Start as a Broker, Not With a Press: The Real Numbers for a Printing Business
Most people assume printing means buying a press; this plan starts with the model that needs none — a print broker who takes the order, sends it to a trade printer, and has it blind-shipped to the customer with no trace of who produced it. It walks through the resale-certificate gate that unlocks wholesale trade pricing, the real margin on business cards (cost $15 to $25, retail $50 to $150, 60 to 80 percent margin), and the 1991 Kinko's case that established printers can be liable for knowingly copying infringing work, regardless of an indemnification clause in your terms.
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Built From Real Numbers
Startup as a broker runs under $2,000, versus $17,000 to $76,000 for a full digital press and finishing setup. The plan's advice is to broker first, learn what the town actually buys, and only buy equipment for work you've already proven — because buying too much machine too soon is named as the defining capital mistake in the trade.
It gives the five things that cause most reprints (resolution, CMYK color mode, 0.125-inch bleed, safe zone, embedded fonts) as a working preflight checklist, plus the specific script for refusing a job you suspect infringes a trademark, and a worked note on why blind shipping is what makes brokering a real business rather than an obvious middleman markup.
What's Inside
- Print Job Quote Calculator covering trade cost, prep time and rush charges
- Print-Ready File Checklist: resolution, color mode, bleed, fonts, and final review
- Trade Printer Comparison Worksheet for choosing your everyday and specialty accounts
- Repeat-Order Tracker to convert one-off jobs into standing commercial accounts
- The three-model breakdown: broker, trade printer, and direct-to-customer
- The IP liability rules explained, including the 1991 Kinko's case
- First 90-days plan built around the resale certificate and two trade-printer accounts
