If you’re a small business owner, then you’ll probably only get your business cards printed every now and then. After all, business cards can be a costly business expense.
Yet, if you’re going through a growth phase or have a swift turnover of staff, then business cards may be something that you need to commission more frequently, so you may wonder how larger companies deal with generating new business cards whilst keeping costs down.
Why Have Business Cards?
There’s no denying that business cards are a necessary business expense; there’s no quicker and easier way of giving new contacts your business details. After all, there’s nothing more frustrating than being at a networking event and running out of business cards; having to scrawl your number on scraps of paper not only looks unprofessional but also makes it highly unlikely that that new contact will ever get in touch with you.
And business cards are important for more than just relaying your email address; a good business card will say something about your company and what you do, hopefully expressing a little bit about you to that potential customer you’ve just met. The key thing is to make that person remember you once you’ve parted and, more importantly, contact you to do business. Your business cards play an important role in that process.
Yet it’s for this very reason that great business cards can end up being expensive, especially when something unique and eye-catching is required. The bulk of the cost associated with printing fabulous business cards is in the setup, not just in terms of getting an artworker to design and then amend each business card, but also in setting up the printers, especially when a digital printing process isn’t being used.
This generally means that most small companies will only print their new cards when they absolutely have to and make them as generic as possible, to enable them to benefit from the cost efficiencies of buying in bulk, yet this often does not make for exciting or memorable business cards.
How The Big Boys Do It
Generally speaking, however, larger companies do not have to work within the same restrictions as small businesses, so they tend to do things differently. The usual practice for companies with more than a handful of employees is to work with a printing firm who can provide them with a bespoke solution, which they can then access whenever it’s required.
Generally, these businesses will use easily editable templates that marketers, or even sales teams, can edit without the need to use a graphic designer at this stage. Once these templates are updated, they will be automatically printed out by the printing company as and when required.
In other, even larger businesses, there may even be an in-house printing department that can fulfil this demand. The print room may be able to edit and print small to large scale batches of business cards on suitable stock using a digital printing process for relatively little cost.
How Can Small Businesses Do It?
Obviously, these methods may not be suitable for smaller companies or sole traders, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have well-designed, professional looking business cards too, which are also cost effective.
The easiest way of doing this is to use one of the many websites that supply short runs of business cards for small businesses; the best of these, in our humble opinion, are the following;
- VistaPrint
- Moo
- Go Print
- Instant Print
- 48Hour Print
Print It Yourself
However, if you are a small business and you do wish to go down the line of DIY business cards, then it’s likely you can print the cards yourself. Whilst this may sound like a daunting prospect, particularly if you’ve never tried it before, it’s not actually as difficult as you may first think.
And luckily these days, there are one or two resources that can help the process along quite cost effectively. Essentially, you’ll only require the following;
- A graphic design package in which to create your business card design. There are several of these that you could use, but you should choose one that is appropriate to your level of expertise. For example, if you’re a whiz with Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator then go with those, but if you’re looking for something a little easier to use, then there are loads of great – and free – graphic design packages out there that will do the job just as well, such as Canva or Inkscape.
- Good quality card on which to print the business cards. It’s important that you use the best quality card that you can, as this is something that many professional people will notice and business cards printed on flimsy card not only look cheap but also give out the wrong impression about your company. Many paper suppliers now manufacture special card, often pre-cut in business card templates, on which this can be done with ease, but it’s always worth shopping around to find the best card for you.
- A printer that can cope with the requirements of printing business cards, such as the ability to process a higher gsm and print detailed graphics in colour. Whilst printing your own cards may be a cost-effective method for small businesses, you still want them to look as professional as possible and the printer you use is crucial to this. Many smaller desktop printers will not be suitable for this job, so make sure you’re using the appropriate device before you begin.
- A heavy-duty guillotine for cutting the cards, if pre-cut card is not being used. Obviously, if you’re looking to achieve uniquely shaped business cards then a guillotine may not be the most appropriate cutting tool, but if you’re planning on using the standard business card dimensions then it will be more than adequate and save you the laborious task of cutting them all by hand.
North West Digital Can Help
Here at North West Digital, we can help you to print your business cards, whatever size your business is and however you want to do it. We like to take a personalised, holistic approach to ensure we find the best solution for you, so we make sure we get to know your business and what you need before we recommend the best products and services that will save you time and money – not the ones that will make us the most money!
If you’re thinking of having a go at printing your own business cards, then we can help advise you on the best and most cost-effective way of doing it. Whether it be making sure you’ve the right printer for the job or helping you print your in-house designed cards in our Copy Shop, NWD have a solution that works for you.
If you’d like to find out more about how NWD can help you manage the cost of printing business cards then please get in touch with us today for a free, for a no-obligation assessment of your businesses printing requirements. You can contact us via phone on 0161 477 8950, via email at info@ or via the contact form on the website.