Running a business can be expensive as costs like staff, supplies, marketing, payroll and other business expenses add up quickly each month. While the primary goal of every business must always be to turn a profit, it is equally important to keep your costs in check. Your business supplies can set you back quite a bit financially every month so, naturally, it makes sense to reduce these costs where possible. However, to ensure your business continues to operate to its full potential, it’s crucial that you cut costs in the right places, without sacrificing on quality.

When it comes to keeping your business operating productively, you need a certain amount of supplies at your disposal. You need to be able to rely on the quality and standard of these supplies to ensure that both you and your employees can do your jobs effectively. If you opt for cheaper, generic supplies, you will get subpar results. The old adage of ‘you get what you pay for’ holds very true in this instance. Ultimately, if you want to put out quality, then you need quality supplies to do just that.

Continue reading to learn why opting for cheaper supplies is almost never the right way to save your business money.

The Right Impression

If you work in an office environment, you know that something as simple as exchanging your high-quality Epson ink cartridges for a generic brand can have a noticeably detrimental impact on your business. With off-brand cartridges, you run the risk of the cartridges being inefficient, wasting a lot of ink and smudging your important documents. Cheaper cartridges might save you some money but at what cost? When your clients are used to seeing crisp, clean, tidy looking prints and documents, and suddenly they are replaced by smudgy, grainy prints, they will notice the dip in quality. Any negative impression like this can have a lasting impact on your business over time.

Reliability

Quality products rarely fail. Yes, they can be a little more expensive but in the long run, these products are more durable and they last much longer than cheap imitations. Using genuine products, you can be sure that they will perform as expected when you need them to. There’s nothing worse than trying to complete a task in the office, to find that your equipment or supplies let you down. Cheaper supplies have a tendency to cause problems and so you should avoid them when possible.

Efficiency

Cheap products are great for when there really is little difference in the performance of the item. However, with technology-related supplies, for example, there is no question that paying a little extra brings with it some guarantees. For example, purchasing a very inexpensive printer might help you keep your business expenses down but if you have a large number of jobs to complete, this same printer might not be as efficient or effective at handling the workload.

Customer Retention

As any successful business owner will tell you, success in business, ultimately, comes down to customer satisfaction and retention. One way to convince your customers that your business is reputable and reliable is to reflect this in your products, whether it is selling baked goods, building homes, or opening bank accounts. Repeat customers are generally a result of a business establishing a trusting relationship based solely on providing the customer with a quality product or service. Opting for cheaper supplies in your business will lead to you producing a lower quality product or service and it will be much more difficult to retain any customers that you have now.

The True Cost Of Cheap Supplies

Successful businesses hold themselves to a standard. That standard is one of quality, whether it is in customer service, the product you produce, the service you offer or whatever other facets of your business you are known for. Choosing cheaper supplies will tarnish your reputation and can diminish the standard of what you do and what you have to offer. Over time customers will notice this drop in standards and you will find it more difficult to retain customers and, eventually, your business could fail. Instead, look at other areas of your business where you can potentially cut costs and continue to focus on producing a quality product or offering a top of the line service, that you can proudly stand behind.