City printers choose partnership to ride new market storms

Design One Limited chief executive Victoria Joseph at her printing press in Nairobi on December 13. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU 

By MWIKALI LATI, mwikalilati@gmail.com

In Summary

• Entrepreneur overcomes start-up challenges to thrive in competitive printing and e-commerce business.

It is Saturday, and many businesses on Kweria Road, off the busy Kirinyiga Road in Nairobi are closed for the weekend.

But from the ground floor of a two-storey building, a strong smell of ink confronts one’s nostrils from a distance.

Inside, two workers are putting together pages of a calendar on a large wooden table.

“For us there are no Saturdays or Sundays because deadlines have to be met. Nights are even the best time,” says Victoria Joseph, CEO of Design One.

Ms Joseph and Noor Mohmud, the Graphic Lineups managing director, entered a strategic partnership in March to offer their clients printing solutions under one roof. They merged their machinery and staff — now more than 60 in number — to boost their business.

“Our market has also gone digital. The current volumes have gone down. Some companies used to do 100,000 calendars, but now they have reduced (orders) to explore other digital avenues,” she says.

One of the reasons for this change is the high cost of paper. The raw material accounts for almost 60 per cent of the total expense of the final product, she says.

The two firms have been working well and complement each other. Ms Joseph loves marketing while Mr Mohmud has a passion for production, which he has been doing over the past 15 years.

The arrangement has created additional time for Ms Joseph to focus on running the company’s Hurlingham Park office to meet the growing demand for quick and low-volume print jobs that are produced within 24 hours.

She is also able to manage her new business, an e-commerce website that allows people to design their own cards, company profile, logos, cards, calendars, banners, envelops, letterheads and newsletters.

“We are giving you 24-hour access to printing services online, we have put up free templates for you to design and have an input in designs or artworks as well as upload your own,” says Ms Joseph.

“Once you are done, we just print and deliver to your doorstep. Anything that can be printed on paper, we can do.”

Another advantage of this approach is that once the artwork is done, it is saved for any future orders or changes. Since its launch three months ago, the website receives an average of 7,000 clicks and 2,500 users monthly.

Ms Joseph admits that running a printing press can be demanding.

“It is very involving. Sometimes the deadlines are very tight and have to work throughout the night.