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Bounce, dip and climb
So it looks like the rate of recession is slowing, suggesting we are approaching the bottom. The big question is where do we go from here? Political and economic commentators are debating the ‘shape' of the recovery will it be a V-shaped rapid bounce back, a W-shaped double dip recession or the slow grind of an L-shaped recovery.
My guess is a mixture of all three. After endless doom and gloom, our society has a habit of willing itself into a bounce (V) which will fall back to a more realistic level (W), followed by a slow climb as government is forced to turn off the quantitative easing.
You may ask what this has to do with screen or wide-format digital printing. My answer is simple, the business volume that comes with easy money is yesterday's news and could be for many years. Basing a business plan on leveraging debt to gain market share in a commodity market is going to prove tough.
The secret, as always, is service differentiation and adding value. Ask yourself the age old question: ‘What does your business do differently and how can it add maximum value to your customers' businesses at minimum cost'.
Maybe it's a high level, one-stop-shop service offering. Maybe it's a trouble shooting, consultancy angle, printing the impossible. Maybe its focussing on niche high value markets such as medical and industrial. Maybe its attacking international markets that have cash and welcome British manufacturing values. I don't mind what the answer is, provided you have one. Welcome to the recovery.
Jon Barrett, Editor
