5 Things Every Start-Up Should Know Before Buying a Printer

Buying a printer may seem like a minor decision, and when you are starting up a business it is often one of the first things bought without much research, when that initial purchase is made you don’t think about how much it is going to cost you in the long term and decisions tend to get made based upon whatever is in stock or looks the cheapest online.

But if you do put a little thought into it, it can be one less thing to think about; those quick-fire decisions can leave you with a machine that is too small, too expensive to run, or already out of date by the time your team grows.

One thing worth pointing out, though, is that most start-ups assume the choice is between buying a standalone printer outright and doing without one. In reality, there is a third option that often gets overlooked, a managed print contract, and it’s usually the better fit for a growing business.

Here’s what we think you should know before you decide.

1. The purchase price is the smallest number you will pay

A low-cost printer will not end up being cheap. When you factor in toner, maintenance, and replacement parts, the sums can add up fast, often costing more over a few months than the machine itself did on day one. Some lower-cost printers use cartridges that need replacing every few hundred pages, which sounds fine until you’re reordering consumables every other week.

Before buying, look for the total cost per page, not just the sticker price. This is the number that actually tells you what you’re signing up for. Two printers that look identical on the shelf can end up tens of pounds apart per thousand pages once running costs are factored in, and that gap only grows as your team grows.

This is also where the maths starts to tip toward a different way of buying altogether, which is worth understanding before you commit to owning a machine outright.

2. Buy for where you’re going, not where you are

Start-ups grow in bursts, not straight lines. A printer that’s perfectly sized for five people can’t cope under the weight of fifteen and will slow down, jam more often, or simply not be built for the volume you’re now putting through it.

Think about where the business might be in 12 to 18 months, not just today’s headcount and check how easily the machine (or the contract attached to it) can change as you grow, can it be upgraded without penalty? Can you add a second device or increase print volumes if you need to?

These questions matter more once you’re already committed, and they are far easier to answer favourably if you haven’t bought a fixed asset outright.

3. Managed print contracts aren’t just for big businesses

This is the one most start-ups get wrong, usually because they didn’t know it was an option – a managed print contract (sometimes called Managed Print Services, or MPS) is an agreement where a provider supplies the printer, keeps it stocked with toner, monitors it, services it, and replaces it when needed, all for a predictable monthly cost based on usage. It’s the kind of arrangement people assume is reserved for large businesses with large teams, but it really isn’t.

For a small or growing business, it solves a specific set of problems that buying outright doesn’t. There’s no big upfront cost tying up cash you’d rather put into something else and there is no one on your team having to remember to reorder toner, troubleshoot a jam, or chase a warranty claim; the provider handles all of that, often before you’ve even noticed there’s a problem, since most agreements include remote monitoring that flags low toner or a fault automatically. And because the contract is based on usage rather than a fixed asset, it scales naturally as your printing needs change, without you having to renegotiate from scratch or sell old equipment.

A managed contract typically bundles everything- the machine, the consumables, the servicing- into one predictable monthly figure. This makes budgeting far simpler than juggling separate invoices for toner, repairs, and the printer itself, and it removes the risk of unexpected costs coming at the worst possible moment.

The instinct to buy outright usually comes from thinking of a printer the same way you’d think of a laptop, something you own once and use until it dies. Print volumes, team sizes, and business needs change far more often than that model accounts for. A managed contract is built around that reality rather than against it.

4. Printing and going digital aren’t opposites

There’s a common assumption that ‘modern’ businesses should be paperless, and that printing is somehow old-fashioned. In practice, most growing businesses end up somewhere in the middle, printing what really needs to be printed, and digitising what doesn’t.

Contracts, signed agreements, and some client-facing documents often still work best on paper, whereas invoices, approvals, and internal workflows usually don’t. The smartest approach isn’t choosing a side; it’s finding the right format for the right document and making sure your printer and digital systems work together rather than against each other.

This is where a lot of start-ups trip up in buying a printer in isolation, then bolting on digital tools later without checking that the two work together. It’s definitely worth asking upfront whether your printer or print provider can support scanning into digital workflows, not just putting ink on paper.

A good managed print provider should be able to talk to you about both sides of that without pushing you towards one or the other.

5. Support matters more than specs

Printer specs often talk about speed, resolution, and pages-per-minute, but in reality what you care about is how quickly someone answers the phone when the printer jams on a Friday afternoon and you have got client documents due.

Before buying, ask about response times, whether support is local or outsourced, and what actually happens when something breaks. A slightly slower printer with reliable, fast support will save you far more time than a faster one that leaves you waiting two days for an engineer.

This is another area where managed contracts tend to have the edge; support and servicing are usually built into the agreement from day one, rather than something you have to think about separately once the machine is already on your desk.

A printer isn’t a one-off purchase; it is infrastructure just like your broadband or your accounting software. For most growing businesses, it does make sense to consider a managed print contract rather than an outright purchase, as it offers predictable costs, less admin, and a setup that flexes as the business does, without the upfront outlay.

This doesn’t have to be complicated; it just needs fifteen minutes of proper thought before the decision gets made for you by whoever’s nearest the laptop at the time.

Do you want a second opinion before you buy? We are always more than happy to talk through what makes sense for your team, volume, and budget. Contact us here, and one of our team will be in touch.