Renting a Copier - As told by eHow.com

As a personally invested business owner, I find myself constantly browsing the internet looking for new ideas, new thoughts, and to get a general pulse of business and customers out there.

Earlier this week, I happened to run across this particular gem on eHow.com, one of the top knowledge sites out there on the web.  They are mostly known for having brief but informative articles on how to approach a problem or what to expect, with simple instructions.  Here is their intro on how to rent a copier:

Businesses that require copies of documents often purchase a copier, which is an expensive machine to buy. The average copier costs a few thousand dollars to purchase, regularly maintain, and repair if the equipment breaks. Renting is another option available to businesses that can significantly cut costs compared to owning and maintaining a copier.

So far, so good, eHow!  Then they continue on to their instructions.  The very first step in their instructions gives a first good step; comparing prices.

Compare a few rental companies for copier rental costs. The usual costs in prime business locations run around $200 to $400 dollars a month, though the type of copier can change the prices based on operating costs or brand names. Manufacturers such as Canon, Xerox, and Ricoh often provide the service directly or work with local business vendors.

 The only thing they got wrong was the prices.  Well, maybe it is not wrong for other options, but if you visit our newly redesigned site, you can see we beat that price range handily!  You can see our prices page here.

eHow goes on to give some more good advice, suggesting that you contact the owner of the business you want to rent from and ask some questions.  Once you have found the company you've been looking for, they recommend asking for delivery to your business.  Those are great suggestions that we would be more than happy to oblige.  Contact us on our page, or you can simply call the number on the site and we would love to answer all your questions.

To read the rest of the article, you can visit it at eHow.

In Copier News - Don't let this happen to you!

Fortunately, the Cincinnati/Dayton Ohio area has someone they can trust.  Contact us at Affordacopy to hear more about how renting from us protects you.

Washington state government agencies are getting a $4 million windfall through a settlement deal announced today that requires Ricoh Americas Corp. to pay back overcharges on copier services.

Ricoh has a $17 million a year contract with the state for supply of copiers and service, which expires next April. The review of charges was ordered after an anonymous note tipped off the Washington Attorney General’s Office in 2009 to the overcharges, according to the state Department of Enterprise Services, which announced the agreement this morning with a news release on its web site.

The settlement is based on a sampling of contract sales done by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in response, and it covers charges dating to 2007 by Ricoh’s subsidiary IKON Office Solutions, said DES spokesman Steve Valandra.

Ricoh, which purchased IKON, “stepped up and did the right thing” once the overcharges were brought to light, Valandra said.

The money from the settlement ultimately will go back to state agencies and local governments that participated in the state’s contract for copier services and were overcharged. 

“What we will do over the next few months is see what agencies and local governments used the contract and how they were affected – and direct the money back to them,” Valandra said.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2012/06/29/2158435/ricoh-to-reimburse-state-4m-for.html

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2012/06/29/2158435/ricoh-to-reimburse-state-4m-for.html#storylink=cpy

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More Self Maintenance

“My copier doesn’t print” –  First, has it before?  Are you using the right print driver?  Is the network cable plugged into the machine?  If all the answers are yes, try this…  find the IP address on the machine (see previous post).  Now, make sure it’s the same as the one in your system.  How?  Hit Start — Printers and Faxes — Right Click on the Copier — Properties — Ports — Expand the column with the IP (you’ll get a double arrow when you can expand which looks like this <-I->  )  Make sure the numbers match.  If not, call your IT guy, not the copier repair guy.

“It won’t fax” — Is the fax line plugged in?  Is the place where you are sending the fax having problems with their fax lines?  After these are addressed, then you can call the provider.

“The Finisher isn’t working” — This one is important to make sure that the output destination is the finisher.  Does it make copies at all?  It could be a problem with the machine or with the finisher.  If it’s making copies but not outputting to the finisher…  Check to make sure the finisher is attached.  It should lock into place.  Check and see if it has staples in the cartridge.  Check and make sure it has power (some are powed through the copiers, others have independent sources.)

