The new spot for printing

Rhematec Electric Business Card Cutter Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:06:00 +0000

In this article, I am going to show how we use the Rhematec Business Card Cutter with the easy-to-use desktop publishing software, PagePlus.

Just to review, there are five variations of the Rhematec Business Card Cutter:

M/N: EBCC-B90R-E54R-A (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed
layout, finished card size 90 x 54 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B90R-E50R-A (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed
layout, finished card size 90 x 50 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B91R-E55R-A (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed
layout, finished card size 91 x 55 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B85G10-E54R-A (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) half-bleed
layout, finished card size 85 x 54 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B88.9R-E50.8R-A (for size Letter paper with 10-up (2x5)
non-bleed layout, finished card size 3.5" x 2")

The Rhematec Business card cutter I have is the one with finished card size of 90 x 50 (mm), non-bleed. Non-bleed means, the design of the business cards to be cut using this machine should not have any graphics sitting on its edges. There is a way around this, which will be focused on the part 3 of this article. The printer used is a laser printer. I have tried to use inkjet printer, but the feeding mechanism, has made inconsistencies with regard to the position of the prints. So it is not advisable to use this cutter, if you have an inkjet printer.

Anyway, let's start:

Step 1: Make sure that the paper to be printed on is A4 in size. Not all the papers are accurately A4 in size. If not trim to size the papers.

Step 2: Position the paper on the bypass tray (if you have a copier/printer), as landscape (by experience, it is more accurate on this way):

Step 3: Let's work on PagePlus. From the menu, click "File" then choose "Page Setup"

Step 4: On Page Setup window, click "Create Custom" button

Step 5: On Small Publication Setup Window, enter the following details, then print the business card.

Step 6: Insert the printed business cards in the lower slot, with the top of the print, first:

These are the cut-out:

Step 7: Insert the printed business cards, this time in the upper slot. The topmost part of the print is now positioned on the rightmost part of the slot:

The business cards coming out:

The non-bleed, clean edge, business cards:

Sorry for the not so clear pictures but I hope this gave you an idea on how to prepare your file, a non-bleed business card for the Rhematec Business Card Cutter.

C2S Laser Printing Woes

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:12:00 +0000

We have been using C2S from a certain supplier and noticed that we can't seem to maintain the quality of prints we are hoping for. Once we buy a new set of C2S, the first few days, the prints are ok. But for whatever reason, the prints become grainy after a few days. Also, when printing a business card on C2S 220gsm, the gloss is not there using our laser printer. So, when the opportunity came for us to print a menu, from a new, flashy restaurant and grill near our place, we are left with no choice but to look for alternatives.

First choice is photo paper, that must be compatible with laser printers. This is critical so as not to leave any residues on the laser printers if its not meant for laser printers. We are able to find one supplier. Aside from photo papers, they also supply CISS for Inkjet and Continuous Toners for Laser printers. So we bought some papers. We tested some prints, and the result was solid colors and clear prints. The downside is, our laser printer have a hard time feeding the photo papers.

So, our other option is to test the Digital Paper from Paperlink, which they call Imari. It is their brand of C2S. I noticed that the cost is twice that of C2S paper from other suppliers. I bought half a ream of 200gsm C2S paper. We tested the prints again and the output was very much similar to the photo paper's. It is well worth the try. And we have never looked back. We are dead set on using Imari papers for our prints.

Replaced Toner

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:44:00 +0000

This is my first time to replace the Black (K) Toner of our Develop/Konica Minolta MFP after

Black Prints 19,626
Color Prints 1,560

TOTAL Prints 21,186

The supplier have already delivered all four colors as replacement aside from the lone Black Toner I had before.

Paper Supplier's Buzz Worthy Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 08:51:00 +0000

I've been reading the books Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes and Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz and these truly inspiring books led me to seek my own buzz worthy news on my business. On the other hand, I'm hoping that I could emulate this buzz worthy news I 'm going to share. I've been in this paper supplier's retail shop like 3 times, and what can I say, it is a word of mouth experience! The supplier, Prestige Paper, Inc., simply knows how to generate buzz that buyers like me will highly appreciate and will in turn get the word out to other people like what I'm doing now.

For one, they maximized their space, and put all the sample of papers cut in rectangular pieces, pinned on a cork boards placed on horizontally moving wooden frames. This way, you can check on the selection of papers easily as you move from frame to frame. Secondly, they also gave me free sample of papers:

Figure 1. Prestige Paper Swatches 2009; these papers are good for offset printing presses while some are good for digital color laser printers.

Figure 2. Prestige Paper Swatches 2009 for Digital Color Laser Systems; these papers are good for digital color laser printers.

