Nothing wrong with competitive pricing: Vels Jensen

The debate, which posed the question ‘Can You Still Make Money From Print’ and also featured Look Print owner David Leach and Lindsay Yates Group director Paul Richardson, covered topics such as market capacity, pricing, and the rise of print management.

Click here to see pictures from the event.

But Jensen said that basic business factors were often ignored when considering the recent decline in print volumes and profitability.

“If you’re not successful in this industry, it is not because of print, it is because of you. Overcapacity and print prices cannot be blamed for you losing money, you alone are responsible,” he said.

“And you won’t make money if you wait for a return to the good old days. It won’t happen,” he added.

Jensen said that printers make money when they know what makes their business tick, when they know their ‘cost to produce’, when they have a clear focus on strategy, when they attract good staff, when they listen to their customers, and when they embrace and fully understand new technologies.

“Most importantly, you need to enjoy what you do. If you don’t enjoy what you do, I have a hard time seeing you make any money,” he concluded.

The debate, which featured questions and responses from the audience, frequently touched on the issue of pricing and the ‘race to the bottom’, prompting Jensen to defend the practice of competitive pricing.

“There’s nothing wrong with quoting a low price, there’s nothing wrong with undercutting a competitor, as long as you’re making money on it,” he said.

But Jensen did concede that “too many printers are taking jobs just to keep their presses running”.

“Profitability is not defined by running a press 24/7,” he said.

Richardson talked about his company’s experience in trying to move into magazine printing, a move which he said “caused a lot of problems”.

“When you get a high-speed press you can get sucked into going into a market that you’re not prepared for,” he said.

“But putting new technology in isn’t going to make you money, getting people who understand the technology is going to make you money.”

Leach also urged printers to embrace the rise of internet technologies and adjust to the changing times.

“Remember that Gutenberg put a lot of calligraphers and scribes out of business,” he said.

The debate was the second in the Spotlight Sessions series, which kicked off last month with a discussion of the challenge from online media, ‘Taking the print to online’. The third and final Spotlight Session, entitled ‘Be More Than Just a Good Printer’, will take place on 8 September.

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