Self Maintenance

Whether you are a current customer of Affordacopy or you are a future customer, sometimes it can be helpful to have a 'Frequent Questions' style troubleshooter for general copier issues.  Here's a few of the more common 'maintenance' issues everyone runs across.

The Black Mark or Stripe. If you're getting a stripe across documents you're copying, here's a few things you can check really quickly.  First, run the document through the document processor.   Now run it off the glass, does have the same stripe?  If it is in a different position or the stripe goes away, grab some glass cleaner.  It often means there is a hair or something you wouldn’t normally notice on the glass.  If it is still there after these steps, now it’s time to make that service call.

“Prints too Light” — This can sometimes be addressed using the devices internal settings web page.    An embedded web page is a page you can access for any of your printing devices that are connected to the network simply by putting in the device’s IP address into your internet browser’s address line.  An example might look like 192.168.1.99 — you’d just type those numbers where you normally put in the normal web address, the www. line.  You can generally find this address by having the copier print a network report.

I've got a few more for next week.  Stay tuned, and have a nice weekend!

It's been said before, and it will be said again.  In fact it was not that long ago on this very blog that we talked about it ourselves.

Even in times of recession or economic struggle, there is still growth and opportunity.  It can be especially difficult and trying, but the ability to go out there and make your mark, stake a claim, or make a difference is still there. 

The Cincinnati-Dayton corridor is one of those areas between two metropolitan areas that are prone to high growth and good investment.  Doing so right now while everyone is pinching all of their pennies and scrutinizing every investment can make the lows seem lower and the highs seem higher.  The risk and reward are magnified by the business climate.

Like your customers will, you should be very thoughtful in how and where you spend your money if you want to be successful.  Having a good business partner like Affordacopy for all of your copier rental needs, no matter how unstable or changing the environment may be... just makes good sense.

Small Business Loans back up in Cincinnati

I remember hearing quite a while ago that Small Business Loans were down in our area.  A quick search confirmed that in 2009, the five largest Cincinnati banks' SBA loans were down 51%.  Everyone knows it has been a rough couple years with a lot of ups and downs.

The good news is that regardless of where you feel the economy is today or what may be the cause of it, Cincinnati Small Business Loans are back up.  In fact, they were up nearly 30 million in 2011 compared to 2010; an increase of 41%.

I'm sure everyone has heard the cliches by now.  'Bill Gates started Microsoft during a recession.' etc.  The reason that it has become so cliche now is because it is true.  Not just about Microsoft, but that you can be successful in starting or running a small business at any time if you have the right tools and the right plan.

So if you or your company are working hard at succeeding through thick and thin, contact us to see what we can do to help you.

Tales From the Copier Battlefield

I am out in the copier battlefield every day, and I'd like to share some real-life experiences where I feel that customers have really been taken advantage of. 

 

Most copier dealers use large national banks as their leasing partner. After the lease is signed, the customer learns they will have to make payments to out-of-town leasing companies. With this, I have seen many surprises, all of which are one-sided and don't favor the customer. You almost have to be a Philadelphia attorney to interpret the fine print on these contracts. 

 

Technology is rapidly advancing — there's already a third version of the iPad coming out! — but many copier companies still require their customers to sign five-year leases. Some companies even include clauses that cause the lease to renew for another year automatically if the customer doesn't notify the leasing company 90 to 150 days before the lease expiration. But most customers do their research only 30-60 days before the end of the lease. Surprise! You've already been renewed for another year for a piece of obsolete equipment at the same rate you've paid for the first five years!

 

I also recently encountered a customer who was about three years in on a five-year lease. There was a line item on the monthly invoice for $30, which the customer had been paying for the whole three years. After helping this customer do a little research, we learned that this $30 fee was being billed because the customer hadn't sent a certificate of insurance to the leasing company before making their first payment. 

 

Do you think the leasing company or the vendor tried to help the customer resolve this to avoid the $30 fee? Of course not. Instead, the customer was out more than $1,000. 

 

These are just a few examples of things we want our customers to be aware of. We treat our customers the way we'd want to be dealt with. It's a tough economy out there, and we know that our customers can't afford to be taken advantage of.