And third, they have very capable, efficient and helpful employees. Discussing the paper types and more than willing to go the extra mile to help. They are not the cheapest but I suppose you know now why I keep on buying from them.

However they don't have a website. But whatever they lacked in online marketing, their word of mouth marketing has more than compensate for their lack of it! So what's your buzz all about?

Entangle your Prospects on the Web

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:04:00 +0000

Most of our clients are from the web. We have not really marketed ourselves on print that's why I am quite grateful of using this marketing tool to attract prospects. There are quite a lot of marketing books and even copywriting books, that are one in saying what you should at least put in your ads:
1. What's in it for your prospects/clients?
2. The benefits that they are going to reap out of your products or services
3. The call to action. Tell them to get in touch with you as soon as possible.

Once you are complete with your ad. Where to do you post it? There is 88db.com, www.sulit.com, olx.com, and many others.

What do you put in your ads?

Double Loop Wire Binding

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:39:00 +0000

Double-loop wire binding is one of the binding methods I enjoy doing. I think maybe part of the reason was my fascination with these wires during my school days -- those wire bound notebooks that I used to have. And maybe part of the reason as well could be that I enjoy "securing" the pages and making them "whole", more like a book which is one of my past time so to speak. Or simply perhaps the very reason is that I have chosen the easiest and most enjoyable to use, double-loop wire binding machine. The binding machine I am using is the WireBinder 3:1 from Rilecart:

3:1 meaning, having 3 holes every inch. It is a square hole, can punch up to 20pages of paper and can bind up to 120 sheets of paper. I am not sure if the wiremac and wirebinder are one and the same but judging by the looks of it, they are. The instructions are well-presented on the manual included and on the website and their even is a video on youtube, so you'll never get lost. I have binded reports, notebooks, prayer books, numbering from 1 to 64 in one sitting and this machine didn't let me down. Little did I know that while I was doing the "hooking", I was slowly getting hooked!

Here's the actual picture with binding covers on the side:

Why Laminate?

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:58:00 +0000

I finally got to do a lot of lamination lately -- around 25 of them at least, courtesy of our neighboring new business. The couple admittedly wanted to save on money on their POP displays and learning aids and one way to preserve them the best is through lamination. The posters are A3 in size and printed on C2S 80gsm paper stock. The pictures on the posters are of high resolution, so they came out pretty well and complimented well with the design made by the guy owner. Then I have them laminated, using GMP Laminator:

I used the laminating films, thickness 250micron, supplied by GMP Philippines, for quality since they are the leader in lamination technology. When I tried out the first poster to be laminated, the printing is great but lamination even made it look greater. The owners were so happy that they decided to have more of their A3 sized poster/pictures to be printed and laminated. We'll see how it goes once they open soon.

Photo Booth Survey

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:25:00 +0000

My friends are putting up a photo booth service. I help him gather some information for their conquest, so kindly fill up the ff questions:

What is your sex? Your Age?

Do you like to take pictures of yourself and of/with your friends?
Do you like the photo booth?
How many times have you tried a photo booth? What was/were the event/s then?
Which photo booth service providers have you tried?
Have you availed for your event a photo booth service? Why or Why not?
Did you like the service rendered to you by the photo booth provider? Why?
In which aspect of the photo booth you are hoping that needs improvement?
Have you wished you can pay the photo booth service via credit card?
Did you find the photo booth service provider website easy to navigate?
Would you avail the services of the photo booth(or again)?
Do you have other comments or suggestions?

Thank you!

The Colored Bond Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:54:00 +0000

There are a lot of kinds of papers out in the market as much as there are a lot of suppliers. There are those suppliers that offers the cheapest prices while some offer a premium. Some paper suppliers wanted you to order in bulk while some rely on a minimal amount of purchase for free delivery. One of my main considerations in choosing a supplier is their colored bond papers. I will be needing to stock with bond papers for this upcoming elections. Colored bond papers are popular for RISOgraph printing of flyers, posters, receipts, forms, etc. I have tried the one of the cheapest colored bond paper with our Riso MZ-770. The paper costs 40% less than most popular bond papers out there so it's really a bargain and I figured I would definitely earn more. But when I tried out printing a 100 copies, there were unusually so many paper jams. Cheap price but only going to waste my ink and time, I thought. So I tried another brand from a different supplier, which costs more. Lo and behold, there were no paper jams out of the 100 copies printed. So I did a visual and touch comparison of the two colored bond papers, the cheap one has a silky feel and it is lighter in color while the other one is a little rough but darker in color. Then I remembered that the RISOgraph printer is not capable of coated papers, or of the silky variety. If truth be told, just like most retail goods, buying cheaper brand of paper will not always offer you better alternative until you experience the brand.

