Editor's Focus

Even entrepreneurs, though, face the critical task of deciding when industry trends can be ignored or countered (should that be the business owner’s wish) and when they are tantamount to irresistible forces of nature.

In the relatively young and fast-changing document destruction industry, separating temporary fads from longer-term trends can be a tricky business. As document destruction business owners prepare for a new year of challenges, they must make several such decisions.

Certainly, those competing in markets where shredder operators see offering the lowest price as their key to gaining market share face a critical decision: To what extent should they lower their own prices to compete for cost-conscious customers?

Secure shredding operators have adopted different answers to this question, with some believing that offering security and reliable service that outshines the competition will allow them to charge a higher rate. Many others, though, believe the operating efficiencies that come with a higher volume of business are important enough and significant enough to merit restructuring their customer rates downward to compete for any and all business opportunities.

Somewhat related to this decision is another concerning the extent of capital investment to undertake. Manufacturers of shredding equipment, shredding trucks and other equipment vital to the industry are producing new models with higher output. Business owners must weigh how much capital to invest and how to do it in a way that provides a suitable return on investment.

Using the most productive equipment available would seem to be reacting to a trend that cannot be countered, but figuring out exactly when to make the leap to buy a shredder or truck that will pay off in both the short-term and the long-term (and not become quickly obsolete) can be an agonizing decision.

Beyond profitability, business owners and managers also must decide which opportunities merit consideration. For secure destruction professionals, how to approach the electronic information sector is one such decision.

A story in this issue of SDB magazine offers one electronics recycler’s view of a possible approach to the secure handling of computer hard drives. Other stories in this issue look at route planning and purchasing considerations for shredder trucks—further areas of decision-making for our readers.

As a trade magazine publisher, we are merely observers of the emergence of trends and decisions that confront our readers. It is our hope, though, that by talking to industry professionals and industry suppliers we can present information that can help readers make more informed decisions.