Despite the unremittingly bleak news and the fact that we are living through a period of extraordinary economic upheaval, I like to hope it could be just that. In my attempt to turn negatives into positives, consider the following: if the extent of the bloodbath means that 30%, 40% or even 50% of printers will go out of business (depending on whose estimate you listen to), then surely overcapacity will no longer be such an issue and the supply/demand balance will favour those companies that are still standing.

We’ve already seen some collapses that have left clients with egg on their faces, so customers should have a fresh appreciation of the need to deal with suppliers of substance. Time for some true partnership, perhaps, rather than the “partnershaft” famously coined by one printer a few years back.

Print may be grim, but imagine how much worse it would be if you were an estate agent, a builder, or a car dealership? Some of these companies have been rolling in gold for years, only to see their whole business fall off a cliff within weeks. Printers are at least toughened up already. After enduring years of grinding out a living this sector is pre-hardened to the recessionary trading game.

Get involved
Exercise tips for the new year include walking about a bit – no gym fees or special equipment required. I imagine that most of us have at one time or another worked for someone who spends all their time closeted in an office, avoiding contact with the hoi polloi on the shopfloor – or indeed customers – at all costs. Such tendencies are often exacerbated if the manager in question has been paralysed by fear by the numbers in brackets on the latest management accounts. So, how about some “management by walking about”? It could be just the tonic that’s required and it’s amazing what you can find out. Talk to your people, go out and see some customers.

Start smoking. Knowledge is power, and the smokers always know what’s going on because fag breaks are spent on vital inter-company gossiping. However, if concern for the longevity of your lungs precludes this, make sure your non-nicotine-based personal information networks are fully functioning and that you’re paying attention to happenings within the business and outside. Especially, of course, at key customers and competitors.

Turn paper price increases to your advantage. I realise this is a hard sell. Print becoming more expensive just as competition from new media channels is intensifying is hardly helpful. And what chance do printers have of increasing their own selling prices if the paper guys have got in first with a “take it or leave it” increase?

The flipside is that people never appreciate things that are too cheap. So paper price rises present the perfect opportunity to talk to clients intelligently about how they might indeed print less, but print smarter, more effectively and perhaps more often. Print still represents excellent value, and it’s proven. Chin up, and keep smiling.