Securing a Business Permit in Quezon City

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:58:00 +0000

Securing a business permit in Quezon city took me 3days. That is 3days at least and may take up to 7 days depending on how many applied especially on the months of January to March. Luckily for me, I didn't have to endure the long lines which I thought would happen but it wasn't the case, really. If you're new to securing a business permit for your highly anticipated new business, here are the requirements before you set foot at Quezon City hall:

1. Barangay clearance 2010 (Original) - make sure you photocopy first before giving it out. You will be needing the copy to securing the Locational clearance and Fire clearance
2. Photocopy DTI certificate, if you are a proprietor, or SEC certificate if you are a corporation.
3. Photocopy of Contract of Lease or Certification. Must be with notary public.
4. Photocopy of 2 valid IDs(Driver's License, SSS, Passport, etc)

On the main building of City hall, proceed to Window 1. There is a bespectacled guy(or girl) going to provide you with an application form for business permit. Then right after filling them up, proceed back to him/her along with the requirements. If he/she finds them complete and correct, he/she will give you a small paper, where a number provided for your application and date to come back is written. Don't lose this one. On the day of your return, you will proceed to Window 1 again but you will be meeting with the assessment group. They will asses how much you need to pay in taxes based on your type of business, capitalization, size of your space or rented space. Right after the assessment, they will ask you to go to Window 12. This is where you will be given a Tax Bill, the amount of the fees you need to pay. You will need to photocopy the Tax bill, then give this to the assessment group of Window 1. Then they will ask you to pay for the fees to the cashier in the new building at the back. Then photocopy again the Official Receipt and give it back to the assessment group of Window 1. They will ask you to come back the next day for getting your business permit, along with the sticker and plate.

So right after you get your business permit, withing 30days you will just need to wait for the inspectors of your location for locational clearance and the fireman inspectors for fire clearance.

Cheers!

Behind the Printshop Business' Location and Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Its final. I have decided to stick with the location along Timog Avenue, Quezon City. I admit I was too enamored with the business space in Robinson's Pioneer complex that I overlooked how costly it would be to renovate the place. It was only then that I realized when the contractor sent to us the quotation of the renovation! So right there and then, I politely turned down their offer and also asked the Lessor that I would be withdrawing my reservation even if that means losing the non-refundable reservation payment(Ouch!). Good attitude dictates good business, or so I thought. Anyway, I was also informed by our printers' supplier that good thing we have decided to stay away from the place since they too have clients, which are similar to our nature of business, operating on the other side of the complex, inside the mall which we would inevitably compete with should we have decided to operate there. Never thought finding a location would be this hard. As days gone by, the more I have to keep my act together and move on. And now that we have already found our second home, we are more than happy to be along Timog Avenue, Quezon City. For those of you who are not familiar, Timog Avenue is home to a lot of businesses and it won't hurt much to have another print shop especially near the Timog/Morato circle or aptly called the boy scout circle. So there are two established printshops located on the intersection of Timog Avenue and EDSA. The advantage we have is we are not near them. The way I see it, we can take advantage of the residentials and businesses near our domain, if thats the proper way to put it. My dilemma now is we are located on the second floor of the building without visibility from the road! This will require more aggresive marketing strategy I said to myself. Its worth take the risk anyway since on the medium rise building we are located in, there are also other new small businesses, like a pasta resto, dental clinic, eyelash/nail spa, and an auditing/accounting firm. Our very first client is the auditing/accounting firm. They had to process tax and income returns so I beg in even if we are not really fully operational to begin with. Opportunity is already presenting itself. I grabbed it. Off to work, I printed quite a number of papers. Then on the last set of what I printed, I made a terrible mistake on the printout. So they have to be redone as what the owner has asked which I readily obliged to do. I didn't asked or even got payment for the wrongly printed documents even if the owner was already paying me up for my own mistake. I am going to build a business built on trust and satisfaction of the customer. These are what we are going to standby with and where we want to be known for. As much as we can provide, under reasonable demands, we are willing to give in. I believe what Stephen R. Covey has to say about effective people, "Effective people are not problem-minded; they're opportunity minded. They feed opportunities and feed problems." As we are starting small, we are more than willing to grow personally and professionally. I wouldn't know for sure what the owner would think had I accepted his payment for my print mistakes but I guess he liked what he has seen as he was already asking us to print them a lot more of their documents. The numbers are astonishing, far from my expectations! And today, he came into our shop and asked what else we can do and we fit the bill as he also needed someone to do logo, brochures and flyers. I told him that we will be more than glad to be of service to him and his partners' endeavors. Me and brother are excited what the next days hold for us. We are ready. May God help us.
For your viewing, here are some pictures of our still "un-signage" print shop:

My brother on his workstation:

That's me:

Basic Training for our Printing Machines

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:09:00 +0000

I believe that training is one of the most fundamental aspect of running a printshop business. Trainings basically provide new learnings, inspire creativity, give fresh insights and trigger inspiration. Today, me and my brother had the benefit of basic hands-on training that Copylandia, the distributor of our printing machines, Risograph MZ-770 and Laser Multifunction Printer Develop Ineo +253, have laid out for us to get up, run and operate our printing machines.

