In 2005, there were two trends in the printing and signage industries:

• A move toward electronic publishing was causing the traditional printing business to decline. Corporate reports, instruction manuals and catalogues were moved to CD's or online storage.
• Digital printing technology in the sign making business was advancing quickly. Traditional methods of cutting and applying colored vinyls could not compete with 4 color process printing, but the cost of the new technology was prohibitive for smaller companies that made the bulk of the industry.

An exclusively wholesale source of custom printed large format media could find traction supplying existing "traditional" printing companies.

• Competitive Landscape: This is a two-fold environment. There are the existing suppliers of signs and digital graphics who would be competing with our new distribution channel, but also wholesale suppliers competing for our distributors. At the time there were no exclusively wholesale large format printing companies in the Northeast, and only a handful nationwide. With the first mover advantage we could develop distribution relationships without comparative options for our customers. As for existing suppliers, their cost structures included sales and marketing expenses that we did not incur, and we could gang jobs in production for greater efficiency.
• Barriers to Entry: Relatively high. The capital investment costs for equipment, training technicians and building out distribution gave a reasonable cushion against quick access to our market. Existing companies wishing to enter the market faced a conflict between their existing retail and new wholesale operations.
• Supplier Power: Many material and equipment distributors in the marketplace drove competition for our high volume purchases, giving us the ability to negotiate end-column pricing and consignment contracts.
• Buyer Power: This threat lies at the end user level with large customers comparing pricing between our resellers and direct suppliers. There could be discomfort about delivery and quality, in addition to pricing concerns working through a broker. We would have no control over the street price of our materials.
• Threat of Substitution: Most likely our resellers would eventually develop in-house capabilities to serve their end-user customers directly once volume grew to a large enough amount.

"SignCenters" located in retail print shops would have samples and ordering information for customers (a similar model is employed by the companies that make embossed invitations). The print shops would cross sell signage with their regular offerings and the end user would have well coordinated marketing materials. This model would keep customers close with one-stop purchasing and provide the retail print shop with a new revenue stream (with no capital cost) to replace lost printing income.

To validate the market we used equipment from an existing marketing company to develop reseller programs with local retail printers in Middletown and Hartford, CT. A very limited variety of sample materials and training was provided to the CSR's in each location in addition to the owners and outside salespeople. There was minimal retail ordering, however, the outsides sales staff acquired large accounts very quickly: Pratt and Whitney and a medium size local bank.

Data from the test launch indicated that there was more opportunity for larger print programs to be brokered to corporate customers than to the original small business retail targets. In addition, preliminary sales efforts revealed demand from the event, tradeshow and display, and interestingly, the traditional sign company market.  The "SignCenter" kiosk plan was shelved and further planning was driven by this new evidence.

We developed a reputation for high quality, high reliability and reasonably priced products. Working closely with industry leading suppliers iike 3M, and  HP (we served as a beta site for their new latex printing technology), SignCenter implemented new technologies early and became an influential force for chosing media and equipment. 

Equipment:  In a very capital intensive industry with a short useful technological life, equipment was acquired by capital lease and a consistent percentage of gross sales was spent as the company grew. As a wholesale supplier, it was also necessary that we maintained both excess capacity and redundant capability. These investments increased the cost of our products, but the value to our customers was appreciated and they were willing to pay a premium to ensure quality and delivery in a very short turn market.  More than 95% of jobs were delivered in 3 days or less.

Any entrepreneur could purchase the equipment we used.  Our value was in our employees and the company's institutional knowledge.  We developed decades long relationships with resellers because our people cared about our reputation and our resellers' success. Investement was made in educating the staff, including manufacturer seminars, certifications and intensive technical training. Further, the operation was transitioned to be mostly autonomous without my daily involvement in operations.

In the spring of 2019, one of our large customers made an unsolicited offer to strategically acquire the assest of the business. Nearly equal to the challenge of building the company, the planning and process of transitioning the company required careful thought and implementation. There are the hard assets of the business, and the book of customers, but without the employees who build relationships with our resellers and vendors, there is no unique value to SignCenter vs. any other firm. I sold the personality, culture and institutional knowledge of the company which are embodied in the people who work at SignCenter.  The transition had to acknowledge and reward their achievements, and encourage them to remain enthusiastically engaged. The entire staff was retained and the company was structured to remain an indepedent subsidiary, ensuring the continuing success of the venture.