How Profitable is a Printing and Signage Business?

The printing and signage business industry in the U.S. represented a total revenue of $17.5 billion in 2023. But how does this translate for individual printing and signage businesses within the industry?

How much yearly revenue can a printing and signage business expect? And what are the costs associated with starting and running such a business?

This article offers a deep dive into the financial landscape of the printing and signage market. We’ll explore the average revenues of over 3,500 printing and signage shops, the costs of setting up a business, and the profitability metrics that define the industry.

With data-driven insights, we provide a comprehensive understanding of the economic dynamics of the printing and signage sector in 2023.

Printing and Signage market overview

As per IBIS, the printing and signage market in the U.S. represented revenue of $17.5 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $20.3 billion in 2028.

Traditional and digital billboards and signs have the same share ($6.25 billion each), both of which are the largest, followed by other billboards and signs ($2.2 billion), other printing services ($952 million), pre-press printing services ($812 million), printing plates and cylinders ($560 million), and post-press printing services ($476 million).

Yet, with over 31,000 printing and signage shops across the country, the competition is also fierce.

How much revenue does a printing and signage business make?

Using the same source earlier, it’s safe to assume that the average turnover for a printing and signage shop is around $560,000. Indeed, the U.S. printing and signage industry is worth $17.5 billion in 2023 and there are about 31,000 printing and signage shops across the U.S.

Now, using the data from more than 3,500 franchised shops, a printing and signage shop earns $667,000 in gross revenue per year on average. This number is the average gross revenue per shop from 3,500 shops of the largest 10 printing and signage franchises in the U.S.

If it is a printing shop, with an average cost per printing job of $88 (1,000 copies), that’s a total of ~7,500 printing jobs per year. Assuming 250 working days per year, that’s on average 30 printing jobs per day per shop.

If it is a signage shop, with an average cost per signage of $2,500, that’s a total of 267 signage per year. Assuming 250 working days per year, that’s on average 1 signage sale per day per shop.

Yet, not all printing and signage shops have the same yearly revenue. Logically, some will earn more than others because of many factors like location, services offered, customer satisfaction, and effective marketing strategies.

How much does it cost to start a printing and signage business?

You would have to invest on average anywhere from $153,000 to $330,000 to open a printing and signage business.

The upfront investment covers costs like rent, leasehold improvements, licenses and permits, printing equipment, tools, and software, printing supplies, furniture and fixtures, insurance, utilities, marketing, etc.

• Leasehold improvements (12%): costs associated with modifying or enhancing the leased space for the shop’s specific needs.
• Furniture and fixtures (5%): expenses for the necessary furniture and fixtures in the shop.
• Rent deposits (2%): upfront deposits paid to secure the leased space.
• Printing equipment (42%): the major chunk, covering the cost of printers and related machinery.
• Computer hardware and software (2%): costs for computers and software used for design and administrative purposes.
• Signage (2%): expenses related to the creation and installation of signage for the shop.
• Initial marketing (6%): funds allocated for the shop’s initial marketing efforts to attract customers.
• Training expenses (4%): costs associated with training staff.
• Working capital (18%): capital set aside to cover day-to-day operational expenses for the first 3 months
• Others (7%): insurance, business permits and licenses, initial inventory, miscellaneous funds, etc.

How profitable is a printing and signage business?

A printing and signage business has a ~12% operating profit margin (EBITDA margin) after the cost of services and operating costs (salaries, maintenance, rent, etc.) have been incurred.

There are various recurring costs involved in running a printing and signage business. The major expenses include the cost of services and salaries:

• Cost of services (~35% of revenue): This is the sum of the variable costs directly related to providing printing services. This can include cost spent on paper and other production materials,
• Salaries (~25% of revenue): This can include salaries, bonuses, and other taxes and benefits you must pay to your employees.
• Marketing (~1-5% of revenue): This is the cost incurred in executing strategies and activities aimed at promoting the printing services you offer, creating brand awareness, and attracting customers.
• Other operating costs: (~20-25% of revenue): This includes rental costs, professional fees, licenses and permits, insurance, equipment maintenance costs, utilities, and other administrative expenses.

Profit and lossAmount (US$)% revenueGross Revenue$667,000100%COGS$(233,450)35%Gross Profit$433,55065%Labor expense$(166,750)25%Marketing$(20,010)3%Other operating costs$(166,750)25%EBITDA$80,04012%Source: FDDs of franchises

This is the big question, “How Much Sales Should A Print Company Make in a Year?”. And of course it’s different for everyone. Whatever your print company does in revenue per year technically is the answer, right? Yes and No.

Here’s the deal, if you work at or own a print company and you’re searching to find How Much a Print Company Makes Per Year, then you’re likely looking to compare your revenue to an average or an industry standard. And that is cool, but again, can you really apply an average to your business when there are so many variables and nuances within the print industry that make it difficult to compare one company’s revenue to another. The answer is Yes, that is very difficult. You’re going to be better off looking at the entire industry, segments of the industry, your own numbers and setting targets from there that will give you what you’re looking for when it comes to annual print shop revenue and sales.

In this article we’ll talk through those numbers and give you a clear picture so you can benchmark your print company’s revenue properly.

 

What Are The Stats on Revenue in the Print Industry?

Overall print in general has declined year over year by 2.9%, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t big money to be made still. The print market as we speak is around $80 Billion in revenue. But this is why the question of how much revenue or sales should a print company be making is so relevant. That’s a lot of money and the more you share in that the better. So let’s look at the breakdown.

 

The Largest Print Companies By Revenue are Companies Like…

R.R. Donnelley at $5.5 Billion

Quad at $3.92 Billion

LSC at $2.84 Billion

 

And just a few others that hit $1 Billion in revenue.

But that’s it, about 6 print companies at the $1 Billion mark in the industry.

You obviously cannot compare yourself to these companies.

 

So let’s look at the average revenue of a print company by size

The Top 1% of Print Companies are generating over $11 Million in Annual Revenue

The Top 10% of Print Service Providers are bringing in more than $5 Million in Sales

The Top 25% of Printers are doing over $3.5 Million in Revenue

The Top 50% of Print Shops are making over $1.75 Million per Year

The Top 75% of Print Businesses are making over $500,000 a Year

And the bottom 25% are making between $75,000 to $499,000 per Year in Revenue

 

In the bottom 25% is where you’ll find a lot of single owner / operator print shops or 2 to 3 person operations. Some are startups while others just aren’t trying to grow or haven’t grown.

As a company you may choose to use a common method making a certain amount of money per head at the company. For example if you say that you want to make $110,000 per employee hired then if you have a 4 person print shop you’ll want to shoot for $440,000 per year, but if you have a 10 person shop you’ll want to be around $1,100,000 or higher.

 

How Much Profit Should A Print Company Generate?

Luckily there are some stats out there on this as it relates to print company profitability. The truth is though that the majority of businesses are not profitable on paper. It’s more tax efficient to claim a loss or to break even so you’ll find that many smaller print businesses actually show that they make no money.

But the numbers that are available say that only the top 1% of print companies are generating around 50% + profit while the top 25% to 29% generate 25% profit a good chunk of about 40% of print companies are making about 7% to 10% profit and the rest are doing 1% to 3% or 0% in their business.

It comes down to how efficient your operation is, how much you charge for services and what your capital expenditures + cost of goods sold (COGS) looks like each year.

So while there is no definitive answer to “How Much A Print Company Should Make” you should find this article helpful in providing you with a baseline of data so you can accurately compare yourself to the market and set goals against that for your company.