How To Save On Business Print Costs

For large businesses, it’s understandable to dismiss how the cost of printing affects your company, however for small or start-up businesses, these outgoings can be of great annoyance when money is tight.

Controlling outgoing costs is crucial to helping you reach your financial objectives, so with this being said, take a look at these nine handy tips to help your business save on printing costs:

1. Update your printer.

If your employees use your office printer very regularly, then perhaps it’s time for an upgrade.

Even though the initial cost of a high quality new printer will leave you with a setback, if you continue to use the product regularly you’re sure to notice how much money you’re saving on consumable costs.

If you invest in a cheap printer, then the likelihood is that the product will have a lower page yield, meaning that you’ll be using more ink or toner in the process. By upgrading to a more expensive model at face value, your printer’s page yield is going to be significantly higher and will cut your consumables costs over time considerably.

2. Use Manufacturer Refills.

Big name printing manufacturers are able to provide high quality consumables alongside the printers they make.

Don’t let the initial mark up prices scare you, as due to the longevity of their ink and toner cartridges these consumables are going to last a long time and you won’t have to dip into your back pocket as often for additional supplies.

By investing in branded cartridges, you will not only be benefitting from a financial perspective, but you’ll also notice the significantly high standard of printing quality compared to their non-branded equivalents.

3. Proofread your work properly.

Next time you decide against double-checking your work, just think about the time and money that could be wasted if you have to reprint due to a mistake.

Before you print anything, always try to ensure that you won’t need to do it a second time around. Wasted paper adds up, and when coupled with the waste consumables, you could be increasing your business’ bill without realising it. These mistakes are easily avoidable, and depending on the size of your botched printing job, it could set your company back a considerable amount.

4. Print in black and white.

It’s a well-known fact that black and white ink or toner costs significantly less than its colour counterpart.

Restrict yourself from using colour when printing internal documents and always remember that it’s important to only use colour when it’s needed.

A handy tip for those with a colour printer is to acknowledge that some office printers of this kind will create black ink from their colour cartridge so always make sure to change the colour mode before you print!

5. Use double-sided printing.

If your printer provides you with the option to use double sided printing, then take advantage of it immediately, as you’re effectively getting two pieces of printing paper for the price of one.

Not only does it half your outgoings on paper, but it looks very presentable from a professional standpoint.

6. Consider the font you’re using.

Something that may be unknown to many is that the type of font you use has an effect on the number of consumables you use.

According to Which.co.uk, Times New Roman at a size of 12pt is considered the cheapest font when it comes to printing. Furthermore, it can even save you up to 27% more pages than Arial!

Fonts on the cheaper end of the scale (12pt):

• Times New Roman
• Calibri
• Century Gothic

Fonts on the more expensive end of the scale (12pt):

• Verdana
• Tahoma
• Arial

7. Don’t be thrown off by low-cartridge warnings.

Are you guilty of ever changing your ink cartridges once the ‘Low Ink’ warnings appear?

Don’t jump the gun and wait it out instead, otherwise you could be throwing away a cartridge that is around 40% full!

Make sure that you only replace the old cartridge with a new one once all the ink in the former is completely exhausted. It’s best to ignore the warning and continue to print until the ink begins to fade on your printouts.

However, a low ink warning could also be appearing due to powder becoming loose in your toner cartridge, so it’s recommended that you remove it and give it a shake before starting your printing job again.

8. Buy your supplies in bulk.

Especially when you’re trying to be thrifty, the temptation may be there to not think too far ahead when buying printing supplies. Sure, it may be cheaper at face value, but buying your printing paper in bulk is going to save you more over time.

The same applies to your consumables too. Multi packs of ink can be found online and offer better prices. It’s best to take advantage of them when you can as they’ll provide you with excellent back up options.

9. Let your employees know.

It’s completely worthless to follow all these tips, if you don’t educate your employees properly about ink and paper waste.

By constantly reiterating the impact wastage has on your company’s finances, you’re not only encouraging your staff to stop wasting important office resources, but you’re giving them an even greater reason to perfect their work too!