INDUSTRY TIPS | THE ONLINE PRINT COACH Don’t Let Your Business Live In One Head I see it so often in print businesses I work with – there is usually one person in the building who is seen as completely invaluable. Often it is the owner, but just as frequently it is a long-serving manager or a production lead who has been there since day one. They know every client quirk, remember the exact material used on a job three years ago, and are the only ones who truly understand how to set up that one tricky machine. On the surface, this person appears to be your biggest asset. But they might actually be your biggest long-term risk. ‘How can that be?’ I hear you say. ‘We couldn’t function without them’. Unfortunately, that person represents a single point of failure. If all the vital information required to run your operation is locked in one or two people’s heads, your business cannot grow beyond their personal capacity. More importantly, it cannot survive their absence. The real ceiling for most facilities isn't The Online Print Coach, Colin Sinclair McDermott, makes the argument that whether it’s yourself or a key individual in your company, relying on “invaluable” people could be the biggest risk to your business equipment or sales; it is the noise of constant interruptions. When information is held by one person, everyone else is forced to wait for that person to give the green light. Decisions are delayed, problems are escalated, and the entire workflow could grind to a halt at any time. To break through, you have to move away from this and start building a system where information is available to everyone. The Holiday Stress Test The true health of your operation is revealed the moment your invaluable person isn’t available anymore. It might be a planned holiday, a sudden illness, or heaven forbid, they decide to move to a competitor. This is the ultimate stress test for any print business. If your phone starts ringing with basic questions the moment they hit the airport, you do not have a structured business. You have a company that is entirely dependent on a specific person. I have seen owners who haven't taken a Having been in the print industry since the mid-late 90s, Colin Sinclair McDermott entered the world of self-employment in 2004 and over the years that followed, experienced a number of highs and lows running his own print company, learning what does and doesn’t work. In 2022, he trained with The Business Coaching Academy to become a fully certified corporate coach with the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches. Through The Online Print Coach, industry members can access an online training platform, Print Mastermind and private 1-to-1 coaching with Sinclair McDermott. www.theonlineprintcoach.com The true health of your operation is revealed the moment your invaluable person isn’t available anymore 24 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk Issue 359 - March | April 2026
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