How to start printing business in Africa

Printing business is a highly lucrative business that requires some level of expertise and great managerial skills for success i Africa.

If you wish to tap into this source of revenue streams, you have to be well informed as to the basic costs and requirements for setting up a printing business in Africa; while costs could vary depending on variable factors; this post should be able to cover the basic costs and requirements to start up a printing business in Africa. 

This article is divided into sections, one covering projected location for the business; the other, for the basic requirements for setting up this business in Africa. 

Projected Location

Now, depending on whether you want to start up a small scale or large scale printing company in Africa, finding the country to start printing business will determine the cost of your project startup there are some basic costs you will incur such as

Location / Rent 

Equipment set up 

Overhead bills and 

Salari

All of these will add up to your start up capital.

Location / Rent

On average, the cost of getting a shop space in most Africa countries should be around $50. In some regions, shop rent goes for between $50 to $100 per month around the capital cities or business areas.  

If you’re starting up a printing shop in the Nigeria or South Africa for instance, you should prepared to spend an average of $30 to $40 depending on the particular location.

Equipment 

Setting up A 201 machine for A4, A3, A2, printing machine costs between $2000 – $3000. This machine can be used for colour jobs. 

A cord that will be used for cutting should go for between N$2 – $5000. The cord can do jobs on all sizes of paper Modern printing machine is known as DI, and it can print from A6 to large banners. why Direct Print (DI) is an expensive machine and costs nothing less than $25,000. It’s better to stick with the Cord if you’re on a tight budget, or get a fairly used DI machine within the Africa rating $2,000 However, the DI has so many advantages over the cord. 

Overhead bills

Overhead expenses such as; 

Electric bills Printing materials, including paper, ink etc 

Ice utilities etc

All these are generally variable depending on the location of your business and should be factored into your financial projections.

Salaries 

While planning for this business, you have to factor in the costs of hiring good graphic artists and other machine operators. Again the costs you will incur are variable depending on individual and location.

Business requirements 

Catch – in on promotional strategies

Right now as an intending startup; you will have to leverage on great promotional skills and strategies to help kick-start your business.

The main reason for this being that, as it is; no one really knows you too well for what you do and your intending startup. So you have to be ready to actively promote your business even before you socially launch it, by the use of social media, event, radio and television station, and fliers with the country of your business 

Here are quick and real easy promotional tips: 

Create a social website for your business 

Place paid ads on other sites 

Maximize social media platforms like 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn among others. 

Create an email listing. 

Get your company listed in an online business listing

Have a good business plan

Every endeavor or business venture that ends up strong and successful usually and most certainly involved a lot of planning. As a matter of fact, the planning stage is the most crucial as far as launching a portable startup is concerned.

Put up a well written business plan which you will implement during the span of your business. 

You can reach out to +2347036365446 or send a direct mail to alldailyideas@gmail.com We will help you prepare a winning and detailed business plan along with a comprehensive financial analysis.

Getting materials and equipment 

The printing machine is probably the most important equipment required to start up. 

Others are:

Computer system 

Oce materials 

Electric power generator set( although some printing machines come with a power generator 

Graphic design software Cutting equipment 

Accounting software

Get the perfect location Location is everything. A printing business should be located in a region with high commercial activities. You need to make sure also, that your shop is easily accessible. 

Look for a place that is within your budget, that is easily accessible so that your customers can reach you ease. You don’t want anything to deter you from getting clients. And getting a good location is a big part of the business.

Another suggestion is locating your business in a campus area, that way you can target students, lecturers, business entities and individuals, researchers around the region.

Get a good graphic person

The graphic artists are professionals who are skilled at designing and creating graphical work. Now, not every graphic artist is exceptionally skilled at the job, so you have to look out for a very creative graphic designer before hiring one.

Your graphic designers will be the ones to help you with colour separation during the printing process. Once the designer is done with the job, it is then transferred and stored in a hard-disk drive, which will then be taken to the separating system for further editing.

This business can be quite capital intensive, especially if you’re starting slightly above what we might consider as being ‘small scale’ , and yet the earning potential of this business is phenomenal. 

Once on it, you’re guaranteed to earn six to seven sure income on single jobs/contracts! And there’ll always be market for this business as the demand grows everyday.