Profit Leeches: The Business Printer Lease

In a previous post, we spoke about creating an IT Strategy that aligns with your business and its cashflow. As discussed, without a plan there can be hidden costs related to technology being used by the business workflows, leeching profits from your company. One common example of a profit leech is the giant 'has so many features that nobody uses including fax for some reason’, multifunction business printer lease.

But First Some History

Business printer leases have been around since the introduction of commercial printers in the 1950s. In the early days, leasing was the only practical option for businesses to acquire printers, as the high cost of the technology made outright purchases unaffordable for most companies.

Over the years, printer leasing evolved into a popular business model for printer manufacturers and vendors. Companies could lease printers for a set period of time, typically 2-5 years, paying a fixed monthly fee that included maintenance and support services.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the introduction of digital printing technology and the growth of the internet created a boom in printer leasing. As the demand for printing services grew, businesses needed reliable and efficient printers that could handle large volumes of work. Printer vendors responded by offering a wide range of leasing options, including full-service leases, finance leases, and operating leases.

Why Are We Still Printing?

Something that has been somewhat overlooked is why businesses print documents within their operative workflows in the first place. Until fairly recently, maybe the last 10-15 years, sufficient technology did not exist to be able to transfer full documents in a business workflow efficiently and without printing. Sure there were faxes, e-mail, FTP servers, ERPs and shared drives, but each technology complemented rather than stood to replace printing. The rise of centralized, web based applications that leverage cloud storage changed the landscape considerably. Suddenly, a small business could subscribe to a third party software to automate many of the tasks that previously necessitated high volume printing.

Take a law office for example. Between contracts, client intake forms, invoices and other assorted files that require a verified client signature, there is an almost unlimited number of pages that need to be printed on a daily basis. However, legal software that has become more widely used for operating firms, such as Clio, a firm no longer needs to print nearly as much. 

But a law firm, like many businesses, will not proactively look to remove the printer from their workflow because printing is always how it has been done. What ends up happening is that the law firm will implement the new software to accelerate the workflow, while keeping the printer in place, even if the software cannibalizes the printer’s usefulness. 

So the business keeps paying the same cost for the printer lease and maintenance, even though the actual day to day print volume has been reduced. 

How Much More Expensive Could It Be?

Depending on the printer model and lease specifics, the annual cost can be in the neighbourhood of $7,000-$8,000 including maintenance and supplies, per printer. That’s not including any ‘soft costs’ related to wasted supplies, time spent operating and troubleshooting the printer, duplicating work and intangible downstream environmental costs. As a quick cost comparison, compact multifunction printer can be purchased new for roughly $600. You could conceivably purchase one of these printers every month of the year for the same annual cost as a multifunction business printer lease.

If there is no way around printing as part of a workflow, here are some things to consider:

• Why are documents being printed and are you certain it can’t be replaced by one of the business softwares?

• Do you need to print in colour all the time, or can that be outsourced to a third party service as needed? 

• Does your business need a fax machine?

• Are you using the scanning features of the business printer more than printing in high volume?

  If you’re scanning more frequently than printing, it would make more sense to invest in a high speed scanner and a separate high speed laser printer than a single multi-function printer. 

• Who is actually printing documents in the office and do they physically sit near each other and in proximity to the printer?

  If not, it could be cheaper to purchase multiple smaller retail printers and set them up at separate workstations. 

We Can Help

As a small business owner, you might think that leasing a printer is the easiest and most cost-effective solution, but that's not always the case. Because of available technology that provide alternatives to printing in an internal business workflow, printing should be looked at as a component of the IT strategy, not viewed automatically as critical.

Ultimately, depending on the specific business case, removing your business printer lease is a good way to free up cash flow while making your company more efficient. If you’re unsure of how your business can go about reducing or eliminating your printing expenses, contact us and we’ll be happy to help.