Being successful isn’t impossible

Michelle Joseph, head of marketing communications at Oki Europe, explains why now is the perfect time to diversify into transfer printing.

Transfer media printing is a great option for any print service provider looking to increase its revenue through customised garments as well as a wide range of other promotional merchandise.

The transfer printing process is a lot more straightforward than other printing processes. It simply involves printing the design onto transfer media which is then heat pressed onto the desired garment.

However, with the backdrop of the current cost of living predicament, businesses can be forgiven for thinking it’s a tough time to be diversifying their operations. Whether you are an existing business or a start-up, it doesn’t mean making a success of it is impossible.

In the print industry, there are plenty of lucrative opportunities for new businesses – particularly with the support of the right technology, and it doesn’t always require a huge investment. Adding short-run printing on-demand to a service portfolio can overcome the challenges of the growing demand for customised or personalised products such as in sportswear, corporatewear or even kids and toddler clothing.

If you want to stand out from your competitors or really give your customers that wow factor, investing in technology that removes the high costs typically associated with short-run printing, and adding technology that offers unique white toner printing in addition to CMYK, a provider can make highly personalised designs profitable.

A convenient and cost-effective alternative to traditional processes

Transfer media printing is a fast, easy, and affordable route to delivering personalisation for a range of customers, from individuals to branded goods for businesses. Transfer printing is quick and hugely cost effective compared to other more laborious methods such as direct to garment, screen printing and embroidery and, by investing in the right printer, businesses can remove limitations around minimum order quantities.

The costly and lengthy set up of traditional customisation methods means it simply isn’t profitable to accept low volume orders. However, transfer media printing can accommodate any order volume, from one customised item to thousands, allowing businesses to cater for one-off short-run orders to large batch orders.

Stand out from the competition with the right technology

An extensive range of customised product options isn’t the only thing that will impress potential customers. The quality and flexibility of the customisation will matter too. This is where white toner printing technology can add the wow-factor to designs and set a start-up business apart from the competition.

By investing in toner technology with the capabilities of adding white to the standard CMYK spectrum in either CMY+W or CMYK+white, it will open a whole new world of creative design possibilities. The addition of white toner can produce solid, sharp, bright white colour designs and can be applied as underlay on dark or transparent materials to make designs really stand out.

A new business with limited funds and no access to commercial space would benefit greatly from investing in a compact, easy to use device where no specialist skills are needed and is able to get started from anywhere. There are plenty of opportunities in the print space and short-run customised garments and merchandise is one area that is becoming increasingly accessible.

A transfer media printer that doesn’t demand a lot of space and can produce alluring designs with clever toner technology will help even the most inexperienced entrants to the print industry stand out against the competition.