Advice needed: Printer for Business Cards and small jobs

Hi,

I currently operate a graphic design business and outsource all printing work to professional printers. However, I would like to investigate setting up a small (tiny) operation for doing small jobs like business cards and letterheads etc.

I would like to start off by doing Business Cards - as we do a lot of designs for this and also then refer to printing partners. I am thinking of getting a small colour laser or something that could print up to 300/350gsm cards full colour.

What I would like to know, can anyone suggest a good reliable high quality colour laser printer I could / should get to start this off?

I currently have an OKI 3200cn colour laser, which prints brilliantly but only takes paper up to 203gsm...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

thanx
dwd

 

I think you should consider starting with a product that is easier to do as a niche market and more different than what everyone else is doing.

I don't see how you can compete running business cards on a laser.
1.) small lasers don't like heavy card stock (the exception is the oki engine)
2.) registration on lasers/copiers is typically not perfect which can put some limitations on small items like business cards (e.g. if customer wants border close to edge)
3.) gang printers are turning out business cards very cheaply now as a commodity item
4.) the standard "baseline" color business card is getting thicker, from 12pt to 14pt to 16pt in the last few years

I would look for a more unique item to focus on printing in-house; something that requires setup or labor or that is a unique process.

Start business cards by either using a trade printer or better yet seeing if you can partner with a nearby press for more control/uniqueness plus injecting some extra jobs into their workflow.

 

Sorry, I noticed only now that your location is cape town SA. Possibly your market is very different than ours here in the states. Here commodity items like business cards and postcards have been flooded by big outfits, so there's not much room to do these as a small operation. Maybe it's a whole different profitability market there though.

 

Hi xFactor,

Thank you for the reply and information. It is very valuable indeed and something to think about.

Printing here is also competitive, but I believe I can make some money from doing small jobs. The main thinking though, is that I already outsource a large quantity of small jobs, like business cards, to print partners. I am am simply thinking of how, if anyway possible, that I can setup a tiny operation for now to do these small jobs like Business Cards (maybe even letterheads, flyers etc.). The one advantage with business cards is that it can be ongoing - once the client is out, it is very unlikely that they will ask someone else to print for them.

As we already do the design, it could be an advantage to supplement our revenue with some small printing jobs. Over time and with increase demand we can easily churn out some revenue to help the business grow. And who knows, maybe we can then move onto bigger jobs etc.

Thanx once again for your reply. I appreciate it.

Dwd