There were two persons from Copylandia that came, one person each for the said machines. First off, we tackled the Risograph. The MZ-770 can print, scan and copy upto A3 size paper and print on one- or two-color spot printing jobs. The MZ-770 has a small touch screen interface alongwith the various buttons on the front panel. We had a black and bright red color ink. The copying functionality went out smoothly. We were able to scan a 2-color document and produce a one-color output. Scanning the document doesn't necessarily provide the expected output. The dark colors on the original document will be printed out black while the lighter colors will be printed out bright red. Printing from the PC provided more consistent results. In order to take advantage of the 2-color output, the proper way of preparing the document, be it in some graphic image editing software, is to put the area in orange that is, if you want this area to be printed out red while the darker areas be put in black, to be printed black. Since this Risograph can print 2-colors in one pass, there are some minor misalingments that can be corrected with the setting of the print area which can be found on the front panel, one for each drum. You can always check first with the "proof" button if the misalignment have been corrected, prior to full scale printing. Each color on the Riso is a set of drum unit and ink. Using different color for the drum unit is not possible. The first drum is usually the black color. Me and my brother took turns trying to familiarize ourselves with the operation while the trainor guided us on how to perform simple checks as well.

Then we proceeded with the hands-on training of the Ineo +253. We first tried how to explore photocopying, one side copies and then back-to-back copies. It has a fairly intuitive touch screen interface which makes it easy to operate. There are three trays on the Ineo +253, one and two for plain paper while bypass tray for thick papers or boards. Printing from the PC is easy. We just need to figure out the orientation of the paper inside the trays to match with the orientation on the PC. That is, if you want to print in landscape mode, one of the trays should have paper put ala landscape. The printing/copying is set by the trainor to print black in default, in order to minimize mistakes like printing a grayscale document using all the inks. Take note that black ink is formed with cyan, magenta and yellow combined, but not necessarily in that order. We were able to print a color document and it is really a treat to see it and hold it. The output is WYSIWYG.

The trainor provided us tips on how to make the most of our machines. Though everything tackled are just basic stuffs, they are still, after all the fundamental ones. Soon after the trainors left, someone entered our print shop and asked us to photocopy their business documents, all 12 pages of them. One of the pages is beyond A4 size and can fit into a long bond paper, but since we don't have yet long bond papers on stock, we reduced the document in order to print it on A4 sheet. We were able to make clear copies and our first customer was more than happy to thank us. What a great way to start. We will be working on more testing to prepare our marketing collaterals in time. Thanks for reading!

Let there be light!

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:05:00 +0000

Finally we already have electricity in our shop! Our machines had already been cold started and I feel good that there were no problems whatsoever! We have availed our machines from Copylandia, the leading provider of Digital Printing equipments here in the Philippines. They are number 1 for nothing so that's why I have put my trust in partnership with them to be there for us in the long haul. The machines that I have procured by the way for now is one Riso MZ-770, for up to 2-color spot printing and one Ineo +253 for full color copying and printing. Me and my brother look forward for more intensive training on the said machines soon!

Creating a Logo using Serif's PagePlus X3 Desktop Publishing software

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

This is my first project I give to myself for logo creation. I am going to show how I used Serif's PagePlus X3 desktop publishing software to create a simple logo for a fictitious company called Sharky's Diving Enthusiasts. The logo would ideally be in single color. To visualize the shark in creating the logo, I have to check out pictures of sharks out from the web, and ideally I would want to have a shark that is somewhat shaped like the letter S to make it easier but there aren't any. Anyway, I proceeded with my project.

1. With the Page Plus workspace open. On the left are the Tools toolbar. I created a circle thru the Quickshape flyout -> Quick Ellipse under the Tools toolbar.

2. I converted the circle to curves. Right click on the circle then, Convert To -> Curves. I knew that the circle had been converted to curves as there were already four nodes: top, left, right and bottom of the circle. I manipulate this nodes to put on the desired shape as will be shown below.

