Lindley owns Denver Bookbinding, which binds and rebinds textbooks and periodicals. In August, the rush of textbooks was on, and business was a bit brighter. But that dropped off, and by October, hours were being trimmed to retain staff.
This year was a wild bronco ride, with ups and downs, twists and turns, and we have gotten thrown off a few times.
Good thing we can brush the dust off.
We had a good yearbook season in the spring, which transitioned into a decent textbook season in the summer.
But October went flat. We had to sacrifice more than I anticipated. We cut hours so that no one had to lose their job — this is a big move for them to help shoulder that burden. The staff knows why things are slow, but they also know we will be in a better position than most in a few months.
It has been a struggle to preserve jobs, but I am grateful my staff has been flexible in riding it out with us until spring 2010. It is worrisome to try to balance wages to inventory needs, workload to marketing. It all costs money.
Among the worst moments this year was when some of our equipment needed to be replaced. Some of it is more than 100 years old and works fine, but some less than 5 years old needed to be replaced. Having to wait to get parts or remanufacture parts cut into precious production time.
On the upside, we have been able to help families grant a dying wish to a loved one — such as having a Bible re-bound or a childhood book refurbished. The gratefulness expressed by these folks is rewarding.
As for the outlook in the coming year, I am not one to wish away time, but I am this year. Our connection with the yearbook publisher and our joint marketing has brought in new contracts for the spring. The on-demand printing and binding for small runs — from one to 100 books — is growing nationally.
I also hope we can get a health plan that does not do more harm to small business than its intent to help. I dread more small businesses having to close their doors because of the bad economy or because they cannot get access to credit.
