How to Digitise Your Printing Business and Increase Profit

Many print shops still run on diary, Excel, and WhatsApp. This creates delays, errors, and lost revenue.

Digitising your printing business means moving all operations into one system. You get better control, faster work, and clear visibility.

This guide shows practical steps you can follow.

Why you should digitise your print shop

Manual systems create problems:

Orders get missed

Payments get delayed

No clear profit tracking

Too much dependency on owner

A digital system solves this.

You can:

Track every job

Monitor payments

Manage staff

See business performance daily

Step 1. Replace diary with job tracking system

Start with your core operation.

Move all orders into one system:

Customer details

Job type

Quantity

Delivery date

Track job stages:

Pending

Design

Printing

Completed

Delivered

This removes confusion and improves delivery speed.

Step 2. Digitise your billing and invoices

Stop using manual bills or Excel.

Use a simple billing system:

Create GST invoices

Save customer data

Track invoice status

This gives you:

Accurate records

Faster billing

Easy sharing with customers

Step 3. Track pending payments properly

Most print shops lose money due to poor tracking.

Create a system where you can:

See customer wise pending payments

Check invoice wise status

View ageing report

This helps you recover money faster.

Step 4. Use WhatsApp for structured communication

You already use WhatsApp. Now use it properly.

Send:

Order confirmation

Job status updates

Payment reminders

Keep messages short and consistent.

This improves customer trust and reduces follow up calls.

Step 5. Manage repeat orders efficiently

Many customers order the same job again.

Store:

Previous designs

Job details

Pricing

This allows you to:

Create orders quickly

Reduce manual work

serve customers faster

Step 6. Track your monthly cashflow

You need clear visibility.

Check monthly:

Total sales

Payments received

Pending payments

This helps you:

Plan expenses

Avoid cash shortage

Make better decisions

Step 7. Digitise employee management

Track staff properly:

Attendance

Work assigned

Salary

This reduces disputes and improves productivity.

Step 8. Store artwork and file references

Print shops deal with large files.

Do not upload everything online.

Instead:

Store file path

Link it with job

Access in one click

This saves time and avoids file loss.

Step 9. Use one dashboard for full control

Bring everything together:

Orders

Payments

Staff

Revenue

This gives you a daily view of your business.

You can act faster and avoid problems.

Common mistakes to avoid

Trying to digitise everything at once

Using too many tools

Not training staff

Not updating data regularly

Start simple. Build step by step.

Simple plan to start

Follow this order:

Job tracking

Billing system

Payment tracking

WhatsApp reminders

Reports

Within 30 days, your business will become structured.

Example outcome

A small print shop moved from diary to a digital system.

Results in 2 months:

Orders managed without confusion

Payment recovery improved

Time saved daily

Better customer experience

Consistency brings results.

Use a simple system built for print shops

You do not need complex software.

Use a tool designed for printing businesses where you can:

Track jobs

Generate invoices

Monitor payments

Send reminders

View reports

Start with a free plan and upgrade when needed.

Final takeaway

Digitising your printing business is not optional.

If you stay manual:

You lose time

You lose money

You cannot scale

If you move to a system:

You gain control

You improve cashflow

You grow faster