What’s having the greatest impact on your business at the moment?
As an ecommerce business it goes without saying that we heavily rely on traffic from search engines such as Google. With them now making sponsored results more prominent and blurring the lines between paid and organic search results, we’re forced to spend more on Google AdWords to generate traffic. This makes the cost per conversion a lot higher and reduces margins - margins which have already been greatly impacted over the past few years by competitors that are willing to make next to nothing to win business.
Where do you see the greatest wide-format opportunities?
Backlit exhibition systems are becoming ever more popular and with the cost of LED technology constantly coming down, more and more systems are coming to market. Almost all the systems I’ve seen recently utilise silicone edge fabric graphics, which is a huge opportunity for any wide-format printer with that capability. Customers want to stand out and they don’t want to see joins in graphics and backlit fabrics are the best way to achieve this.
What would make your day-to-day operations easier?
More automation. At the moment we’re doing a lot of jobs manually and it’s simply not efficient or cost effective.
Your favourite bit of kit is..?
At the moment it’s our new Jetrix LXiR320 but we’ve just ordered an Esko Kongsberg X24 cutting table, which may well take its place as my new favourite.
What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given?
Someone can have all the qualifications and experience in the world but, if the fit isn’t right, it’s never going to work.
What are you most proud of achieving?
Along with an amazing team, I’m most proud of achieving continued success, a great reputation and helping create one of the most recognised brands (Display Wizard) in the display and exhibition industry.
What lesson does the wide-format sector need to learn?
Equipment manufacturers need to perfect products and new technologies before releasing them. Small businesses can’t afford to invest in new machines that promise to world but don’t deliver.