In this current economic climate, most businesses are looking for ways to bring down their costs wherever possible. The market is competitive and every penny saved can make a difference. Printing is one of the areas where a lot of businesses can save money. It is not just the cost of the ink and paper that you have to worry about; you also need to account for filing costs and storage and many other aspects. The good news is that there are some very simple and easy ways that you can use for reducing printing costs. Find out what they are below:
- Select an economical printer
It is easy to select a printer from the top brands that’s advertised to have a ton of features. But, you need to consider the needs of your business when choosing a printer and not the brand name. If you don’t require a printer with lots of features, buying a branded one would be a waste of money. In addition, before you start your search for printers, you should find out which one has the cheapest ink cartridges. You should also check to see if you can purchase high capacity cartridges. Lastly, consider whether you need a color printer or a black and white one would do. When you have these facts in mind, choosing a printer becomes a lot easier.
- Match the printing quality and the paper quality
If you are not getting a laser inkjet printer, there is no point in spending money on the highest quality of paper available. You can find printing paper in a variety of grades and even paper of mediocre quality is adequate for everyday printing. Plus, it is also a lot less costly.
- Maintain control printing access
It is highly likely that every organization has a couple of staff members who use the office printer for their personal printing needs. You may not have a problem with this when it is just small documents, but your printer supplies can run out very fast if they use it for bigger projects. Instead of letting this continue, it is better to control printer access. You can also place limits on the amount of pages or documents that can be printed on a daily basis. It is also recommended that you raise awareness in the office about the cost of printing supplies so there is less personal use.
- Change your printing habits
Finally, you should also pay attention to the way your employees are printing. Encourage your staff to use the print preview option before printing a document to ensure it is how you want it to be. In this way, they can eliminate any extra text that’s not required. Likewise, wherever possible, it is also recommended that you opt for a smaller font so that it is possible to fit more text on a single page. It is also possible to print on both sides of the paper or print in draft mode. All of these help in lowering company costs.
Contributed by Shiraz Kahn