R.J. Stasieczko
Private Equity, The Imaging Channel, The Silence in the Storm
It Sure Is Quiet Out There! It almost seems as though the Imaging Channel has no hardship. It appears that everything is just fine. Who could have ever imagined that some of the mighty could fail? Who could have ever imagined that Private Equity would evacuate ahead of schedule? Who could have ever imagined that the glory of Managed Print Services would not be so glorious after all?
Just because things are quiet doesn't mean all is good. As the weather teaches us, there is the calm before the storm, and the storm is on the horizon. Over the next year as realities set in. The Imaging Channel will witness causes which hopefully will alarm its complacency. I am pretty sure most of the channel's leaders are logical and realize the feeding frenzy on the bull market of buying growth in a declining deliverable had to come to bear sooner than later.
Soon the need for scrutiny to the realities of the market will reach the ears, the minds and the hearts of Private Equity, venture capital, and yes even the independent dealer's banker. I recently went back and read some articles regarding the reasons why Private Equity decided to invest in a declining market. It seems a few bought into the hype of the expected growth of Managed Print Services. As these investors are now discovering every printer in the world will continue to print less. So, regardless of the number of devices the devices out-put will, in fact, continue declining.
Will more Private Equity look to exit ahead of schedule?
As Private Equity exits the value for those remaining will continue falling and of course, the more evacuating at the same time, the faster the falling of value. Private Equity really needs to evaluate what its end game is. I believe five or six years ago things were less clarified then they are today. Those grand visions of an industry as presented in 2015 of what 2020 would be. Are not aligning as thought and the realities of the actual market are now concerning Private Equity, and many of the industry's actors.
Who will buy from Private Equity? It seems that most of the Private Equity roll-ups are intending to sell to another Private Equity Firm. Will manufactures buy these roll-ups? As Ricoh clearly showed they have no intention of buying dealer distribution. Our friends at Sharp are currently buying dealers they obviously know a strategy Ricoh missed. Xerox is cleaning up their distribution, I don't see Xerox buying more distribution outside of something very strategic. Oh, HP well, they will more than likely buy Xerox not a dealer roll-up. Maybe it's a DEX Imaging strategy in their sale to Staples Private Equity hopes for.
So, this game of Private Equity musical chairs could prove fatal. As we are all currently witnessing, a couple of organizations in the industry struggling to sell and buried in debt. Their outcomes could be a pretty good barometer of what the future might bear.
Somewhat troublesome is when we listen to some of the visions of today describing 2025, they still see more of the same. My friends, the industry must replace their memories with their imaginations as they look toward the future. The industry must have the ability to think and respond to how the market realities are affecting the current circumstances of the print equipment and services deliverable. Those who can do this will, prosper.
The struggle will be building a sales engine which aligns with the realities of the value propositions of its customers. Today there is a massive percentage of customers whom I believe are misunderstood and out of alignment with today's sales strategies; strategies which, for the most part, have not changed in decades. The Imaging Channel must modernize its approach to the market. Since the industry's birth, they continue to sell, communicate, and service for the most part as they always have. All while the customers they sell, communicate to, and service have changed and in some cases drastically in their appreciation of the print equipment and services deliverable.
As the world prints, less the resellers must diversify, and if not, they must without a doubt have a plan to cut cost dramatically and deliver equipment and its services through an innovative approach. The industry must take the A4 opportunities seriously and develop a strategic A4 deliverable. The industry must respond to the data and stop insisting that their past can continue uninterrupted. The obsessions of A3 over the realities of A4 will be costly to those unresponsive to this shift in equipment realities.
It's time to shift shift the thinking and align with realities
Is it now time for the industry to stop getting in debt to buy growth which is declining? Yes, Instead, the industry should invest in the ability to deliver and service in a disruptive means. Invest in leadership executives from outside the industry who can inject unbiased innovation, invest in e-commerce, and updated technologies more in line with today's commerce realities. Many in the Imaging Channel are still using ERP systems-built decades ago which are useless to innovation, and many are not using data to clearly define the facts of not only their external customers their internal customers as well.
