Of the 12,100 printing brokerages, forms distributors or whatever else you care to call us, more than 95 percent are "lone rangers" or "mom-and-pops"—one or two person home-based firms with average annual sales of under $500,000. Most make no profit and merely maintain the resellers' lifestyles.
Contrast this with other countries such as Canada where there are some 500 print resellers that average $2.8 million in average annual sales. In Australia (where the term is "print farmers") and France ("gophers"), the concentrations are even higher. This is as it should be when scale economies, professional competency and buying power kick in.
- People:
- Vincent Mallardi
Vincent Mallardi, C.M.C., is a the chairman of the Printing Brokerage/Buyers Association International (PBBA) and is a Certified Management Consultant in the paper, printing and converting industries. He is also an adjunct professor in economics. Contact him via email at vince@pbba.org