From personal experience as a shop owner, as well as working with other shops as a consultant, here’s what I’ve found to be a reality: most decorator shops are flying blind when it comes to their finances. They confuse being busy with being profitable, mistake gross revenue for actual earnings, and treat financial planning like an optional luxury rather than the business survival tool it actually is.
While they’re scrambling to fill orders and keep the presses running, successful shops are already mapping out a 2026 financial strategy.
I started my first company, a screen-printing shop, in 2008 without borrowing money or bringing on partners. Yet it took me years to understand the critical importance of building strong financial systems. Once I shifted focus to creating company-wide systems anchored by strong financial management, everything changed.
Seventeen years later, in March 2025, my company was acquired. Not as an asset sale or equipment liquidation, but as a complete business acquisition. The difference came down to evolving from a reactive operator into a proactive owner.
Shops that thrive and those that barely survive have one differentiator. It isn’t luck or location. It’s the discipline to plan ahead and the courage to face their numbers head-on. Starting your 2026 financial planning now paves the way for sustainable growth long-term.
Read the full article on Apparelist, a publication of PRINTING United Alliance, ASI’s strategic partner.
