Shop Crouser Guides / Price Advisories
- Small Offset Guide (Printed) $385 year plus $30 shipping for one year subscription. The original Crouser Small Press Offset Pricing Guide in printed form is still available! First published in 1989 and updated yearly ever since. Be competitive in both the low runs (where you get more $ per unit) and longer runs where you can be competitive with larger presses without giving your profit away. Also included are estimating standards for different stocks (set-up and run times) that you may use in establishing your price curves in automated estimating systems such as EFI PrintSmith Vision. No other printing price guide shows the amount of time that is estimated in different press runs. All this and more!
- Small Offset Guide (Software) $325 annual subscription. Software for Windows or Mac or both. Lookup our values or print your own price pages and create your own price book from the convenience of your computer. Or use the program to estimate prices. Bookmark favorite pages and name them anything you want (i.e. Special Customer Pricing). Print the bookmarked pages or flick to them quickly within the program. Plus much more.
- Digital Printing Guide (Software) $325 annual subscription. View and/or print our latest prices for digital duplicators and presses. Includes Digital Envelope section. Use this industry standard pricing to compete in your marketplace. There is no printed version of this guide as it contains the equivalent of over 13,000 printed pages yet flick from one price to another almost instantly.
- Combo: Offset and Digital Software Save $138! – only $512 per year for both Offset and Digital! Small Press Offset Guide (software for Mac or Windows or both at same price) and Digital Press Printing Guide (software for Mac or Windows or both at same price).
- PrintSmith Plug In for Vision only
Crouser Offset Price Plug In for PrintSmith Vision $575 year subscription. Digital Delivery. This EFI PrintSmith Vision plug-in module (commonly referred to as CrouserSmith) that allows the user to look up our small offset prices while in PrintSmith Vision and use them in estimates OR use the calculated prices from the EFI PrintSmith Vision engine. Your choice. It’s a great way to check your pricing against our market pricing for added value on the fly. You may migrate from Classic to Vision at anytime without additional charge for this module. Requires EFI PrintSmith Vision to use.
- Markups: Pricing Brokered Work $50 Digital Delivery One misunderstood areas of pricing printing is markups on “brokered work,” or work purchased from an outside vendor and resold. Frequently I find a flat amount of markup applied to all jobs: small dollar or large, low risk or high risk and, most importantly, the factor itself is often too low. Provides Recommended Markups (typical, high and minimum) for Low Cost ($200 or less), Medium Cost ($200 to $1,000) and High Cost ($1,000 plus) items. This price advisory addresses these issues and more.
- Pricing Dynamic QR Codes $40 – Digital Download. While static QR Codes are often seen as just another piece of art work and not chargeable, creating Dynamic QR Codes requires you to not only provide an on-going service, but to subscribe to a service yourself. So how do you price for that? Here’s how. Report also includes appendices on: QR Code Basics; Creating Dynamic QR Codes; QR Code’s Function in Marketing; and Negotiating Points in selling Dynamic QR Codes.
- “Oldies But Goodies” Price Advisories/Reports From $0 FREE to $20. Digital Delivery. Click on title to view these “out of date but not out of relevance” advisories containing pertinent information on subjects even if the values could be a little dated. Priced appropriately. Includes 2012 Product/Service Trend Report as well as Price Advisories on Scanbacks; Email Broadcasting; Websites; UV Coating; QR Codes; and Laminating.
Shop Cheap Advice
- What They Don’t Tell You About Pay “Gotchas” – Issues in Pay – $30 Digital Delivery – When you hire an employee, it’s assumed you know the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Tom Crouser reveals the most common “gotchas” he has seen over the last 30 years as well answers the most common questions owners have about payroll in our kinds of shops.
- Transitioning the Family Business – A Guide for Parents – $50 Digital Delivery – If your goal is to transition ownership of your business to a son, daughter or even a trusted employee while retiring with an income; then you should read this report now, while you have time to do something about it. That is, if you want to transition while keeping the business, the family and our own self-worth intact. Tom Crouser has been helping business families transition for nearly thirty years now, and in this one report he gives details of the process.
