Once you have made the decision on your multi-function device to start up your business with you need to be able to manage the costs to ascertain the feasibility of your print purchase. 

The best way to do this is to keep a record of your paper purchasing, specifically for your MFD, and tally it at the end of each month.  Remembering that reams of paper contain 500 sheets it should be easy enough to record how many reams, or boxes, of paper that you have consumed.  Then, referring back to my initial Small Office/Home Office start up article, calculate your usage by the cost per print of the toner. 

A good rule of thumb is; if the cost of toner exceeds the purchase price of your print investment over the course of one month, you should consider changing your equipment.  The reason for this is that you are paying for the toner and not for an effective return on investment, which is what a print automation system should be, an investment, not just an expense.

If you are scratching your head as to how to find the yield, or amount of prints in each cartridge, you can either ask the consultant you purchase the equipment from, or the information will be on the internet.  The yield is based on a single A4 sheet of paper with 5% coverage.  If the manufacturer states 2,000 pages but you only get 1,000 pages then you are printing at 10% coverage and so on and so forth.

If you are spending more than $150 per month on printing with your initial small MFD then it is time to consider playing with bigger devices.  Don’t laugh, the amount of SOHO clients that have managed to save thousands of dollars per year is endless. Bigger solutions do, however, require a valid reason to upgrade to, such as higher usage or cost.

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