I clicked and dragged the node on the left of the circle:

To remove a node, I double clicked it and here’s what happened:

To add a node, I just double clicked on the part where I wanted it to be on the circle.
When I clicked on one node, there was a broken line that appeared. The endpoints of this line wereused to give a more customized shape on either side of the point. I choose on the types of curves to determine how the node will behave either a straighten line, sharp corner, smooth, symmetric corner, smart corner:

3. The shape of the shark especially the front part using the steps mentioned above:

4. The shark was already taking the form of letter S. The shark was rather large in the workspace so I made it smaller by pressing Shift while dragging the size handle on the lower right of the image.

5. Then I have put the company name along with the image. I edited the image with Logo studio found right clicking on the image:

6. In the Logo studio I chose the Forte font for harky’s and OCR A Extended font for Diving Enthusiasts. I used the Align tab to center things. Then I closed the Logo studio:

7. Back in the main workspace, I dragged the logo to the Gallery tab found on the right then named it sharky single color logo so that I can easily drag it to any document the logo is needed:

Serif PagePlus X3 is an affordable easy-to-use desktop publishing software for a novices like me. It has been said that it is also considered as a viable alternative to other high priced softwares. As I continue to learn as I am striving any way I can, I am quite hopeful and enjoying every minute of it. Next time I will incorporate this logo to publishing documents. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave your comments.

Looking back on what they said before the Pacquiao - Cotto match

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:20:00 +0000

I still can't seem to get over the recent victory of Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao over Miguel Angel Cotto. I had the copy of the sports section of one of the leading broadsheets here in the Philippines, Manila bulletin, on the day of the "Firepower" fight and I have jotted down here the predictions of some boxing people that almost, if not, said it correctly:

Billy Keane, manager of Gerry Penalosa -- "If Cotto makes the same mistake Hatton made -- trying to come out and show that he is stronger -- I think Manny will KO him in 1 or 2. If he boxes from the start I think Manny will stop him on cuts around the 9th."

David Diaz, ex-Pacquiao foe -- "Cotto is patient and has skills he needs to use it in the early rounds. If he can force Manny to lunge him, that's the only way Cotto can connect. If it goes to the later rounds, that's when it will get bad for Cotto."

Gary Gittelsohn, manager of Brian Viloria -- "I believe Mannny's God-given speed combined with his extraordinary ring intelligence will overcome the physical strength advantage Cotto enjoys. Manny will frustate Cotto all night."

Shelly Finkel, ex-manager of Pacquiao -- "The Manny of today and the Cotto of today. I pick Manny by stoppage in the middle rounds."

Sergio Diaz, manager of Antonio Margarito -- "I think Cotto has recovered from the Margarito fight. But still Manny is the better all-around fighter and it's helping him a lot to have a great trainer in Freddie Roach."

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State -- "Of course the Pacman's going to win. I mean, is there any doubt?"

Mike Tyson, former world heavyweight champion -- "I pick Manny Pacquiao by knockout. I think he will knock him out in seven or eight. Manny has just too much for Cotto."

Bernard Hopkins, former middleweight champion -- "Pacquiao is going to chop Cotto up. Cotto will get some rounds but Manny is the Bruce Lee of boxing. His basketball and martial arts background give him that speed and agility. You can't tell where his shots are coming from."

Joe Calzaghe, Britain's undefeated world super-middleweight champion -- "Manny Pacquiao is going to be too quick for Cotto. I was ringside when Cotto fought (Joshua) Clottey and he seemed to struggle a bit in that fight. Cotto is the bigger guy but I still think Pacquiao beats him in a decision."

Freddie Roach -- "I honestly don't think we are going to knock him out -- We are going to make him quit."

So there you have it. All the fine points raised by some well-known personalities about the "Firepower" fight. Most of the accolades have been Pacquiao. None much has been said about his team. They are so underrated. I still think the factors of the success of Pacman is that he trains hard, trains smart with the help of his team. They have a closely-knit team with a very good foundation that builds trust and consistency, solves problems and boosts confidence:

Freddie Roach - who transformed Manny Pacquiao into a two-fisted juggernaut
Alex Ariza - physical conditioning coach responsible for transforming Manny Pacquiao into a powerful boxer
Buboy Fernandez - assistant trainer considered to be Manny's best-kept secret weapon
Michael Koncz - Pacman's advisor. He is the most hated but nevertheless still part of the team.

Even if they have altercations, minor or otherwise, I hope they keep their act together. Hope everything goes well on the next successive fights. So much for boxing. I will return soon to normal programming. :)

Manny Pacquiao -- the BEST boxer EVER!

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:43:00 +0000

Congratulations to Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao for winning his 7th World Boxing Title from Miguel Cotto!!! You made us again proud to be Filipinos! Mabuhay ka! Look who's talking now? Who's next?

