Q&A for How to Start a Printing Business

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  • Question
    What training do I need to get into the printing business?
    Community Answer
    Focus on learning sales. You can have all the best equipment in the world and all the best employees, but if you don't have customers, you will go out of businesses. To learn this, you could get a job working for a printer in sales, not production. If you want to take a big shortcut, you could purchase a print franchise like Minuteman or the like, who will train you.
  • Question
    System requirements for a printing business?
    Community Answer
    Printer does not require high-end super-beefy computer to print, but the editing software does. Look for an Intel core i7, 16 GB RAM and 8 GB video memory.
  • Question
    How can I be a good designer in my printing business?
    Community Answer
    Learn software that creates layouts/graphic designs, such as Photoshop, Coreldraw etc.
  • Question
    How do I let people know about my printing business?
    Community Answer
    Start with who you know. The biggest networks start small. Tell your family to tell their friends and your friends to tell their families. Go on social media and promote your work, even if it's spec work. Take out a print ad. But the most important one is the first one. The people you know lead you to those you don't.
  • Question
    How do I write a business plan?
    Community Answer
    wikiHow has lots of articles that can help you write a business plan, like How to Write a Business Plan for a Small Business and How to Write a Business Plan .
  • Question
    How can I insure the safety of my employees?
    Community Answer
    You can purchase insurance from your business through a licensed agency.
  • Question
    Where can I purchase a printing machine?
    Saruhan Erman
    Community Answer
    There are different providers for both conventional and digital printing methods. For digital, go to Canon, Ricoh, HP, Xerox, Mutoh, or Roland. For conventional, go to Heidelberg, Komori, Man Roland, KBA, or Ryobi. Check online for retail locations that carry each brand.
  • Question
    How do I learn the offset machine?
    Saruhan Erman
    Community Answer
    To do this you should start from scratch as an employee in printing shop. Or, you can educate yourself by taking a class at a local college or university on printing technologies, printing and publishing.
  • Question
    Where is the best place to purchase machinery for a printing business?
    Community Answer
    First, search on internet where you can get any type solution of any type of problems.then you can search on the online market.
  • Question
    What are the products/services a printing company can produce?
    Saruhan Erman
    Community Answer
    Catalogues, brochures, leaflets, banners, signs, books, magazines, business cards etc.
  • Question
    What equipment is necessary for starting a printing business?
    Community Answer
    You'll need a good commercial/big office printer, desktop computer, editing software, a paper cutter, spiral binder, creaser, business card cutter, etc.
  • Question
    Can I print and sell other people's designs, posters, and artwork without written permission?
    Community Answer
    No you can't. You need to seek permission from each original designer and artist to use their copyright. If you don't do that, you'll be breaching their copyright and one or more of them will definitely try to sue you for large amounts of money. Get permission or commission original artwork that comes with the permission.
  • Question
    How much does it cost to start an offset printing business?
    Community Answer
    It would be about USD$100,000-300,000, depending on how large you want to be. A good digital press starts at $75,000, and support equipment - computers, software, finishing machines, such as cutter, folder, stitcher adds another $25,000. You could also consider purchasing an existing shops that has all the setup in place; this is much easier and less money.
  • Question
    Which software is good for flex printing?
    Community Answer
    You can use any good vector editing software like CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer. If you cannot afford these softwares, you can also use Inkscape, which is a free and open source software.
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