Need help Setting up small business

[Tyrone]

Hi

(First of all Im not sure if this is the right place to post this thread if not could the mods plz move it, thanks.)

My name is Tyrone and this is my first post here.

Im young but I know that learning a trade takes allot of practice and allot of experience something that I do not have when it comes to this business.
I hope that there are some people here on the forum that could give me some suggestions and explain a couple of things or at least point me in the right direction.



Im 26 years old and live in Australia, right now Im looking to start up my first business doing short run CD duplication/CD printing and printing of flyers, posters, stickers simple album covers etc… at competitive prices.
Targeting a market of musicians and event promoters that are looking to do shorter runs from around 50-1000, of promo flyers and give away CD demos etc..
the prices have to be very competitive!

So what should I be looking at?

For the CD duplication/Printing I have looked at the ‘Primera Bravo 2’
http://bavasmusic.com.au/store/primera-bravo-p-1739.html?osCsid=8fd385ffefd0e3e1c349b53a367c9396

Anybody have any experience with CD duplication and CD printing?
Are there any other machines that I should be looking into?


Regarding Printing of Flyers, Posters, Stickers etc… what should I be looking into?
Ink-Jet Printer? Lazer printer?
Any suggestions of printers that would best suite my needs..?

And I would also need to invest into a cutter right?
Any suggestion here…?


Sorry for all the questions at once.. and my lack of knowledge,
But I would appreciate if somebody could help guide me into the right directions..

Kind Regards

/Tyrone

[Tyrone]

No one!?

[Costas L]

Patience young one, the "elders" around here might need a few days to mull over such complicated questions you seek answers for


Welcome to the forums Tyrone

[bez]

Welcome Tyrone
This is perhaps slightly beyond the areas of expertise of most forum members
You might be better talking to (or spying on ) a local print shop. High-volume commercial digital printers (laser & inkjet) are very expensive. One I have seen in use is the HP Indigo, but we're talking many thousands of bucks.
A consumer, dedicated photo inkjet is unsuitable – they’re very slow and expensive to run, both in terms of ink and the specially coated paper they need for good results.
Yes you would almost certainly need a cutter (guillotine) and a paper folder?

[lnbolch]

I suspect that it is pretty similar in Australia and Canada. Here someone wanting to get into the printing trades would be likely to take a course at one the province's technical schools. This would give you a complete understanding of equipment and techniques and also the business of running a print shop - even on a fairly small scale. Upon graduation, the person would take a job in an actual printing company to get experience and build up a reserve of capital for starting the business.

Of course, if you are wealthy enough to just plunge in, you can learn as you go. However, it is the most inefficient and costly way to go about it.