Creative Workplace perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:47:00 +0000

We have met with the architects to have a look on how to go about making our new site, comfortable, efficient and conducive to productivity and creativity. When they showed me their design perspective, I am delighted but then I suggested they use neon green and gray alternately on the walls. I decide our workspace will have a touch of red, black, blue and neon green to create a strong and exciting presence. Here's a sample of the raw perspective they showed me, with no editing yet but pretty much will be the outcome only with different colors:

What's your creative workspace like?

Business Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:37:00 +0000

Business plan is necessary in order for your business to have a direction. I got a business plan template for my startup business from www.score.org. They have a comprehensive way of how you are going to start and work on your business plan. Also the things I like that goes with it as well are the:

Opening Day Balance Sheet
Sales Forecast Sheet
Startup Expenses Sheet
Break-Even Analysis Sheet
12 Month Cash Flow Statement Sheet
12 Month Profit and Loss Projection Sheet

This somehow, gave me an idea of how to formulate a business plan.

A printing Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:54:00 +0000

I just recently followed the blog, ZX-printing blog. I especially liked the articles, "A Crash Course in Digital Printing", "What a Digital Printing Company Can Provide for your Convenience", and the many marketing ideas the different printed products offer to a business!

LOL

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:38:00 +0000

In memory of my dog, Queenie, who died more than 2 years ago:

You might be thinking that what’s written here is something to laugh about. But it’s no laughing matter. Besides, the title LOL doesn’t necessarily mean laugh out loud. It means loss of life. Yes, my dog Queenie, whom I spent almost half of my life with, has passed away… The last moments of her life was the saddest of my life since my Lolo and Lola's(Grandpa and Grandmas) died… There she was, barely able to stand up, but she managed to eat… A lot! She was really hungry having came from the veterinary. The vet said she didn’t ate anything… Knowing Queenie, she only ate what we usually ate. Not the typical dog food found in stores… Her last meal, consists of gound beef with rice. We, I, mama, papa and my brother were glad to have her back after two days of her stay in the veterinary… Certainly, that’s the way she feels too. Being sick, you certainly would want to be with your loved ones… your family… Observing Queenie, who was really weak that time, still wanted to walk… She had this look in her eyes that told me, she missed us… When I embraced her, I felt her quiver and let out sigh of relief… My brother was really attentive to her. Queenie laid down on the towel beside my brother’s bed…. The bag of dextrose which Queenie had was carefully hanged… All through the night, the bleeding never stopped. We took turns on cleaning her up. Washed her. Watched over her. There was also a time that me and my brother cried for her… I can see from the eyes of our dog… tears. Tears… which I wasn’t sure if it is because she feels that she was dying or it is because of the joy she felt of having us together… But what I was sure of was, the time of her life was slowly fading away… we were hoping that the time would stop… Stop her from the pain she was going through and us as well… And then it came… she was taken again to the vet… The vet wanted to give another round of medication but my brother insisted that she be put to rest. I just got it from my Mom who told me that my brother called up to say that. I wasn’t there with my brother and the reason I didn’t come with them to the vet, was because I had an inkling that my brother would push for putting to sleep, Queenie because he couldn’t bare anymore the pain of seeing what Queenie had gone through… I couldn’t stand it as well and also couldn’t stand to see Queenie being put to rest… The inevitable happened. I really didn’t like the idea but I guess, it was the best thing to do. I maybe right or wrong… Then they came, with the lifeless body… My best friend… My companion… I can only whisper my last words… my last touch… Queenie has died… but she was buried in my heart…

Free 3D Paper Art

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:35:00 +0000

Are you looking for some wonderful ways to spend wonderful time at home with your family? Try 3D paper art! I have no kid/s myself but a kid-at-heart, I was fascinated with this art when I saw it from the Internet. These realistic paper structures brings you closer to the real thing. I haven't seen one in person so I why not create one myself, I thought so. There are quite a number of point of interest in the Internet for free paper arts: Canon Creative Park and Yamaha Paper Crafts. Browsing over the website of Canon Creative Park, under the Animals -> Dogs/Cats category, I chose the smooth coat Chihuahua. Some facts from the site:

"The Chihuahua is thought to be a descendant of a breed of dog called the Techichi. The Techichi was the dominant breed in the 9th century in the area that is now Mexico. The Techichi was a pet of the Toltec people. The Techichi was not only a pet to the Toltecs and the Aztecs, but also was important for religious reasons. It was believed that if Techichi were creamated with the dead, the Techichi would take on the burden of the deceased person's sins and turn away the anger of the gods. Further, it was believed that the Techichi would protect the souls of the dead from evil spirits, and lead them to their final destination in the afterlife. The Chihuahua of today is thought to be a cross between descendants of the Techichi and a hairless dog called the Chinese Crested Dog. There are two types of coat found in Chihuahuas - the Long Coat variety has long hair, while the Smooth Coat variety has short hair. The hair of the Long Coat is sometimes curly."

