The modern office requires a variety of differing kinds of stationary. They are essentials for everyday business, without stationary the everyday activities of an average business day would be quite challenging. This is the reason for stationary receiving such a large percentage of the office’s budget. Offices need to start thinking green; it’s not only about saving money but being environmentally friendly. The following article suggests three ways that your business can save money when it comes to stationary.
Buy in bulk and save
Most businesses can apply for an office discount because of the sheer volume they need. It’s time to clean out the cupboards so you can stock up. This will also allow you to save on freight. Don’t wait til you run out, this will leave you with no time to look for competitive offers and also leave you stranded with stationary for a week. This could mean that whilst waiting for your delivery to arrive you will then need to make emergency dashes to the store. This is why it’s always best to be prepared. This will mean you will save on the delivery. All you need to know is keep count of your stock, know your offices usage patterns, planning ahead and encouraging your team to take notice of what supplies are starting to take notice. You can either have an automatic ordering system every month or just place an order whenever you feel it’s necessary.
Printing
Remanufactured cartridges reduce land fill and save up to 30% off the cost of new toner. You can take your old cartridges to be recycled. Make your ink last longer by changing your printing settings to fast-draft and grey scale. These settings will reduce ink usage on documents when you don’t need it to be high quality. Another way to save money on printing is to simply use less paper. It’s as simple as Proof read your documents before printing, double-side print where appropriate and keep a scrap paper pile near the printer for note pages. Create your own scribble pads to keep by the phone with scrap paper that’s been printed on one side only. Then recycle or shred your discarded paper as loose packing fill. Another way is to sign up to deals and offer from online retailers such as Vistaprint for your business card printing, who allows you to try 250 business card prints for free.
Recycle and share
You don’t always need new products. Newer is not always better. You can always reuse. The stationery cupboard should have a designated area for supplies that other staff have decided they no longer need. This will encourage your staff to reconsider before disposing of an item and also encourage sharing.
Written by Jasmine Poole
Jasmine runs a business consultancy firm. She specialises in finding cost-cutting measures for small businesses without compromising on productivity.