When you start your own business, you have a budget and you have a need to stick to that budget. After all, you’re in business to make money. You know you need necessities like a roof over your head, a phone system, a computer, a printer and whatever supplies your business specialises in, but what about stationery?

Is stationery a valid office expenditure? Is it a waste of money? Won’t ordinary paper do the exact same thing fancy stationery will? Ordinary plain paper would definitely be cheaper, but you’d be surprised at just how effective the right stationery is for increasing your business.

Standard paper is cheaper. You don’t have to order it specially, you can pick it up at any paper store and you can print anything on it without having to worry about correct borders and margins, etc.

Regular paper is just that, however, it’s regular. It doesn’t stand out. If you mail someone a sales letter and it’s printed on a normal computer, it will look like every other sales letter that potential customer has ever received. It will be so lacklustre that it might just get tossed in the rubbish bin before it’s even read. Don’t let that happen to your important business letters and other transactions.

Instead, you’ll want to create a lasting memory with your customer. And you can do that by having office stationery designed for you.

With stationery, you can make a statement. If your business specialises in specific colours, having stationery designed with those colours will mentally let someone know that the stationery belongs to your business. With the right logo, the right motto, the right font and the right design, your stationery will become embedded in the customer’s memory so that they’re more likely to choose your business over the competition.

Although having your own stationery can be more expensive, but so is any other type of advertising. That’s right, stationery is a form of advertising. It’s advertising just like a phone book ad is advertising, or a billboard. When your stationery crosses someone’s desk, or your envelope reaches someone’s mailbox, you are advertising your business to that person. It’s an investment every business should make, as any advertising is good advertising, but only if it is carried out professionally.

If you’re one of those business owners that hold onto their money as tightly as they can, don’t worry. There are many ways to go about getting cheap, but effective, office stationery. You only have to shop online to see the wide ranges of office stationery available. Don’t be tempted to design your own as these only scream ‘amateur’ which will do little for you or your business.

Having correctly designed office stationery is one of the best things you can do for your business and there is stationery to fit any budget. As long as it’s designed correctly, it’s simple and easy to read and it stands out in the customer’s mind, it doesn’t matter what it costs, it only matters that it’s seen, remembered and generates further interest in what your company has to offer.