- Confidentiality Agreement Business Sale – $30 Digital Delivery – Sample Confidentiality Agreement is for the business seller to have signed by a prospect before disclosing information to the buyer. This is a SAMPLE to help you understand what should be included. Have your attorney review your specifics and customize to the laws in your state.
- Trade Customs vs. Terms and Conditions of Sale – $0 FREE Digital Delivery. Terms and Conditions of Sale is what we need. Trade customs do us little good in a legal dispute with a customer, as they are typically the last things a court looks to in settling a commercial dispute. And even then, they will them as a guide, not as gospel. Even verbal contracts (printer said he would give me the files) often supersede trade customs as a basis for a settlement. Far more important to us is to convert these to the terms and conditions of a specific sale (the contract). Here’s how. 6 pages.
- Vendor Non-Compete Non-Disclosure Sample Agreement $30. Digital delivery. Sample agreement between reseller (printer) and vendor (supplier) that protects reseller from vendor competing with or disclosing confidential information. This sample agreement is not intended to be legal advice.
- 4 Steps to Confront Employee’s Bad Behavior $20 Digital Delivery No one likes to confront employee’s bad behavior so we put it off until we can’t stand it anymore. Then we blow up. That results in a dysfunctional workplace and us looking like an “ole grouch.” There is a better way using the four-step SAFE model. SAY it as you see it. ASK what they will do about it. FIND a solution. EXPECT performance.
- Ergonomics Spreadsheet – $15 Digital Delivery. Enter an operator’s height into this Microsoft Excel (*.xlsx) spreadsheet and it will calculate various workstation ergonomic measurements you may use to keep the operator (typesetter, designer, computer operator) most comfortable and thus most productive. Requires Microsoft Excel to operate.
- Handling Customer Postage in Financials $50. Digital Delivery. Here’s how to handle customer postage within your financial statements so you won’t overstate your sales or expenses. There’s two main ways: using a Balance Sheet Clearing Account or using an Income Statement Clearing Account. But if you add on a markup or service fee to the postage; well, that complicates things and this report explains how to handle. Plus more.
- Chart of Accounts $50. Digital Delivery. Tom Crouser’s Chart of Accounts Manual for Small Press and Digital Printing Companies not only includes suggested Chart of Account Titles and order, but also includes Specific Account Definitions and Explanations of what goes into the various accounts.
- Increase Your Meaningful and Personal Goals $0 FREE Digital Delivery. Workbook by R. R. Hutzell, Ph.D. and Mary D. Eggert, Ph.D. designed to be a self-help process. To be able to create meaningful and personal goals, we must first understand our values. This workbook guides us through a series of paper-and-pencil exercises designed to show how to understand values and increase our personally meaningful goals. Much of “Increase Your MPGs” is based on principles of Viennese philosopher Dr. Viktor Frankl. 48 pages.
- Copyright Form $0 FREE Digital Delivery. Download this sample word.docx and make it your own. Use it when customers want you to reproduce stuff you fear may be in violation of copyright laws. Won’t guarantee you won’t be liable; but it will help. Anyway, have at it. And no, it’s not copyrighted. It’d just be too funny if that were so.
- Copyright Information: Circular 3 $0 FREE Digital Delivery. Get the straight scoop on Copyright from the man (US Copyright Office) by downloading this circular. Gives you all of the info. 6 pages.
- 10 Ways to Increase Sales without Sales Calls $50 Digital Delivery. “Selling” is the last thing many of us want to do, so we don’t. Problem is, for most of us, sales are down from last year. So Tom Crouser put together this report on 10 Ways to Increase Sales without Cold Calls. No gimmicks as these ten ways work regardless of your type of shop: digital, offset or even letterpress. Fact is, all companies should be doing them. Like what? Price Faster, not more accurately. Follow up quickly and know what to say. How to remind customers of repeating jobs. Watch three numbers every day. Ask for the sale using a non-threatening method and more …only $5 an idea.
- Why Be a C? Legal Entity Recommendation Or why be an S Corp, or an LLC or a Partnership or even a Proprietorship or any other kind of legal entity? $0 – Free – Digital Download. What difference does it make? What’s everyone else doing? Here are my thoughts on each and my recommendation.