My Tools and Materials:

230 GSM glossy photo paper to give my furry friend a shiny coat

Pen type cutter - be careful with it!
T10 printer with CISS
popcicle stick
All purpose Glue

Following the instructions included, it is quite hard to make at first and it took me 4hours to finish it! This is the finished product:

So that's my first shot on 3D paper art... Thank you for reading! Have a question? Post a comment and I’ll be happy to answer it…

Rhematec Electric Business Card Cutter Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:51:00 +0000

Business cards are often the first corporate publication to be exchanged especially during the first meeting of business people . It is very important to make that great impression on business cards -- the mood set by the color, the emphasis put on by the fonts used, the lasting message of the content and the smooth, clean edges! No matter how well-designed the business card is, if it has rough edges, it will still be perceived to be unprofessional. Does your company deserve that? If you are looking for an affordable business card cutter, the Rhematec TESS 900 Card Cutter may be worth the try.

The supplier in Taiwan are prompt, willing and helpful with whatever queries I had. There are currently five standard models:

M/N: EBCC-B90R-E54R-A   (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed layout, finished card size 90 x 54 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B90R-E50R-A   (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed layout, finished card size 90 x 50 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B91R-E55R-A   (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed layout, finished card size 91 x 55 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B85G10-E54R-A   (for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) half-bleed layout, finished card size 85 x 54 mm)
M/N: EBCC-B88.9R-E50.8R-A   (for size Letter paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed layout, finished card size 3.5" x 2")

If you would like to have a custom-made cutter for slitting a specific size, you can send them the layout for their evaluation then they will let you know if it's feasible to make on their electric business card cutter. An example is a custom-made cutter for slitting an A4-sized paper with 9-up, full bleed layout (3 mm gutter) into playing cards.

What I have is the model for size A4 paper with 10-up (2x5) non-bleed layout, finished card size 90 x 50 mm. What does all the cutting specifications mean? It only implies that for every A4 paper, one can have 10 pieces(2 columns and 5 rows) each of size 90mm x 50mm business cards. The term "non-bleed" means that there are no prints on the edge of each business card and therefore no spaces between them on the layout of the card. This is the sample of the layout:

Notice that there are no spaces between each cards. So this model is more suitable for cards with either solid color or none at all over the edge.

Key Features:
- Light, portable, and compact design for home or office use
- Precise paper cutting @ 4 to 6 sheets/min (depending on paper thickness) enables making hundreds of quality business cards in a few minutes
- User-friendly operation
- Cut up to 300gsm paper

The shipping dimension is Length x Width x Height = 42cm x 23 cm x 18 cm. Gross weight is 3.5 Kg.

Opening the box there are two styropor block inside and another box which houses the main unit and the power adapter.

There is a nifty informative label on top:

Another important notice:

What you will see inside the box are the business card cutter, the sliding tray(stored inside the front cover of the cutter), the power adapter, operation guide and the printed paper for test cut along with some 10 pcs of blank papers.

The body is all made up of hard plastic.

Next time, I will post on the operation of this machine. Thanks for reading!

Searching for the print shop's "perfect" location

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:14:00 +0000

I may have found the "perfect" location for our start up print shop business. Since our target customers will be the MSME's(Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) young family and professionals aged 20 - 34, this location fits the bill. The Cybergate plaza is home to a handful of residential and office condominiums. I am quite familiar with the place since my Globe Telecom days. The exact location is at 2F One Gateway Place, Cybergate Plaza EDSA corner Pioneer Street Mandaluyong. Someone already had his/her foot on the two first floor spaces. Well the good thing is, there are spaces still available on the 2nd Floor.

Here are the pictures of the site:

I was taking this picture of One Gateway Plaza from the middle of the road. The shop is on the second floor.

This is the photo from the car on the road showing the street level view on the 2nd floor shop.

This is the pedestrian view on one side of the vacant commercial space of One Gateway Place across the road. My brother is taking some pictures of his own.

This is another pedestrian view on the other side of the said commercial space.

This is the exclusive stairway to the vacant 2nd Floor commercial space.

This is how it looks like when you look up while on your way up the stairway.

The view on the left from the inside. The window almost occupied the height of the commercial space.This is where the Cybergate Place 2 and Robinsons Forums are visible.

