 From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. Just a standard, metal-sided, industrial building, stuck on a side street off downtown Livingston –– almost painfully plain.
But humming inside the shell is a business that could be a model for how to succeed around here — teaching you some pointers about how to run your own business better.
It’s Express Color, a print shop owned and run by Andrew Field.
The type of business hardly matters. Express Color is a model of success, not so much because of its inks and papers and other tangibles, but more due to its business strategies.
Maybe the model starts with the print-shop dogs (there are several at Express Color). Or maybe it starts with Field’s 23 years in the printing industry in several states. Or maybe with his sense of humor. Ask him what he recommends about his business, he chuckles and answers off the cuff, “The smell of isopropyl alcohol. It keeps your sinuses clear.”
How successful? This business is barely three years old and its growth curve is impressive: year by year, up 40 percent, then up another 40 percent, then up 70 percent, according to Field and another staffer. To keep up with the load, now the shop has 20 employees and hums along 20 hours per day.
So review the checklist of this business’ strategies. Field doesn’t go around offering tips, but they surfaced during interviews with him, his staff and his customers. Maybe some don’t apply to your business, but it’s a good bet, some will. You might improve your bottom line:
 Pick a niche inside a niche.
 Express Color does only small and medium jobs, from 250 pieces up to 50,000. Inside that niche, the shop specializes in high-quality color. Inside that, the shop specializes in speed. “By specializing, we gain efficiencies,” Field says. “We ink the press up in four colors on Monday, and we don’t wash it ‘til Friday, so we aren’t charging customers for washups (or suffering that downtime). It’s extremely fast-paced. The typical industry turnaround, from approved proof to finish, is two to three weeks. We’re two to three days. That’s how we’ve gained a foothold. The single thing our customers seem to like the best is our fast service.”
Most of the customers are small businesses who want brochures, catalogs, postcards, business cards and stationery. More and more, in today’s fiercely competitive market, they want it done in full color and immediately. “In our local market area, which stretches from Billings to Helena,” Field says, “we see a trend toward tighter deadlines.” Express Color fits the niche. How successful are their strategies? In their first year alone, the company experienced a 40% increase in growth.
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