Printers Flying Blind Will Crash

Bob Hall made an interesting observation in the July issue of Quick Printing about printers and estimating programs. He reported Eastern Kentucky University technology professor Dr. Marlow Marchant, recently published a paper that said the inability or unwillingness to track and understand financial data is a sometimes fatal flaw in the quick and small commercial printing industry. “Sadly, business failure in printing, particularly in small printing companies, has been linked to top management who are unable to understand their own financial statements and are therefore unable to take timely and appropriate action,” he writes.

As the nation continues to ride out the economic slowdown, more and more printers will be closing their doors because they didn’t stay on top of their business. The simple act of learning how to read a financial statement could have helped print owners make decisions that would have kept their businesses viable. Too many printers forgo the cost of monthly financials complied by a professional accountant as a cost cutting measure. They try to do it themselves even when they don’t know what it really means.

All printers should take time to learn what their financials mean and how they can be used to guide decisions. Some will learn that they need to raise prices to stay in business. Others will learn that they should shut their doors and quit losing money.

This isn’t the time to fly by the seat of your pants and be blind to your financial realities. Its finally going to bite you.