Whilst we often in business do not think about our printing requirements, it is undeniable that printers feature so heavily. So often they are an expensive asset particularly if you own the equipment, and aging solutions can cause you trouble and money when they fail.
However, there is a silver lining to this dark cloud where your business doesn’t have to outlay the hefty cost of buying the print solutions, they need by leasing the printers you need. Don’t get confused though with renting a printer though.
Whilst renting can be a more cost effective way of obtaining the printers you need, offering flexibility in the terms of the agreement meaning you can stop renting whenever you want, that also works both ways and the company you are renting from can equally take the printers away at little or short notice. So, this can be a far riskier strategy for your business to adopt as potentially you could be left with the situation whereby you have no printers at all.
What is leasing a printer though and who does this work for?
- A lease is a contract between you and your managed print supplier. An agreement for them to supply you with the printers you need for a monthly fee.
- However, once you have that lease, it does mean that the managed print solutions company you are working with, has a commitment to ensure your equipment has high up time in exchange for a monthly fee.
- A certain service level agreement should also be in place with the lease, to ensure that your solutions are looked ager.
What are the benefits of leasing a printer?
- No hefty up-front commitment for your business, meaning you receive the equipment you need for no large massive payments.
- For smaller businesses, it helps manage your cash flow if you are not having to outlay large costs.
- Have the latest technology. By leasing your printer, means that you never need to worry about having an aging print solution.
- Be serviced! We are all aware how expensive fixing your printers are. However, if you lease your equipment, then you never need to worry about this again, as your print solutions supplier should ensure that you are fully maintained as part of their commitment to you.
- Finance made easy. Finance should be offered by your print supplier when recommending the printers, you need, so not only will you receive the equipment you need, but also to a fraction of the price.
- A service/people first approach would be to offer the flexibility that your business may need. Particularly at the end of your lease, you should have the support you need that should your circumstances change or should you need to renew or increase the number of printers you have, then your solutions provider should help you with this.
Things to think about when leasing a printer:
- Do you need colour, or black and white printer? Colour printers are obviously more expensive to lease so think about how you really use colour printers.
- What size paper do you point on? Make sure that the managed service provider you are working with understand all the sizes of paper that you require to ensure that they suggest the right printer for you.
- Do you need WIFI printing? This means that you can print anywhere anytime
- What space do you have? Make sure you have the required space for the recommended printer.
- Do you need the facility to print quickly? Printing speed is measured in pages per minute (ppm). It varies between different manufacturers but anything in the region of 20ppm is ideal for a small office that doesn’t have high volumes of printing. Anything higher than that will be suitable for medium to large offices.
- Consider what other features you need. Do you create booklets?
Should you need advice on the type of office printers your business needs, then do get in touch with Mode so that we can assist you further.
At the end of your lease, you should have the support you need that should your circumstances change or should you need to renew or increase the number of printers you have, then your solutions provider should help you with this.
