How To Rent A Business Printer

• Printers come in different shapes and sizes, with different features. Running costs are generally less, the higher-level printing solution you chose. Thus, it becomes extremely important to understand what your current and future printing requirements are, and how a rental agreement could save on user monthly overall cost of ownership.
• Whether Small home office users or large corporates, using anything from a ream of paper and more per month, will start to incur high printing costs and therefore requires a well thought-out, cost-effective solution.
• In this post we’ll explain why “Business Printer “selection is important, and how to select a cost-effective solution that saves time, money and is user-friendly.

At What Stage Does A Business Printer Become Necessary?

A Business Printer becomes a viable option as soon as the printing demand increases costs, and speed efficiency starts to become a concern in the business environment. This could happen to a single-user business or a 500-user business.

How To Select A Cost-Effective Business Printer Solution.

Some basic key questions to ask when acquiring a business printer

1. What Am I printing?
   Am I printing standard office documents or specific pantone graphics printing? Most of the time this may just fall into general office printing, however any kind of scope outside of the norm requires the right configuration in order to make sure that the deliverables are adequately met. More specific printing tasks require more requirement-specific machines, and accessories that have the correct capabilities for either thicker paper or specific pantone colour printing.
2. Do I Require Colour?
   For some users, colour makes up the majority of their printing, and for others it can make up a small percentage of their printing. Knowing this ratio can assist in finding a more feasible solution. Should colour be 30 % or more, then the colour cost per page becomes extremely important. This becomes an even more important cost factor should printing volume start to exceed more than a ream per month.
3. What Volume Do I Actually Need?
   Printers are often selected based on the volume requirement. This is important so as not to end up red lining the machine in the first month, thus increasing the maintenance costs and resulting in an uncontrolled situation. A good strategy is to have a general idea of how many colour and black prints are required per month. It is interesting to note that people often choose the rental route due to the fact that running costs are less on bigger machines. It would be a good idea to not be over-utilizing a small machine, as this could easily end up being more costly. This is also why it makes sense to invest in a unit designed for growth, due to lower overall running costs.
4. What Size Do I Require?
   A proper understanding of the exact requirements regarding paper size and thickness is very important. I.E. A4 or A3, normal 80g/gsm or thicker paper ? if printing A1/A0 a Wide Format machine will be required. Getting any of these wrong, will result in either overspending, or the required specifications not being met.
5. Rental or Outright Purchase?
   If the company has a healthy cash flow, an outright purchase can make sense, however un-necessary risk could result from the after-sales service and any additional running costs. To own a printer that has high running costs is counter-productive and defeats any efficiency objectives. The inflated service costs could rather be channeled into a lower cost rental, while preserving cashflow. Having a Rental Contract that is supported by a Service Contract ensures that the service provider is held accountable, and offers the Hardware and Running costs as one Solution. These two go hand in hand when it comes to printing. Rentals are also fully tax-deductible and therefore do not appear on the balance sheet.
6. Do I Require A Service Contract ?
   Traditionally the way a service contract works is that all Consumables and Parts are included on the cost per copy basis. The service provider is able to quantify the full print cost per page, and then a monthly volume based system is charged. For example 1500 prints @ 8 cents each would generate a monthly invoice of R120,00. Should the client have required printer support or toner in any month there would be no additional charge as it has been included in the 8 cents per page. Working in this streamlined and cost-effective way, as against a “ buy as you go “ will undoubtedly result in reduced monthly printing costs.

# Tips and Reminders for Renting a Business Printer

Like most business decisions a good way to check prior to making this decision is to request customer references, and a sure way to compare apples with apples is to obtain at least one more other quote from a different supplier.

Should you decide to opt for the rental and all-inclusive service route, ask to see the contracts first, checking the pricing points carefully, comparing them to the proposal to make sure everything matches up. Check things like Contract period, Escalations, Cost per Copy and any kind of included Minimum Billing. Checking what is included and what is excluded, will ensure precise clarity for what the user will be billed for.

Key takeaways

Remember to ask these questions, bearing in mind that the requirement is often unique to each user and requires careful attention in choosing the most cost effective and efficient solution that provides value to your business, resulting in successfully achieved Business goals.