By Ed Avis
Growth in the reprographics business can be tough to find these days. Steve Wakefield, owner of APDSP member Springfield Reprographics in Springfield, Illinois, is expanding his business the way big Wall Street firms sometimes do: by acquiring related businesses.
“We’d rather have some organic growth as well, but traditional reprographics is not growing well,” Wakefield says. “I read a magazine article a number of years ago that said when your core business is not what it should be, you should pivot to something that works. I feel like that’s what we’ve done.”
Wakefield’s first pivot came about three years ago, when his accountant mentioned that another client of his – a toner supply company – was seeking a buyer. Wakefield and the owner of that company met and quickly came to terms.
The acquisition has been successful. Wakefield was able to trim some overhead costs
Steve Wakefield
by combining the businesses, and nearly all of the company’s existing clients continued as clients after the sale. He brought along one employee who knew the industry and customer base well.
Wakefield’s next acquisition occurred in November 2016. He had been renting space to a business called All About Signs for a couple of years, and the owner of that business wanted to sell. They made a deal, and All About Signs was integrated into Springfield Reprographics, introducing a new batch of customers and a new market segment.
But Wakefield wasn’t finished. One day last year a former employee of another local sign company, Xtrem Graphix Solutions, told him that that firm was undergoing some changes and may be available.
“I said, ‘Let’s approach them and see what happens,’” Wakefield remembers. “It turns out the husband of the lady who was running the business had accepted a job offer in southern Minnesota, so they were looking for someone to take over.”
They came to an agreement, and in December the deal closed. In addition to two employees, the sale came with a latex printer, a cutter, a cold-lam laminator, a truck and trailer, a scissor-lift, ladders, and other sign equipment. To make room, the company has been moving equipment around. They’ve also been painting the walls and floors during the process.
“And we’re busy on top of it, during a normally slow season,” Wakefield adds.
The previous owner of Xtrem Graphix, Jeryn Meister, has been helping during the transition, Wakefield says. She met with Xtrem Graphix’s top five customers to let them know what was happening. In addition, Wakefield sent postcards and an email blast to the existing clients in hopes of keeping them as clients.
Wakefield also owns Central Illinois Planroom Service, which is a document clearinghouse for construction projects. He started the business in 2010, and uses ReproConnect software to manage the projects.
Wakefield’s next move may be into job site technology. He attended the APDSP convention in New Orleans in October, which featured Job Site University, and he plans to speak with some of his construction clients to see which of those types of services they may be interested in (learn more about what was discussed at Job Site University by clicking here).
For the time being, he is not pursuing any other acquisitions, but that could change.
“We have room to expand our operation, so if something comes up and it makes sense, we’ll look at it,” he says. “I’m more than willing to pivot again.”