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Clearly it’s a massive generalisation, but it is often cited that the level of strategic business planning across the print industry is pretty poor, especially when compared to other industries.

In our defence, our industry is probably unique (in the manufacturing sector at least), in that the vast majority of firms are owner-managed – which means finding the time, let alone the financial resources, to conduct a strategic review is tough.

Assuming that hiring a consultant is a non-starter, what do you do? After all, having the ability to ‘step back’ and impartially review your own business is about as likely as being able to take a week’s holiday guilt-free.

But there is free advice out there: it could be from a bank (a rival of your current bank is the best bet as, in an effort to win your business, I’m sure they’ll very helpfully look over a strategic business plan); equally, many advisers (thanks to government funding) offer a free consultation for your business, and if you’re a member of an industry body or the British Chamber of Commerce, they might also offer assistance gratis, or at least point you in the direction of someone that can.

And with the tax year drawing to a close, anecdotal evidence suggesting that print prices are finally starting to rise and this week’s announcement of the proposed BPIF/Unite annual pay deal, in theory it’s the perfect time to review your operation.

And on the subject of the latter, as this page went to press, opinion was split on the printweek.com poll on whether the pay award was fair.

Twice the number of employers thought it was reasonable against those that thought it inadequate – a statistic mirrored (and by mirrored I mean reversed) by employees, with twice as many thinking it fell short. Funny that.

Darryl Danielli is editor of PrintWeek.