My friends' none of this will be easy. However, if the industry works together and works toward progress, all things possible become probable. No industry or its leaders want to face the wrath of progress. Instead, they strive to be the wrath of progress to those competitors who ignored market realities or misinterpreted the silence in the storm.
One thing we all know is this.
"Status Quo is the killer of all that will be invented."
Ray Stasieczko, Send an invite if you wish to connect also I welcome you to subscribe to my YouTube Channel here's the link. https://www.youtube.com/channe...A?view_as=subscriber
It’s The End Of The Day With Ray! 3rd Quarter A4 Growth
I can’t believe you don’t think I am Great!
Well, I guess if you believe you are great, what does it matter what others think?
My friends in business, the belief of your greatness matters a lot. Especially if it's out of alignment with market realities, sometimes I think organizations can fool themselves into complacency based on a false sense of their greatness. One's past greatness always has an expiration date, especially if that greatness is based on how and what they deliver to the market without adjusting as the market changes.
Let's all be realistic. The times we live in are continually modifying, and not all industries or their organizations can keep up with the speed of innovation and the changes made to business landscapes. During these times of disruptions, organizations must have the ability to analyze without prejudice the realities to what once made them great; today may have no relevant influence on their continued greatness.
No one cares if you answer the phone quickly when they rather communicate on online, no one cares of your storefront if they get what they need delivered, no one cares for your real person handshake if they prefer to have a mouse in their hand to click buy now.
Today there are billions of dollars in commerce changing hands minus many of the business processes which once made organizations great.
Does your corporate culture put past greatness ahead of relevance?
I believe that many organizations mistakenly inject their past greatness as an unwavering attribute in their culture. In other words, many organizations pigeonhole themselves based on the what and how they delivered a product or service in the past, which by today's standards probably isn't that great. Some organizations will allow their perceived greatness to get in the way of their needed reinvention. See, it's more comfortable to think back and remember what once made you great then looking forward and admitting your past is irrelevant to your future.
No industry or organization should ever base their greatness on how, or what they deliver unless they are willing to modify their deliverable to the realities of the market continually.
As we look back at those industries which disappeared, we can also remember what these industries saw as their greatness. Think about the things Blockbuster thought made them great. They thought the human interaction to help their customers pick out a movie, the venue they created for neighbors to gather were things which made them great. Blockbuster built their greatness around a human to human component.
So, doesn't building a business's greatness around a human to human component seems like an eternal safe bet? Well, those who bet yes lost. See, our friends at Netflix saw the venue of storefronts, and the need to interact with store associates as cumbersome to the realities of the market. Netflix built its greatness by providing a completely different means to the desired outcome of watching a movie at home. Netflix also continues to modify to market realities. Blockbuster was delusional to market realities.
Blockbuster thought the venue, the human interaction, and the gathering place was their customer's desired outcome. It wasn't. The customer wanted to watch a movie at home. Blockbuster went to their grave, believing their great relationships and their greatness would continue forever. The tenure of forever continues to show up and surprise the complacent.
So, now let's look at the state of the industry which delivers print equipment and its services. My friends, I see a blockbuster, and that is not describing something good. Instead, I am describing a probable disruption to a once very lucrative industry, and like Blockbuster, this industry is fighting market realities in hopes of prolonging their yesterday's greatness.
In the way, Blockbuster insisted on the relevance of its stores over the movies it provided. The imaging Channel is insisting on overselling equipment based on their desire to keep alive outdated processes. In the way, Blockbuster could not believe they had a business model without their stores the imaging channel believes they have no business model without A3 equipment. This miss- calculation will cost many in the channel their business life as the new delivery of print equipment and its services will be very disruptive to a majority of the channel.
