Save Money on Pocket Folders
Ethan and Ava run a two-person insurance agency in Des Moines, IA called Hawkeye Point Insurance Agency, LLC. They have been in business for two years and work has been steady. Originally they went into business to have more freedom and control over their lives. Unfortunately, they work nearly every night and weekend to keep food on the table and the mortgage paid. The American Dream has been a struggle to say the least.
Recently, they hired a business coach to help with their strategy. It did not take long for the coach to realize the bottleneck was two people spending all of their time working in the business instead of working on the business. It was as if their plane was moving full speed ahead but there was no pilot to navigate the skies. They quickly hired their first full-time employee so that Ava could spend more of her time on the direction of the business.
Madison, their newly hired salesperson was ready to hit the ground running but quickly realized it would be tough to compete in this market without some professional marketing materials to help prospects remember their company as well as the benefits of doing business with them. Everyone got all excited and began brainstorming and searching the internet for ideas. In no time, they had come up with a stunning full-color folder design that would blow their prospects away.
They called up The Folder Store and explained what they were looking for. They just about fell off their chairs when they received their folder quote. No, it wasn’t that the quote came back in just a few short hours but rather the cost! How could paper be so expensive? They explained how they were still a small-time operation with a really tight budget and there was no way they could afford their dream pocket folders. What could they do?
Luckily, The Folder Store was prepared because their story was the norm and exactly the audience they strive to serve. Here are The 5 Easy Ways to Save Money on Pocket Folders:
- Minimize Ink Colors: Sure, photograph quality images look stunning on pocket folders but this means you must go with full-color (aka 4-color) printing which is significantly more expensive than 1-color printing (one ink color).
- Avoid Heavy Ink Coverage: This (aka flooding) typically means covering an entire white folder with ink except for a logo and some text which is left white. While it looks neat, all of that extra ink is very costly.
- Avoid Custom Sizes & Styles: By going with standard sizes and styles, you avoid the need to order custom dies which depending on their complexity can be extremely expensive.
- Minimize Foil Stamped Areas: You may be tempted to do foil stamping in several different areas but it will be more cost effective and will typically give you better results to stick to one area such as the front cover.
- Grayscale Logos: You may be in love with all of the specially chosen colors in your company logo, but you will likely hate the cost of printing the logo in full-color. Grayscale will allow you to print in one color.
Hawkeye Point Insurance Agency, LLC currently employs an entire team of salespeople and now that business is booming, they can actually afford the presentation folders of their dreams. As for Ethan and Ava, well they now have the time to spend enjoying their children and can actually take vacations. The moral of the story is that you need an exit strategy before you start a business. Sure, in the beginning you will be doing all of the work yourself. But, you don’t want to be burning the midnight oil the rest of your life, do you? Your goal should be to get the business to a point where it operates as well or better without you so that you can either have the flexibility you initially dreamed of or can sell it for a profit. Hopefully, you are working to have a life and not living to work! And now you know…the rest of the story.
Image Credit: annia316
