, Bold, Fearless” is our slogan and the mantra of all of our employees. It is also what we want our customers to feel when they print with us—and not be afraid to go with a large sheet of 48-pt. board or to make a statement and experiment with some crazy substrates and the UV process. A client's big idea deserves the perfect substrate.

All Out may be a large-format printer, but we are also a digital on-demand printer. Our NexPress, with an additional one on the way, allows for production of short-run personalized variable work. Our clients deserve multiple output options.

We may run big, but we also run efficient and green. The fat, dumb, happy days are over. In today's economy, especially, it's run efficiently or fail.