ImagesMagUK_Digital-Edition_January2018

www.images-magazine.com 102 images JANUARY 2018 Marshall Atkinson is the professional services director for InkSoft, and program owner for the new InkSoft Production Manager software. In his professional services capacity, Marshall provides coaching to shops on operational efficiency, continuous improvement and workflow strategy, business planning and strategy, employee motivation and management and sustainability. w marshall@inksoft.com This also includes equipment manufacturers. For example, Saati has a new computer-to-screen unit, the Saati LTS 608, that uses lasers to image the screen and is engineered specifically for the apparel industry. No toner or wax needed. Ever. Eliminating steps in any process is something I like. Online sales platforms Earlier in the article I mentioned the retail apocalypse and how the new wave of selling is all going online. Shops that make ordering convenient are seeing huge growth. This is true for fundraising campaigns, school and B2B stores programmes and, of course, retail. Get in on the act by building a convenient way for your customers to order from you. But if you build an e-ecommerce site, don’t forget the most important piece to making it work. Marketing. Shops that are dominating this space are the ones that are mastering the art of linking their site to their customers. This is often through social media-driven channels. One of the things that I’m seeing is more shops using social media to connect to their audience. Short videos posted on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn demonstrate their capabilities. I’ve seen some great examples recently using GoPro cameras, fun camera angles, quick editing and even some in-house produced music. Decorating more than shirts More shops than ever are adding more capabilities to their line up. Shops are now decorating shoes, phone cases and other products. This is happening with sublimation or digital printing. Screen printing is still being used for traditional products such as promotional items or technology devices. This is a great idea. The equipment is there. Why not use it? What have you tried to decorate lately? Plenty of shops are dropping more cash to their bottom line by selling package deals instead of just the shirts for events. What shops are finding is that there is plenty of One challenge is to level out your sales so there are no slowmonths. Businesses will focus more on their long term strategy BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT competition with decorating a T-shirt or embroidering a pullover, but not so much for sublimating a pair of socks or branding a mobile phone case. Your skill as a decorator can be a market differentiator if you look at different products rather than just what’s ‘standard’. Focus on the business In these days of ever-increasing competition you can’t just focus solely on the decoration method for your efforts with improvement. Other points, such as labour costs, workflow efficiency, even shipping, are playing a big part in discussions. One challenge is to level out your sales so there are no slow months. Businesses will focus more on their long term strategy than ever before. New technology and increasing demands from venture capital-funded, bigger businesses are going to make smaller companies find new ways to capture sales. Technology is great, but there still is a human element to it. Shops that master this aspect do so by demonstrating their personality and character. This shows up in their branding. Those that make that person-to-person connection with their customers will see more business flow their way. A new era I’m excited for the new year. My take on the industry is that we are on the cusp of a new era with digital technology playing a bigger role in the industry. Not just in printing, but in how shops communicate, take orders and thrive. Here are four things to ponder while you enjoy another cup of coffee and start your day: • Where is your market heading? • How can you solve your customers’ pain points? • What is your competition doing? • How can you differentiate your shop and stand out? My takeaway advice for 2018? Do something to get 1% better every day.