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Q: Should I purchase or lease equipment?
A: Determine your business needs before making the decision. It is better to lease if the cost of the equipment is more than $5,000, even if you only lease for one year, or no more than 36 months. Leasing is beneficial because you have the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade before the lease expires. Once you purchase, you own the equipment; and other than having a maintenance contract with the dealership, the dealer is not interested in your problems.
Q: Do I need an equipment maintenance contract?
A: The answer to this is subjective. Once you have determined your comfortability level, here are a few guidelines:
- Don’t include the maintenance with your lease because you will waive the 90-day warranty.
- Don’t include telephone instruments with a telephone system service agreement.
- Make sure the number of copies on your copier service agreement covers 12 months rather than per month. If you don’t reach the per month plateau the shortage is not carried over to the next month, but if you make more copies during the month you will pay additional for the overage.
- Have your shortage/overage calculated and billed on a quarterly basis.
Q: Do I need extra insurance coverage on my office equipment leases?
A: Most companies have liability insurance. Leasing companies will automatically add insurance coverage to your lease payment. In order to avoid this and still be covered you need to do the following 2 things:
- Advise your insurance broker of the new equipment so it can be added to your policy,
- Send a copy of the COI (Certificate of Insurance) issued by the broker to the leasing company. Pitney Bowes lists their insurance coverage on the invoice as ValueMax.
Q: Are generic products as good as brand names?
A: Usually they are because most brand name manufacturers make the generic brands. (Examples: 3M makes Scotch and Highland brand tape)
Q: How do I select a telecom carrier?
A: The answer to this is very complicated, but there are a couple of guidelines to consider:
- Don’t be sold on getting a T-1 line unless your overall telecom expenses are at least $3,000 per month. This includes voice and data usage.
- Be sure your carrier is offering 6-second increment billing.
- Consider working with a telecom broker rather than directly with the primary carrier. Brokers have contractual agreements with many carriers and can usually get you a lower rate.
Q: How can I reduce my printing costs?
A: One way is to order business cards in quantity rather than one at a time, which can be very costly. When you get a new employee, or someone’s position changes, you should circulate an e-mail asking “who is low on business cards.” Establish a minimum quantity, perhaps 50 or 100 and ask those people to reorder. Your printer should give you a lower price for ordering 4 or 8 cards at the same time. If your business cards have more than 1 color you may want to consider having a master printing of 10M, or more, of the logo. This means you will pay less when printing the name, title and/or address on the card.
Q: How can I lower my messenger service costs?
A: Depending on the city in which you live, most courier services rates vary based on the point of pick up to its destination. Evaluate where you have most of your deliveries and negotiate a flat rate for the entire region that is deliverable by foot or public transportation.
Q: Why are my shipping costs so high?
A: Competition is very high between Federal Express, UPS and DHL now that they all offer all 3 services, Overnight, Ground and International. Regardless of who you use, have each of the carriers submit a proposal based on your overall shipping patterns and revenue. Make sure they take into consideration all the services that you use. |
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"Business owners or executives are presumably spending all hours of a day running his/her business. Since companies are constantly looking for new clients, and trying to keep current ones happy; they might not have the time to spend shopping for lower prices. Additionally, the office manager probably wears several hats. He or she is likely getting calls from suppliers and may not have the time or expertise to sift through all the offers," said Kahn.
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