The printing.com territory franchise

We like to do things differently.

We started from a clean sheet. The clients told us what they wanted. We designed ourselves around their demands. Everything we do now is geared towards offering them the best possible service at the lowest possible price. We also cook a mean risotto.

Over the past six years, printing.com has established a methodology that is challenging the accepted norms of the high street print sector. It has achieved this paradigm shift by basing its business model on an ultra-efficient, centralised production hub, with 100+ outlets, fused together with proprietary software.

This approach to centralising production involves the use of industrial sized state of the art presses, enabling a superior standard of printing compared with the sector at large. This centralised approach achieves the inherent efficiencies of any mass production process - enabling a very favourable price point to be offered to the end user.

Essentially, it is this competitive advantage that has fuelled printing.com's expansion from one outlet in 1998, to over 100 today. The success of the printing.com formula was reflected by the Company's flotation in September 2000, with its shares traded initially on London's 'OFEX' market, and more recently, its promotion to the London Stock Exchange.

printing.com full colour printing is available from our dedicated stores and franchise partners. It's an ever-expanding network and we would love to welcome you on board. The first step is to request more information.

Printing.com franchises

We offer two types of franchise. The 'Bolt-on franchise' is for established print or marketing companies and allows them to leverage our multi-million pound production facility and deliver the highest quality printed products to their customers. The 'territory franchise' is a management franchise for people who want to move into the printing industry and build both a store and a network of franchises.

Got an existing business in the graphics arena?

Investigate our Bolt-on Franchise. It lets you get on with running your existing print, design or marketing business, whilst adding a great new facet. Use our branding, methodology, technology and production capabilities to sell full colour printing at the same low prices that our stores do. It's a powerful proposition. (see separate page for more information)

Want to be an entrepreneur?

Start your own printing.com Territory Franchise. It's one of the most demanding, potentially rewarding franchises available on the market. Start a printing.com store and build a territory of bolt-on franchises. Suitable for sales or marketing professionals, a Territory Franchise will test your management skills.

printing.com - a shift in the paradigm

printing.com is an exciting fusion of IT, printing technology, savvy marketing and lateral thinking - this eclectic mix is breaking the mould of the traditional print store. The result is a unique franchise offering, with the prospect of an unrivalled return on your investment.

The idea is simple. By centralising print production at our Manchester hub we have radically reduced the investment that's required for you to open up a print store. You no longer need to buy expensive machinery like printing presses, guillotines, and folding machines. But, it's not just a question of reducing costs. Our production model enables a far superior product to be offered at a highly advantageous price point.

A good analogy is the airline industry. If you were flying from London to Paris you could charter a small plane but it would be uncomfortable and expensive because you'd be meeting the entire cost of the flight yourself. Alternatively, you could fly on a scheduled airline and share the cost of the technology with other passengers - at the same time you would enjoy greater comfort at a substantially reduced cost! That's the essence of printing.com's centralised production - a higher specification of printing (in full colour) at a radically reduced price point.

The concept is well proven. Across fourteen company-operated outlets, first-year sales averaged £190,000 with the most successful printing.com store to date turning over £283,000 in its first twelve months.

Start a store

Our stores offer a range of leaflets, flyers, mailers, postcards, posters, business stationery, scratch cards, booklets and business cards - all printed in glorious full colour - and to a high specification more typical of a prestigious commercial printer, not usually available on the high street.

Of course, pricing offers a competitive advantage. Our menu pricing makes it easy for clients to plan their marketing. You'll be able to deal with a wide range of clients too - from a small enterprise requiring 500 full colour business cards (priced at just £49) through to the management of a sophisticated account requiring prospectuses, brochures and direct mail. printing.com stores offer a real competitive edge.

The maths is very simple. You buy print from the production hub at a pre-determined and heavily discounted price. We call this the 'transfer price'. You sell the goods to your client at the retail price. You will stretch your gross profit margin further by selling in-store services, such as graphic design, disk checking, illustration, and copywriting. The payment for these value-added services is your profit and printing.com does not charge a percentage royalty.

Of the available 66 UK territories, 22 are already operated as franchises, 6 by the company and a further 8 options (the first stage of securing a franchise) have been taken out.

Build a territory

As well as our franchised stores, printing.com has another highly successful franchise format. In a little over 3 years, over 80 franchises have been granted to established printers, copy shops and graphic designers. We call this idea a 'bolt-on franchise'.

The idea is very similar to a retail 'concession', allowing the bolt-on franchise to offer a complementary printing.com service alongside their existing business. The concept works - with successful partner firms realising significant additional revenues.

Here's a twist! Each printing.com store franchisee controls a large territory and has scope to develop a network of bolt-on franchises within their extended area. In return for providing consultative-led support, the store franchisee (or territory franchisee as we prefer to call them) benefits from a share of the additional licence fees and ongoing revenues. Conservatively this could produce additional annual profits of over £50,000.

Aside from the financial incentive, this consultative-led approach of selecting and nurturing bolt-on franchisees provides an added challenge.

Store fact file

• Eliminating in-store printing equipment means lower start-up costs.
• Stores typically attract 500+ new clients in first year of trading. (Clearly, stores will have actively marketed to gain clients and not just relied upon the powerful external price points.)
• Realistic potential to exceed £190k sales in first year.
• Highest first year sales of £283k.
• Current highest annual sales of £632k.
• 85% of transactions are on a 'cash' basis, clearly improving the unit's cash flow.

Combining the latest sexy Apple Macs, laminate flooring, brushed chrome, neon lighting, sofa seating and printing.com's unique client 'pods' (honest, it does work!) the printing.com store provides a stylish studio environment and is the centrepiece for your new venture.

printing.com stores are typically positioned in 'secondary retail locations', either just off the high street or on busy arterial routes. Very often they are located nearby, or even adjacent to, other well known printing stores. This approach is very much part of a deliberate strategy – by positioning printing.com stores near these other print outlets, additional clients can be attracted.

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Please complete the short form below to request more information from Printing.com (Startup):

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