Dare to be Unique: A Commentary from Ralph Richter

Editor's note: Many of you probably know Ralph Richter, proprietor of The Drafting Clinic in Mississauga, Ontario. Ralph picked up the Vortex single-pass printer line when RTI folded a couple of years ago. He called me the other day to discuss the state of competition in the large-format color printing business, and I encouraged him to put his thoughts into words.

     I've been in this business for 40 years, and have seen a lot of trends come and go. One thing that bothers me these days is that too many of our fellow reprographics companies compete on the basis of “do what my competitors do” so that they do not lose business. This is at best a “stay the course” or status quo response. When the response is centered around getting the same wide format high speed print equipment from the biggest manufacturer the chance for being unique with a competitive advantage just blew by.

     So now you and your competitor spent $40,000 or more so that both of you have the same services to offer at the same cost with no unique selling advantage. Where is the profit potential when the prints are the same quality and have the same size limitations?

     In some cases the same additional printers are purchased for even more capacity of the same print output parameters.

     Is this not history repeating itself 15 to 25 years ago when everyone got at 9800 Océ so that prints could be produced faster? Almost all the reprographic companies acquired the same high speed mono printers so that they could all compete, eventually often on price. And the prices kept eroding.

     Today reprographic companies offer wide format high speed prints in mono and colour. What if you wanted to get your first or 2nd or 3rd high speed printer with unique advantages? Wider print width and finer detail prints, better colour graphics and lower operating costs.

     Of course, I wish everyone would buy a Vortex printer from me, because that's my business. But beyond my own personal gain, I think the industry needs more competition! If everyone owns the same printer, how do they stand out?

     Here is the opportunity to offer some unique selling advantages. This is the chance to obtain a competitive selling advantage in your market with a proven solution.

     For more information contact: ralph@dccltd.ca