- Time Management Portfolio $50 Digital Delivery. Tools and explanation describing the real problem which is “interruptions.” This portfolio includes my most excellent explanation along with the CPrint® Weekly Time Planner (customizable to your needs in an Excel.xlsx format) as well as a sample time planner illustrating the time plan for the small shop owner who is everything: production manager, sales manager and finance guy. Doesn’t get more complex than that. And, also included, is a recommended Time Log (TimeLog.xlsx) should you wish to use it. It’s one of the easiest ways for anyone to keep track of their time along with a sample illustrating how to use it. Everything to get your handle on your time.
- 10 Easy Features of Major Account Program $50 Digital Delivery Major Account Program is a set of benefits or services that a major customer receives that the normal customer doesn’t. Qualification as a Major Account is based on purchases or the amount of anticipated purchases similar to a hotel or airline loyalty program, but different. This report contains 10 Easy Features that most printers provide but fail to sell in their program.
Shop Books
- Prospering: Putting the Business to Work for You and Your Family in 5 Basic Steps by Tom Crouser. $19.95 plus shipping. Paperback. One: understanding who we are and what we want. We’re not like the big guys. Two: use facts, not feelings – the financial roadmap. Three: organize around functions, not people. Four: understand how to compete on our real battleground. And five: Prospering. It’s how you ride, it’s not a destination. And one guaranteed and one probable challenge you’ll face if you do everything right and reach Prospering.
- 12 Secrets of Digital Success by John Giles. $55 plus shipping. Paperback. In this book, John outlines the 12 secrets successful printers use to make money with digital technology. When used properly, digital technology can give you a competitive advantage to increase sales and lower costs. With this book, you will learn: how to organize the shop for digital success; how to find the right digital customers; why you must have digital standards; what makes a successful website; how to develop the right employees; how to profitably price customer-created files; and much more…
Shop Training/Education
- Understanding Financials $100. Windows-based computer program (sorry no Mac version). Digital download available within 24 hours of purchase. Digital Delivery.Self-paced learning system about financial statements specifically tailored for printing companies. This unique Windows-based program contains eight easy-to-understand programs: Basic Accounting Concepts; Attest Letter; Balance Sheet; Income Statement; Statement Cash Flows; Stmt Retained Earnings and Footnotes; Depreciation; and Inventory. Sports analogies used to illustrate many points. Includes unique graphics animating many concepts. Requires Adobe Flash to view. Click title to learn more/order.
- Why We Don’t Do What We Should (Audio) $19.95 – Digital Delivery. 6 MP3 Audio Programs. Plays on any platform that supports MP3 files. Six modules include: What Should We Be Doing Anyway?; 7 Reasons We Don’t Act; Why We Burn Out; Finding What Really Drives You; Writing Your Goals So You Will Act; and Dealing with Hardcore Hesitancy. Click title to learn more/order.
Shop CPrint Services
- Estimate of Print Shop Value Buying another shop and don’t want to overpay? Or plan on retiring someday with the business as a significant part of your assets? It is for most of us. And since many of us are depending upon selling our business to retire; it makes sense to find out what it is worth now. That way we will know if we’re on track or have work to do to improve its value. Click on title to learn more/secure estimate.
- Business Performance Review – a comprehensive and confidential analysis of your business and a report designed to identify threats and solutions.
- CPrint Gold – a monthly program to help you reach your goals combining all of the services of Certified Printers International.
- CPrint Silver – If you are in the ten-year “window” of retirement, I invite you to join our panel where you will get information on these topics and more. No cost or obligation.
- CPrint Coaching – All the best athletes in the world have a coach. Work with business coaches Tom Crouser and John Giles monthly as they assist you in increasing sales, cutting costs and improving your business.
- CPrint Cash and Budgets – Three biggest problems in most businesses are cash, cash and cash. And while it may seem improbable, cash is one of the more straightforward problems to solve. Our cash analysis as well as ongoing comparison of actual versus planned helps keep any owner on the path to solving cash problems.
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