All businesses have a history, some longer than others, some more stable than others, some more successful than others. History is important, it grounds us, and it builds relationships – both internally with your long-term employees and externally with your long-term customers. Your history is being played out in a very dynamic business environment. For most print businesses the rate of change outside your business is far greater than the rate of change inside your business.

Looking backwards as a means to figure out how to move forward isn’t working anymore. If you’re in the print business, your past success does not guarantee anything in the future because the conditions you’re operating within have dramatically changed. Remember when you could confidently look at market growth statistics and predict your future volumes and revenues? Or when you could predictably rely on your print business rising proportionally in good economic times?

The future is uncharted waters; much of the print being produced today will get converted to shorter runs, more personalization, or be replaced by digital alternatives. At the same time, there will be new print products introduced, new markets, and new opportunities for local custom manufacturing.