Brisbane printer Valley Edge Design has achieved a 24 per cent profit margin and diversified into digital billboards and marketing this year.
The small digital outfit survived a near-death experience in 2012 to transform itself into a lean and highly profitable business focusing on quality and fast turnaround.
“We ran as lean as we could this year and just worked harder,” managing director Rocky Cassantini says. “Quality and fast turnaround is the key, being able to deliver on that generates a lot of referrals.”
[Related: More wide format news]
Having outsourced general commercial and offset work, Valley Edge now focuses on quality, fast turnaround digital printing, signage, and bookbinding to a range of corporate, healthcare and government clients.
Wide format has been the key to improving margin from 21 to 24 per cent on last year, and it now makes up a third of the business, up from a quarter last year, mostly in small building and vehicle signage.
Setting up web-to-print is also driving new work from local businesses in the fast-changing outer-CBD area and building on renewed business confidence.
Valley Edge has appointed new general manager Yevette Brutton to help grow the business.
Cassantini has also established marketing company Gas Media, run by his business partner Ross McNee, that offers graphic design, strategy, rebranding, and small campaign planning. Much of the work feeds back into Valley Edge.
“We already have a core of corporate clients that do work with us regularly. We have created more than 15 websites and designed annual reports for major business,” he says.
Cassantini also has high hopes for Gas Media’s new 6×3 metre digital billboard that went up two weeks ago, providing cost-effective marketing to local and non-profit clients and exposure to 37,000 cars a day.
“We offer the best prices for digital billboards in Brisbane and the plan is to have three in the next two years and 10 by five years. With print in decline you need to diversify,” he says.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter