I make no secret that I believe the leader in the online printing industry is Vistaprint. Vistaprint is a publicly traded company, with revenues of 152 million in 2006, 256 million in 2007, 400 million in 2008, and 515 million in 2009. In terms of revenue growth, their rate has been incredibly, and subject to much of my envy. What I believe Vistaprint holds as its advantages are its very advanced website, which gives it a professional and clean image, large cash reserves in which to leverage its buying power to stay at the forefront of print technology, and its innovative marketing schemes(although this can be debated). In addition, from what I can gather, Vistaprint runs a very automated system workflow, allowing it to reduce its costs and improve its efficiencies.
The question that needs to be asked is, how are we to compete with Vistaprint?
Head to head, I don’t believe MGX Copy is at a position where it can effectively compete against Vistaprint. We will have to start out with our own niche, and slowly expand our services to include more and more services. I am confidence that the print industry has synergistic appeal between its differing products, as well as the ability to expand its services to related industries. For example, MGX Copy does not simply focus on printing-we understand that our corporate clients who need printing generally need dvd/cd duplication services, fulfillment/warehousing services, as well as customized products.
To maintain our growth rate and continue to win market share, we will have no choice but to pursue a technological route of advancement. I expect to continuously invest in new systems while managing our cash flow situation. It’s important to note that MGX Copy does not directly compete with Vistaprint-as mentioned before, we have more of a large business-corporate direction as opposed to a small business focus.
To sum it up and put it simply, in order to compete with Vistaprint and establish substantial market share, MGX Copy will have to take a corporate direction, and effectively build its automated systems to reduce costs and improve quality. Without sacrificing customer service, we will push to have larger clients automate their ordering processes while reducing their outlays.
More to come later. I’m visiting Print 09 next week(compliments of Xerox and Presstek) where I will be checking out new technologies and systems. Hope to find something great!