The view on the right from the inside. This is where the Pioneer Highlands or Globe Telecom Plaza, Cybergate 3 and The Legend Villas Hotel are visible.

What has led me to this location?
The new building projects a fresh image which is very much in sync with the company's projected brand

It is not saturated by competition.

The location has substantial foot traffic.

The location is near its target consumers.

The location is accessible to customers. There is adequate and safe parking space alloted. It is near Boni MRT(Metro Railway Transit) station.

Very accessible to suppliers.

There are at least five office condominiums nearby.

There are at least three residential condominiums nearby.
There is a nearby courier.

There is a mall nearby.

The area is flood-free.

Mandaluyong has one of the lowest business tax in the metro.

Personally, I like the location for our upcoming print shop business.

How about your business location? Kind enough to tell me why you chose it?

Starting a Digital Print Business

noreply@blogger.com (Mc) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:13:00 +0000

My first brush with business was when I was a kid. That time when my mom would ask me to remove her white hairs for 5cents each. During that time, my childhood want was candies. Years went on, wants have changed. I think major reason could be was my grandfather's influence to me to be a boss of my own. My fascination with printing started when I frequent the copy centers to have my classmate's notes be duplicated. I figured, I will need an investment or a fortune to start one. And the only resort I was thinking was to work out of the country to earn enough to start a business. As I was able to do that, now is the moment of truth. I am now starting a digital print business. I am actually be working with my brother who has deep sense of creativity having learned using Adobe design publishing softwares from First Academy of Computer Arts.

Knowing that we had enough to start one, I had four options, two franchises and two printer dealers. These are with no large format printers.

Franchise GB print shop

I checked the franchise for printshop. I even wrote down the questions before I went to meet the franchiser:

What are the equipments?

Answer: heat transfer equipments, desktop printer, computer, softwares

Can the satellite be converted to a full service store?

Answer: No. But the satellite store can resell services offered by the full service store like large format printing, riso printing, picture printing, etc.

Post opening assistance?

Answer: The franchiser will monitor the sales once a week

Where is the training going to be held?

Answer: The training is going to be held in the nearest full service store.

What are the products for personalized printing?

Tshirts, caps, button pins, PVC ID cards

How many service crews?

Only two for the satellite branch

ROI?

after 9months

How is it going to be competitive?

Open the store within malls and resell what the full service store is also selling aside from the usual products.

Where are the satellite branches?

Answer: The current satellite branches are at the provinces.

Royalty fee?

They have no royalty fee but a fixed fee per month whether you earn or not.

The guy told me that they assist in all the business requirements and that also include the location.

Franchise R printshoppe

I checked again the franchise for printshop. I even wrote down the questions before I went to meet the franchiser:

Do you offer locations?

Answer: They are offering locations suited for this business. They do marketing study prior to approving even your suggested location.

What are the equipments?

Answer: Riso, Copier, Computer, FAX machine, Scanner, blue print machine

What will be the products and services?

office forms, photocopying, scanning and fax service, design/layout service, cards, letterheads, brochures, flowcharts, business cards, certificates, banners, and other paper works.

ROI?

9months

Royalty fee?

5% per month

How many service crews?

two service crews and one financial officer going to supervise the operations and the marketing stuffs. The two service crews will be coming from their employment services company that is also belong to the same group of company. The franchisee will have to interview the candidates.

Where will the training be?

at the franchisers office.

They offer assistance on the business requirements which also include the location. They only offer this franchise per city.

Printer Dealer C

I went to their office and they showed demo for the machines they are selling. They have the printshop package and a sale to boot amounting to as much as 40% off. For the RISO printer and the Multi functional laser printer.

Printer Dealer U

Offers similar products to Dealer C. The demo was better than Printer Dealer C but no sale items.

Going down on my choices, the franchises didn't offer much transparency on their product offerings. The discussion was too general. So that's why I thought I have to start by my own. I chose Printer Dealer C.

From the marketing material of Printer Dealer C:

Why Print Shop is the right business for you?

There are neither royalties nor franchise fees to pay!
There are no special skills required to operate the machine!
It is easy to set up and can conveniently co-exist with your other business, if any.
The space requirement is minimal - 18 to 24 square meters can be sufficient.
The return on investment can be in less that one year
It can easily be expanded into a full-service printing business
The services that be offered using the machines are various
It is not just a fad, the services are needed by almost all kinds of businesses all year long
Sales are easy to monitor because of the meter counters found in the main machines
Materials used have long shelf life, so spoilage can be controlled and minimized
The potential market is vast and continuously grows each day
The business has been tried and tested by about 800 print shop owners nationwide

How about you? What business are you planning to start? Or what made you choose your business? And why?