In the way, Netflix destroyed the Blockbuster model. A4 equipment will destroy a huge percentage of the A3 model. The data proves that 80-85% of every A3 in the market could easily be an A4. This overselling insistence from the current channel players is feeding the disruptors appetite to come and deliver the market a better experience disrupting the status quo of the channel. The disruptors are figuring how to do what the old way refuses to do. The disruptors are focused on the market realities and the customers in those realities. The old way is focused on themselves and the survival of all that was good for them. The old way is ignoring the customer without regard to what's right for their customers. Like Blockbuster many in the Imaging Channel are ignoring the market realities.
The channel stills sell all customers the same; still, services all customers the same, still bills and leases all customers the same, and from this sameness will come defeat. For the innovative disruptor's will look for the majority of the market and reinvent the print deliverable. The disruptors will take away a vast majority of customers. They will focus on the 80-85% of the market, which is currently being oversold A3 equipment through outdated finance models which are far from customer-centric.
When Netflix defeated Blockbuster, I am sure there were a few folks who would instead go the store and get their movie. However, there weren't enough as Netflix went after the majority and won. My friends in the Imaging Channel the disruptors are coming after the majority of your customers. The disruptors are not interested in the dismal market share of production print. The disruptors are coming after the heart of the channel. The disruptors will deliver a different model creating new greatness for themselves and the old way's ex-customers. Dealers need to develop an A4 strategy and then be willing to disrupt themselves and the market they serve. Or, wait and be disrupted by someone bringing a new greatness to market.
So, how great are you?
A test to determine if your organization puts too much weight in past greatness. Is to ask the rank and file this. What it is that makes our organization great? When the answer is a laundry list of everything, you do that used to matter. It will be a great indicator that it is time to reinvent your greatness. However, be aware that stubbornness to admit declining relevance will feed on the businesses ego attempting to make yesterday's greatest still relevant today, and it rarely is.
"Status Quo is the killer of all that will be invented."
Humans are increasingly becoming Digital
"The human's experiences will determine where they are comfortable, and more and more humans are finding great comfort in that growing intersection between the digital and physical worlds."
Those who follow me understand my passion for what I describe as the Intersection between the Digital and Physical Worlds. Wanted to share some thoughts on that intersection.
Technology is the driving force of innovation, and innovation is the driving force enhancing life. The things accomplished by technology today have not only prolonged human life; technology has made life more enjoyable.
The intersection between the digital and physical world is always under construction, widening its lanes to accommodate more human traffic. Our interactions are conducted more and more in the digital world, creating a digital universe; a universe consuming much of the human social time once spent in the physical world.
This new universe is a remarkable place for many of its increasing visitors. Of, course it is also a place which can be threatening, misunderstood, and still seems un-comprehendible for those without technology, or those who refuse to explore the unknown.
Humans live through behaviors and behaviors can change through a forced change or an agreeable change. Will Future technologies control more of one's behaviors? I would conclude, yes. In the future technology will guide the human in ways many of today's humans would find un-comprehendible, offensive, and too controlling.
Will technology, over time, change its human companion's minds to be more accepting of its powers? Today humans control the technology relationship. However, technology is quickly gaining more control. As technology continues making life more comfortable, the human benefactors will continue to welcome more technology.
As past futures proved many things once thought disagreeable somehow became agreeable.
As the human and its technologies become closer companions, humans will concede things to technology which today are unimaginable. It's essential to welcome the opportunities to explore these new technologies and maintain open minds to what we discover. The future is closer to the present than ever in history and the powers of technology have connected the world in ways only science fiction comprehended just a decade ago.
This massive human collaborative of flowing information has changed the world. Anyone with a spark of curiosity can create flames of knowledge. The availability of educating one on any subject is unlimited. In the past Kings and Queens controlled the worlds knowledge and used that knowledge to control the world. Today knowledge is in the hands of all those who decide to explore the wonders of the intersection between the digital and physical worlds.
Those who constantly look for absolutes will miss the excitement of the unknown and the unknown is getting easier to find for those looking.
We must all remember that someday, the intersection between the digital and physical world will be traveled by all. The human and its technologies are indeed becoming more connected.
Ray Stasieczko
If you wish to connect, here on LinkedIn send an invite, and I welcome all to subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channe...A?view_as=subscriber