It is no secret that small businesses with great entrepreneurial spirits constitute the backbone of America. Such businesses primarily include our neighborhood mom and pop grocery stores, restaurants, etc. Needless to say, small businesses have a significant influence on the U.S. economy. Yet, even with all this influence, most small business owners continue to have very small profit margins. Therefore, being mindful of every expense is a not just a requirement but a necessity.

The list of expenses for Mom and Pop small businesses are extensive. Payroll, insurance, business travel, advertising, marketing, computer technology and printing are just a few. The last four are key because the small business owner has a choice to either print those materials themselves or have them printed. If they print them themselves, they have to invest in the machinery and house the results, all of which have additional costs. With their overhead already high, that does not make business sense.

Why order your print materials online?

Choosing to have their material printed online solves many of these issues. They do not have to store any of the results and then tote those materials to the various marketing events they employ to build their market-share. That eliminates weight and thus travel cost. If they print them themselves and find an error at the show itself, there is nothing they can do to change it. With online printing, their materials are always available where they are at the time, and they only have to have enough for the show at the moment so there is no guessing. They can edit on the go enabling updating as needs warrant. This improves performance and builds market value adding to that profit margin.

Reputable online printers

www.Gotprint.com: GotPrint has a terrific catalog of products from Banners to business cards with an easy interface with which to design an order, and a nice website, but their delivery times are up to a week-long. That would be tough on a small business owner trying to plan an impromptu follow-up meeting at a convention. Their prices are nice and less than VistaPrint, and their quality is a tad better, but their minimum delivery time is 2-4 business days. That would be a deal killer at any convention.

www.Vistaprint.com: Vistaprint is the behemoth in this industry with all the high marketing costs and the main competitor to Gotprint. They have the same product lines, everyone knows them, but, again, their minimum delivery time is three business days. They are pricier than Gotprint, but better known and far better marketed. Their delivery times are a day less than Gotprint, but again their quality may also suffer from the quick turnaround. When it comes to the small business owner, product quality and speed of delivery both matter. They must either plan ahead very well and tote all those printed materials around, or add extra days to the convention trip to build new contacts and grow the client base.

www.Moo.com: Moo has a far more limited product line than either of the other titans, sticking mostly to flowery greeting cards so it has a very limited value to the small business owner directly. It also has similar delivery times. However, its main weakness is that it is an online supplier based in England with prices in pounds not dollars. Small business owners have enough to deal with without having to convert currencies to ensure they are not going over budget.

Ordering print materials online provides a business with easy accessibility that easily outweighs the options offered by local brick and mortar stores, especially the cost factor. It is the far smarter move for the small business owner, who is cutting costs without scaling back on the quality.

A penny for your thoughts!