Yes, that's right. "Roccupy," pronounced "Rock – you – pie."
What does that mean? Is it just Rock LaManna's thinly-veiled marketing slogan designed to capitalize on a nationwide trend?

No, cynical reader, it is not. "Roccupy Wall Street" means that instead of pitching a tent in a park, you should do something that's near and dear to all the true-blooded capitalists of this great nation: Beat the 1% at their own game.

Don't decry their tactics – adopt them
I spent many years working with the 3M Company, and I watched as they employed strategic transitions like mergers and acquisitions to grow their business. Having graduated from the Harvard Business School, I learned how these strategies work and I realized they could be used by any company, regardless of its size.

The 3M Company employed the strategies because it had the resources and the expertise. So what is holding back smaller companies?
To me, it's not a lack of willingness. It's more a combination of awareness and resources.

Awareness: You don't know what you don't know – It seems like an obvious statement, but if you're a printing owner, you are so enmeshed in operating your business that you have little time to focus on your vision. A Wall Street strategy like a merger and acquisition doesn't even fall within your realm of possibility.

Resources: You can't spend what it takes to make it happen – Traditional business brokers, using the Lehman Formula, can wind up charging 5-10 percent of the EBITA for a transaction. For a small to mid-sized print-related business, that's simply too big a chunk of your hard-earned income stream. Even if you were familiar with what it takes to pull off a merger and acquisition, it's not cost-effective to pursue it.

So what can be done? The "Roccupy Wall Street" battle cry calls for two things:

Owners: Learn more about what the titans of the industry did to grow their business. Think outside the box and consider some of the more sophisticated strategies out there. Don't expect to do it all yourself, but become familiar with some of these tactics.

Vendors: Create a model to help the little guys. This is a call-out to my fellow vendors. The little guys out there need us, and there are many of them. Instead of creating a pricing structure reserved only for the 1%, offer up a hybrid service that reduces your costs while allowing the owner to assume more of the duties, a do-it-yourself approach. I've tried to do this with my S3 Solution.

The long and short of it? Instead of wishing you could be like the 3M Company and acquire a wide-format digital printing company, find out how you can initiate a merger of your own. Then find a team of vendors who will provide you with a cost effective way to make it happen.
If you want a level playing field, then you're going to have to get into the game. Come on, people. Let's Roccupy Wall Street!

Rock LaManna is a printing industry intermediary, consulting on M&A, growth plans, and succession plans. Learn more about how small to mid-sized print-related companies can take advantage growth strategies like mergers and acquisitions with Rock's 3S Solution.