Story time! The future of MX Graphics

Predicting the future is no easy task, arguably impossible. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t speculate and make some good educated guesses. There is no such time as the present, but as we move forward, the future becomes the now. This all sounds rather philosophical, but thinking ahead is important. You, the business owner, are competing with thousands of others around the world who are doing the same thing, which is creating and selling MX graphics in our case. So, you have to ask yourself the question; what can I do to get an edge over my competitor, and what does the future hold for MX graphics? You could argue that it stood still for the most part. For the past two decades or such, the industry hasn’t really evolved that much. Sure, printing has improved, knowledge has become more accessible, the internet has provided us with opportunities but also rivalry and competition, the materials have improved and designs have changed. The core product, however, is still the same; A design printed on vinyl with an adhesive backing. Will this still be the norm 10 years from now? Will it only evolve in quality and the way we manufacture them, or will it change more dramatically? It will be very difficult to become the company that creates a revolutionary product that will set the new bar for the industry, but it is worth thinking about.

For a while now, we’ve seen graphics by OEM manufacturers being embedded in the plastics themselves. I am not sure how they do it, but it looks as if they are very thin graphics (screen printed) that do not have an adhesive backing that are being laid inside the mold and are then embedded in the top layer, or perhaps it’s some kind of coating after the plastics come out of the mold. Whatever it is, it’s not something that the ‘normal’ MX graphics company is doing. So, should you? Should you become one of the first, or perhaps even the first, to start doing things differently? Will this be the future for MX graphics, will it stay the same or will it even be something completely different? Difficult to say. What I do know is that the industry at this moment is rather stagnant. If you have the best vinyls and laminates, the best printing quality and the best templates; you’ve peaked when it comes to the overall quality of your graphics (your designs will also play a role). There doesn’t seem to be a step beyond, and the issue is that a lot of companies today are at that level. You can’t really get any better and instead have to improve other things like your customer service, your designs, turnaround time, prices and blow your competitors out of the water with marketing.

So I ask again; what will the future look like? Will you stay stagnant like the rest, or are you going to be one of the few leading the charge that is going to change the landscape, leaping miles ahead in quality? Probably not, but if I can make an educated guess, going the route that the OEM manufacturers take at the moment might be a good idea. Perhaps you develop your own way of embedding graphics onto plastics. Maybe you can experiment with different printing media and have the graphics coated under a layer of epoxy, clear coat or what have you.

To be fair, you probably won’t be the one to revolutionize the industry, neither will I or most of us, really. Instead, it’s probably smarter to look at your own future and see what you can improve about yourself and your company. If you want to become one of the top dogs out there, you have to figure out what makes them good or what they are doing good. Some might not even be all that fantastic, yet they seem to dominate. This can be due to good marketing, luck or just the fact that they’ve been around for a while, but most will have a few things in common. You just have to figure out what that is and try to implement that in your own company.

I’m circling back to stuff I've already said before, but it stays relevant; look at what your competitor does right, and do the same or better. Do they have a better overlaminate? Make sure you get the same or better. Are their designs way nicer? Hire someone to make better designs or become better at it yourself. Are their templates better? Get those to or make them yourself. Are they selling overseas and are doing a lot of marketing? Perhaps you should as well. Do you lack designs and content? Make more. Standing still is moving backwards, but to move forward you have to look toward the future. Do not settle for being mediocre in any aspect of your business. Excell at what you do and always aspire to become better and to do more. For every hour you put in, someone else might put two hours in. Does your website look dated? Fix it. Is your printing quality not perfect? Perhaps you should look at getting a new printer. It is a competitive world out there and customers are not easily impressed. If you do not get their attention right away, someone else will. If they see two designs and yours is just not as nice; you lose. Don’t just follow trends but improve on them. Someone has 3D renders of their graphics, perhaps you can get a live 3D viewer or editor? it doesn’t exist yet? Invest and have it made or make it yourself. It’s difficult, it’s costly and it might not work, but if you don’t try, someone else will and you, again, will be left behind. Just try not to get complacent unless you are completely fine where you are at now. Every improvement that you can make, no matter how small, is a win. I am saying this because I see way too many people and businesses thinking that what they are doing now is good enough. They don’t see that they are falling behind and are stuck in their old ways. Update your designs, your website, don’t just show a bland picture of the design on the template, make sure people can pay with whatever payment method they prefer etc. Move with the times, that’s the only way to make it in this business.

I have been getting some messages from people saying that we ‘ruin the industry’ by teaching people how to make designs and how to set up their MX graphics business. Even selling templates seems to be evil because ‘now everyone can get their hands on templates and we create too much competition’. Honestly, if you can’t make it because of extra competition, you are doing something wrong. And no, there will never be too many MX graphics businesses. It will always remain the same. Why? Because for every business to make it, another business will fail and fade away. There cannot be too many MX graphics companies because that just cannot exist, because there are not enough people to buy graphics. It will always remain roughly the same. There is this tangible balance. When too many fade away, more will pop-up. When too many pop-up, more will go away. It just boils down to this; will you be the one to fade away, or are you here to stay?