It’s imperative that print business owners measure the right things to gauge company growth. But how do you measure what matters? The short answer : understand your goals, define what success looks like in tangible terms, and build companywide improvement programs that unify your teams. That’s where youi being. With what matters. Things have to matter to be able to measure what matters.
WHAT WE TEND TO MEASURE
Typically, in a printing company and in most manufacturing businesses, growth is measured after the fact. Owners look at the dollar figure for net revenue, for example.
Did it go up or down? It went up? Great!
However, this approach doesn’t measure the “ingredients” we need for growth.
WHAT SHOULD WE MEASURE?
When I begin working with a client on growth, the first thing we measure is the current condition across the company. We get all the baseline numbers recorded and document the starting point.
My expertise as a consultant and advisor is to drive growth through sales and marketing. However, I gather data beyond those two areas. I want to know what is truly impacting growth – or lack of growth – inside my client’s print company.
You see, a print business needs to be internally capable of supporting the growth program we are building. The work we do will solidify the company’s “standing,” which is channeled through the salespeople – and out into your market.
That’s why I want to know what’s happening beyond the sales and marketing departments.
For example, we may decide to measure company morale. There are many factors at play when it comes to morale, which is why we look at overtime use, equipment downtime, injuries, makegoods, employee complaints, and customer complaints and drop offs.
We record it, we graph it, and we schedule when the next measurement will take place (milestone).
Then we define what success looks like in specific numerical terms. That way, we can understand how employees “probably” feel about the company. Getting this data first helps us in our conversations with employees to get the boots-on-the-floor perspective about how to improv the company.
This is how we build from the inside, and it’s a crucial component to growth.
PRINT BUSINESS GROWTH IS MORE THAN SALES REVENUE
Making measurable improvements in a print business puts the spotlight on what can change and what we can control.
When the printing company runs smoothly, and when we’re hitting (or exceeding) our measurable goals, the whole feel of the company starts to change. I don’t say this lightly.
Belief is a motivator and accelerator.
It is easier to help you grow if everyone in the company can see that the company is worthy and capable of improvement. That’s right, everyone.
EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY NEEDS TO MEASURE WHAT MATTERS
Most printing companies are flowing with data.
Unfortunately, that data doesn’t always flow out to the people who need it. And it rarely flows regularly enough to be useful.
Measuring what matters should happen at all levels in the organization. The owner, executives, and department heads need to create an atmosphere of continuous improvement so everyone can pull in the same direction.
Employees must be part of the initiative, which means they need to be included in reporting.
WHAT WILL *YOU* MEASURE?
How we define growth – and how we measure it – will differ within each print business.
I can tell you this with certainty:
Everything you project through your sales and marketing starts with the progress you make internally.
If you are wondering what matters in your own company or department, get in touch. I’d love to help you figure out how to grow in the best way for you.
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Check out last month’s post: How To Improve Your Print Leadership Style For Better Results
Sandy Hubbard
is an independent consultant to owner-led printing companies looking to kick-start growth.
She brings clients well-reasoned insight, tactical clarity, and a modern approach to building businesses from the inside. She prepares print leaders for business success in an ever-changing communications landscape.
A fourth-generation printer and publisher, Sandy also is a Certified Scrum Master, Google Developer and Innovator, and a beta tester of agentic AI technology through Grammarly (now called Superhuman). She regularly teaches leading print sales teams how to maximize their LinkedIn presence to activate the platform’s algorithm and trigger AI search results.
She produces and is the host of #PrintChat, a weekly global gathering of the industry’s most influential thinkers and leaders. A proud member of Girls Who Print, Sandy is the 2022 recipient of the coveted Girlie Award.
