7 Essential Stationery items every Small Business Needs
7 Essential Stationery Items Every Small Business Needs
There's so much to think about setting or starting a business. Consequently, most business owners get entangled in all the big-picture stuff. However, it's the tiny day-to-day details that truly matter when it comes to streamlining business operations and building a successful brand.
We've thought of the ideal small company office supplies checklist to make your life a bit simpler. Examine this list of essential stationery to ensure you have everything you need to keep your office stocked, your employees happy and productive, and set the tone for success.
Essential Stationery Checklist for UK Small Businesses
While the idea of a paperless office may be exciting, the reality is that digital solutions do not cover everything and printed stationery is still a must-have essential for many businesses in the UK and Ireland. Here are a selection we could recommend:
1. Notepads & Desk Pads
Employees require notebooks and desk pads to scribble notes, write down important dates and messages, keep tabs on their daily to-do list, and much more. Therefore, most people keep notepads on their workstations and desks for daily work tasks. But did you know that using custom notepads is also an excellent way of creating brand awareness?
Branded notepads and desk pads with your company logo act as a brand ambassador when people visit your office, or when employees carry them outside company premises. Apart from boosting public awareness, custom notepads can also leave a positive impression on your business partners and other important stakeholders, discreetly and implicitly conveying a message of organisational value.
You can buy custom-printed notepads depending on your unique business needs. Some of the most popular options include A4 and A5 size Notepads plus A3 size, printed deskpads.
2. Compliment Slips
These are an oft-used, little thank-you note that businesses send to customers with either cheque payments, blank forms, product samples or other personalised marketing.
Placing a hand-written, personalised Compliment Slip in the envelope or package with your company’s brochures or promotional materials shows that you care about providing outstanding, personal service and attention to detail to customers – a virtue which is very important in a crowded marketplace.
A simple thank you might increase just your customer's sense of connection to your company or your personnel. Hand-writing a note this way humanises doing business, increasing trust whilst making you stand out from your competitors. The more trust you establish, the great the emotional connection and hopefully that means the more repeat business you will receive!
3. Printed Envelopes
Needless to say, an addressed envelope with your company's name and logo on it will stand out from the crowd and assist your business gain recognition in its target areas. If crafted creatively and tastefully, assigning some of your office budget to custom envelope printing will reinforce your company’s brand. It also helps create a more professional and credible image of your company before clients and stakeholder partners.
A clever design or logo never fails to pique interest either, automatically attracting more attention within the home or office postal pile in the morning.
4. Invoice Books
Custom invoice books are personalised carbonless NCR books that includes your company's information, including company name, phone number, e-mail address, and logo. It also includes a table where employees can enter product item quantity, amount, description, and other product data. You have the further option of selecting the best layout and custom fields for your workflow, sales and accounting practices.
Invoice books are a must-have for any business for many reasons:
- They offer clean and consistent personalised invoicing
- They allow for quicker transactions
- Transactions are completed within seconds
- If you’ve a significant volume of orders, adopting invoice books will improve order processing
They are also a great option if you run a business in multiple locations or your staff is constantly on the go. It will enable your employees to write and offer your customers an invoice on the spot instead of posting a printed copy to them later.
5. CMR Delivery Notes
CMR’s are an essential road transport document in the UK.
If your business activities involve transporting products or making deliveries by road, by UK and European law you must have CMR Delivery Notes – either printed or digital – which are used to establish a contract with the carrier and verify that the items have been received. The CMR note also specifies the transportation and responsibility terms between the two parties.
If a completed CMR isn’t supplied, the haulage firm may refuse your shipment. Furthermore, by recording the pre-agreed duties of both parties, the Delivery Note provides an additional degree of legal protection if items are lost or damaged in transit by road, saving you a lot of trouble later on potentially. Therefore, make sure you use one for all your cross-channel, Haulage deliveries and throughout the EU.
6. Timesheets
Every business owner wants the same thing: to know that their employees are working efficiently and productively for the benefit of their company each day. However, as your team expands, it may become more difficult to keep track of what everyone is doing and where they are spending their time most effectively.
A lack of knowledge regarding what people do on a daily basis can lead to operating inefficiencies. All this can be avoided by using custom timesheet pads.
You can have your staff fill out daily or weekly timesheets, logging which projects they’re working on for each hour they’re in the office, or working from home. It is a simple way to keep track of business activities and allows valuable insights into how and where your employees spend the most time. The end result being reduced time wasting, greater management insight and increased employee’ efficiency.
They can also help with your wages processing for HR and Accounts depts as well as keeping track of working hours, holidays and expenses.
7. Flyers
Printed Flyers can be highly effective when it comes to small business marketing as they provide several marketing advantages e.g. a well-designed printed flyer, targeted correctly, is an extremely successful approach to create sales leads, helping to attract new customers and generate higher return on investment.
- promote a new product
- announce a special discount or special event
- assist with your digital marketing strategies by including QR codes to helps customers quickly access further information or make purchasing decisions using their smartphones.
