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Trend Spotting: Small Printers, Big Business

Small business owners take note: When it comes to printing, packaging paper and related industries — those conveniently located one-stop corner shops that have, let’s be honest, saved more projects at the last minute than you’d care to admit — are big, big business. Dominating these micro print shops are franchise systems that are all competing on a crowded playing field. Think FedEx Office, Mail Boxes Etc., Fastsigns, and so on and you get the idea.

Two big growth drivers of late are consolidation, which has gained in popularity in the commercial printing segment, and increased interest shown by private equity investment firms.

Add to this growth the trend to fold marketing services into print-centric company offerings, and you’ve got a value proposition that many small business owners will find more irresistible than ever before.

If you’re at the helm of a small business and find yourself relying on the services of micro print shops as an extension of your own firm, this proliferation of expansion, consolidation and PE money will be very good for business. Because crowded playing fields give rise to ever more creative ways to draw in business, often driving down prices in the process.

For a snapshot view of what’s going on in the small printing business, the data on mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy filings and non-bankruptcy closures in the printing, packaging, paper and related industries found on this chart is a quick read.

This article is excerpted from “Small Printers are Big Business – May 2017 M&A Activity” published by The Target Report.

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