With a successful nationwide roadshow of Business Transition Seminars concluded last year, Printing Industries is now releasing a series of webinars to continue to help businesses negotiate the necessary changes to ensure a successful future – and Future Print’s benchmarking service is at the heart of the offer.

The PIAA says Benchmarking service introduced by Future Print last year continues to deliver important information to printers as well as painting an enlightening picture of how industry businesses are performing.

The service, delivered independently via benchmarking.com, is sponsored for Future Print participants and Printing Industries members by the industry’s super fund, Media Super, which fully subsidises the usual $575 cost to businesses.

A total of 95 participants took the opportunity in the first year to enter their FY14 data to see how their operations were tracking against like businesses across a whole range of financial KPIs, including income, gross and net profit, financial, overhead and personnel ratios.

This year, the take-up has increased with over 140 businesses having entered their FY15 data to date and even more expected to take advantage of the free service before the entry period closes on 30 June.

“The data provided to businesses through the Benchmarking program is incredibly valuable because it helps them identify their comparative strengths and weaknesses, and address areas where there is room for improvement,” Rasmussen explains.

“With two years of benchmarking now under our belt, and the increased sample size for FY15, we can not only provide more accurate and helpful data to businesses, but gain a much clearer picture of how the industry is tracking, by comparing year-on-year performances.”

Rasmussen, who is a director of industry specialist Ascent Partners, says the increased participation  comes off the back of a national program of Transition Seminars, which were held around the country by Printing Industries last year, taking participants through the year to date results, looking at how profitable different sized print businesses are across various market segments, and exploring why certain markets are doing better than others.

Now, Printing Industries is poised to provide similar information in a series of four, half-hour Transition Webinars which are scheduled to run on Wednesdays over a seven week period from 27th April.

• Webinar 1 Wednesday 27th April 12:30 pm

Benchmarking Results – Business Profitability and key KPIs by Market Segment

• Webinar 2 Wednesday 11th May 12:30 pm

Industry Analysis – Industry Consolidation Activity and Trends

• Webinar 3 Wednesday 25th May 12:30 pm.

Business Valuations – Overview and drivers to increase business value

• Webinar 4 Wednesday 15th June 12:30 pm.

Business Transition Strategies to improve business value

“The first session will deal specifically with the benchmarking opportunity, giving registrants an overview of the information gathered to date, exploring what that means for businesses and the overall market, and showing businesses how they can access the service,” Rasmussen explains

“We’ll also be opening the floor for questions for 15 minutes after the presentation, giving plenty of opportunity for business owners and decision makers to clarify how the data relates to their specific business and market sector.”

Later sessions will include an overview of industry consolidation and what it means for the future, how to determine – and improve – the value of your business, and how to plan and manage business transition.

 “These Webinars are the perfect opportunity for participants to find out how to find out how their financial performance compares with others in their market segment, to help them identify areas in which they could improve their own business performance, and to get a better understanding of their options when considering the future direction of their business.

“This is proving to be exceptionally valuable information for the businesses which have participated so far, and we expect the program will continue to grow each year; in fact, I’d expect upwards of 300 businesses to participate in the 2017 financial year,” he says, adding that with Future Print programs now close to fully subscribed membership of Printing Industries is likely to be the only way businesses are able to access this service free of charge from FY17 onwards.

In the meantime, however, Rasmussen is focused on the end of this financial year, saying those who want to benefit from an independent analysis of their financial results have no time to lose.

“Data entry for this year closes on 30 June, and then we’ll be asking benchmarking.com to provide an updated report on the results, which we’ll bring back to the industry in a new series of Media Super Industry Forums in Q3 this year,” Rasmussen says.

To enter your FY15 data into the system, go to www.printnet.com.au/benchmarking or contact your local Printing Industries representative to discuss membership or registration with the Future Print Program.

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