Award-winning NSW company Evolve Printing has avoided closure by selling off its equipment and sacking its staff to become a ‘print production consultant’. Speaking with Australian Printer, Graham Deaner, owner of Evolve Printing, says he wanted to look after himself and his family and restructuring the regional print firm was the best way forward.
Deaner says, “I am sick of making money for everyone else and it may sound selfish but I need to look after my family and so we will outsource all our jobs, sell off the equipment, pay our debts and downsize. “I was paying staff to sit around and do nothing as most of the work in the last six months was getting outsourced and they are not stupid, they could see that more and more of the work going out. “But we did everything we could to look after them and even connected them with other printers to ensure they had a job moving forward.” He compared the print industry to a ‘bunch of school girls who are only interested in gossip’, and says he is focused on building relationships with clients to secure his future. Deaner says, “I am in business to make money and I have worked hard to build relationships with media agencies, who I sit down with and discuss what solutions we could provide to them. “My background is signage and print which gives me the ability to provide clients with creative solutions that will blow their competitions’ minds. “I always say that it is not about a big client base, it is about a good client base.” He says the print industry is going through a transition phase where a lot of printers are becoming brokers and chasing the clients to make money rather than paying for overheads and productions cost.
Deaner says, “The print industry is shrinking and it doesn’t make sense to have staff sit around when only 60 per cent of our work was still being done in-house. “For example, last November we made $200,000 and we outsourced 40 per cent of that work, which left us with a lot less than we would have if we had no staff or production cost.” While most believe that outsourcing jobs would lead to low quality and unreliable work, Deaner says he will not operate like a print broker. “A lot of print consultants or brokers approach several big companies and whoever gives them the best price they go with them,” Deaner says. “For me my clients are more important and the relationships I make with them are important. “And that is why I have partnered with Lindsay Yates, which is not an official partnership, but they will provide me with all the work and that way I can have quality control and on time delivery. “Other contracts with paper companies and suppliers still remain with me and I will be doing all of that into the future,” he says. The company which operated with four staff, including Deaner, two staff and general manager, Helen Stewart, will now have Deaner and Stewart run the show. Evolve will still have its presence in Tuggerah for storage, as well as its showroom in Elizabeth Bay NSW.
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