Don’t think you need a printer for your small company? Think again. We’d all like to believe that we are on the verge of a paperless society. After all, we can easily create our important documents on our smart phones, tablets and PCS and then store them in the cloud. We can then send these documents to clients. There’s no need for printing them out, right? Not quite. Quite a few of your clients will still require hard-copy documents detailing your transactions . These clients might not be tech-savvy enough to adjust to paperless business. Or they refuse to go paperless. Whatever the reason, they want printouts. If you don’t present them, you’ll lose their business.
Can’t turn away business
That’s because some of the clients with which you’ll deal still haven’t gone paperless themselves. They’re either reluctant or not able to transition to a paperless system. If you want to keep their business, you’ll have to supply them with printouts listing your transactions . Fortunately, there are still plenty of high-quality business printers on the market today. Writer Paul Mah, with Small Business Computing.com, offers several tips on finding the right one for your business.
All-in-one?
First, you should decide if you require a multi-function printer. Such printers, as their name suggests, do more than just print. In addition they scan, photocopy and fax. Such printers make sense for businesses that perform these other functions. But these printers, because of their many functions, are often more expensive. If your business rarely faxes or makes photocopies, a machine dedicated solely to printing might make more sense.
Laser vs. Inkjet
Next, you need to decide whether an inkjet printer or laser printer is the best decision for your business. Inkjet printers are usually cheaper than laser printers. As Mah writes, you can often pick up a good inkjet printer in the $100 range. Moreover, inkjet technology has improved. Today’s top inkjet printers create clear and crisp documents. On the downside, if your business does a lot of printing, you’ll be replacing those inkjet heads often. That can boost the price of one of these printers. Inkjet printers can be messy; their printheads clog if they are not used often enough. As Mah writes, laser printers are generally considered to be of higher quality. It’s true that these printers create documents that look especially neat and vibrant. The downside? Laser printers are not cheap. You will also have to take a detailed look at the types of printing that your small business does. Are you going to be printing out lots of documents? Then you might wish to invest in a printer that’s sturdier. Are you looking to print in color? Then you will want a printer that either uses several cartridges or a single-cartridge system to produce both black and color ink.