7 Tips and Tricks to Help Your Business Save Money on Office Supplies

If you own or manage a business, you know how expensive office supplies can be. All businesses need pens, paper clips, paper, folders, and a lot more to keep everyone working productively. While these expenses are really just a part of doing business today, they still represent a money pit of sorts. While many businesses know they can do things such as buy wholesale cardstock to save money on those products, there are other things you can do to cut your costs on these supplies. Here are a few:

1. Get what you can in bulk. Paper products do not go bad. You can buy paper in bulk. You can get bulk envelopes and wholesale cardstock. Going to wholesale paper suppliers for your paper needs can cut the amount you have to spend on paper. In addition to wholesale cardstock, you can get bulk amounts of printer ink and toner, permanent markers, post-it notes, notebooks, and all kinds of wholesale envelopes. You can set up deliveries of these products so if you have the storage space, you can save a lot on office products you always need and use.
2. Use less paper and print less. People today are more aware of what they print and recycle. People around the United States now send less paper to landfills than they recycle. When the American paper industry set a goal to reach a scrap paper recovery rate of 60%, they reached it in 2009 rather than their goal year of 2012. Accordingly, people are printing fewer documents than they did in years past. Reward workers who use the smallest amount of paper. When you print less, you also will use less ink. You can cut down on your office supply costs by not using as many supplies.
3. Set up a business account with your supplier of office products. Many office supply stores offer the option to set up a corporate account. When you get this going, you will have access to a lot of discounts for all kinds of office products and supplies. When you only buy from one supplier, you can ask for more discounts and you save money by streamlining your process. In addition to the discounts you can get from such a memberhip, many offer rewards that will help you save even more money on these purchase.
4. Let only one or two people make office supply purchases. When everyone can buy whatever they want from the office supply store, you have no control and people will buy more than they need. They will not get things in bulk and they will not consider the overall needs of your company. Assign the task of keeping track of office supplies and replenishing the stockpile as needed and you will cut your costs in this area by a lot.
5. Put in stations for supplies. Think about the things you use a lot. Many offices use a lot of staplers, hole punches, tape dispensers, and other items. Rather than buying them for each member of your staff, create an area where you have all of these items. Your workers can go to the stations to use these items and you will need to buy fewer of each and will save some money.
6. See what you can get for free. There may be no such thing as a free lunch, you may be able to find free office supplies. Look online for free stuff and you may find it. Some websites offer free office supplies and give away pens, post-it notes, and notebooks.
7. Plan ahead. When you buy most things at the last minute, you end up paying more. You know that you are going to use paper. You may even know how often you need to get more. Do not wait until you are down to your last box of paper and your last pen. If you work at it and schedule your orders for office supplies in advance, you will lower your costs in this area.

Saving money on office supplies from the wholesale cardstock to bulk pens may not be the most fun part of your job but will improve your bottom line.