Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,

I am writing this to inform those of you of a new GROUP where
the "business of producing and selling giclees" is discussed,
shared, and studied for the benefit of its members. The group is
called, creatively, "Giclee Business 101".

The differentiating feature of Giclee Business 101 is that the
topics will focus on high level topics of running a giclee printing
business. These include but are not limited to finance, marketing,
accounting, management, and operations. As of now, we have 57
members and are encouraged to see that there are some pretty high
level individuals within that group with impressive credentials.

- It can be joined by clicking here:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/gicleebusiness101/


- Here is the group description:

"This group was created for giclee printing professionals only for
the purpose of exchanging valuable business information. Those in
the business of printing, publishing, and selling giclee fine art
and fine art photographic prints can learn from one another's
business experiences, exchange information, and reduce the amount of
trial and error inherent in any small to mid-size business printing
operation. The focus should not be so much technical; but instead
remain more on the business side of things.

Only Owners of Epson R800, 2200, 4000, 5500, 7000, 7500, 7600, 9000,
9500, 9600, 10000, 10600 inkjet printers, Roland, Colorspan, and
Hewlett-Packard (HP) inkjet printers are encouraged to join this
group.

The discussions taking place in this group are held to very high
standards and are moderated heavily in order to remain on topic at
all times. Any direct solicitations by manufacturers and/or vendors
of any type are strictly prohibited on the basis of upholding the
unbiased credibility of the information discussed. This group,
unlike many other groups, will be very strictly moderated.

Anyone who directly solicits will be suspended from group activity.
Therefore, we encourage true unbiased discussion regarding personal
experiences and all valuable product feedback that may be offerred.

Please invite others to join this group if you feel that they might
benefit from the wealth of knowledge, as well as contribute to the
overall purpose."

There is a great discussion that has just begun, and here is the
topic (definetely worth the read):

Hello All,

I would like to begin a discussion relating to the
finance/accounting aspects of a giclee printing business. These
include:

1. How you calculate actual print costs from job to job(print job
costing), in order to accurately find your net profit/job.
2. How you go about coming up with the numbers to prepare quotes
for individual jobs
3. How you analyze your printers productivity (are you using it to
its full capacity?)
4. How you calculate/estimate your cost per square foot of ink
(aside from what the manufacturer tells you)

I believe this discussion is extremely relevant and that a lot of
help will be extracted from it -- through member contributions --
that everyone will benefit from.

So, the first thing everyone needs to ask themselves is this
question: When you look at numbers 1-4 above, do you know the
answers right now? If you do, you are in good shape. I am
encouraging you to share your thoughts with the group. If you do
not, it's time to start.

Cost analysis, in particular, is one of the most critical aspects of
any business. Aside from other benefits, thorough cost analysis
allows you to understand the intricacies of how your business
operates, and it allows you to locate problems that are causing you
to lose money.

Here are some potential problems:
1. your production is inefficient.

You might be screwing up too many prints, causing you to eat the
costs of ink and paper, and the cost of your time.

For example, if you are doing a job that requires 100 prints, and it
takes you 125 prints to get the perfect 100 prints, those 25 prints
are eating into your profit margin of that job. You need to find
out exactly what that number is, so that you can find out what your
exact defect rate is. If you know your defect rate, you are then
better equipped to quote your next job profitably. You also have a
number that you can use as a basis of improvement.

It will be interesting to find out what everyone's defect rate is,
so that, we can use the numbers as a means of comparing ourselves to
one another. Simply knowing that you could be doing better is great
information in and of itself.

2. you are not maximizing the usage of your investment (the
printer).

I see it all the time. Some print studios have 5 printers and in
reality they only need 3. Problem is, they have no idea. It may
seem that they need all those printers, but they really dont. They
are not tracking their level of productivity and they are fooling
themselves.

Once again, good information about your business is king. In my
example above, the studio could sell 2 printers and use the money to
set up an ecommerce web site, to advertise, to go to a trade show --
or anything else that hasnt "made the budget" yet. Use the money to
grow. You're investing it, so you may as well invest it into
something that will provide returns.

Ok -- enough from me. Let's get it started!! Your contributions
are appreciated. Please start your post with a brief introduction
and some background of what you do, what you have done, any
credentials, etc. that are of relevance to this group and this
discussion."

I am thankful for those of you who can help us all out by making
contributions.

All the Best,

Phil Fischer