Case Study: Case of Inevitable Change

So customers turn to email broadcasting and, interestingly, they find that it’s not always the easiest thing to do. What if we just provided a convenient way for them to get what they want (email broadcasting) along with a reduced printing schedule? Aren’t we still performing the same function?

Our function always has been to make something look pretty (compose, typeset) and then duplicate it. The function of making things pretty certainly will still be here, even though the duplicate will be a PDF file or HTML code.

Clarify what is ending and acknowledge it so we can survive to change and make it to the other side. Don’t stand in the road saying the truck isn’t coming when it is. Continue to print, but don’t buy yourself a new 36" four-color press.

Then we jump into the middle stage. That is where we feel we are free-falling, as if we parachuted from an airplane. During this stage of developing new skills it’s easy to become disoriented. Looking to other printers in this stage isn’t always good, for they don’t necessarily know more than you.

On the flip side, we have to remember to make a living as change occurs. Know about, use, get familiar with, play with, and experiment upon the shiny new thing. But don’t forget to earn money by continuing to provide real printing in a timely manner to those who continue to use it.

Don’t clamp down in the face of the new reality. Accept ambiguity such as the fact that there is not a perfect price for what you do. Do your best, breathe, and move on, but learn.

The Payoff

Finally you will see the beginning stage, or I should say the new beginning stage. That’s the landing zone. You reorient yourself as things come into view. Questions get answered. How do I sell these new products and services? What do I charge for them? What kind of customers do I want? Everything seems to move from uncertainty to an increasing stability as you come in for a landing.

One of these days you will have left behind a lot of competitors. The bad news is that as you come in for a landing you will see new competitors who got there before you did. The only good news in all this is you will be alive—still earning and competing—instead of being road kill.