The Short Version
Dave Rindfleisch can tell which agents have a plan and which ones don’t, and he can tell before they finish the sentence. The ones without a plan always need it tomorrow.
Dave owns Minuteman Press of Gilbert. He’s been in printing since 1986, he bought the Gilbert shop in 2013, and he’s seen enough agent marketing orders to know what the order says about the business behind it.
This one isn’t a printing explainer. It’s what the person behind the counter knows about your business that you haven’t admitted yet. We get into what agents consistently over-order, what they under-order, what a rush job actually costs beyond the rush fee, and how far ahead you really need to be thinking if you want your January marketing to exist in January.
Then we turn the table and talk to Dave as a business owner, because he’s running the same play you are. He took over a shop that was struggling, added equipment as the work showed up, and built the thing on relationships rather than on being the cheapest. Different product, same math.
Takeaways
Your print order is a confession. How often you need it tomorrow says more about your plan than your plan does.
A plan isn’t a document. It’s a lead time, and most agents have never asked what theirs are.
Rush fees are the smallest part of what last minute costs you.
Buy the equipment when the work is already there, not when you’re hoping it shows up.
Thirty years of showing up in the same community compounds in a way no ad spend does.
Chapters
00:00 Why a printer knows whether you have a plan
05:58 What a print shop actually does now
12:04 What agents really need, and what they keep over-ordering
17:59 What last minute actually costs
23:51 Dave the owner, and the numbers behind growing a shop
29:51 Thirty years in the Chamber, and whether networking really works
About the Guest
Dave Rindfleisch owns Minuteman Press of Gilbert. He’s worked in printing since 1986, including running a plant with 300 people across three shifts, and he bought the Gilbert shop in 2013. The shop does printing, signage, promotional products, and apparel, including embroidery and direct to film, serving the east valley. He’s been a member of the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce for about thirty years.
Find Dave
Website: impgilbert.net
Facebook: facebook.com/IMPGilbert
Come Talk to Me
If you want a second set of eyes on your numbers before you set next year’s marketing budget, grab a free consult at Apex Accounting and Advisory. No pitch, just a look at your real numbers with somebody who speaks business, not accounting.
34 min