What to Look for in a Printer for a Growing Business

Running a growing business means making smart decisions about every tool in your office — and your printer is no exception. It might not seem like the most exciting purchase on your list, but the wrong printer can quietly drain your budget, slow your team down, and create bottlenecks you never anticipated. On the other hand, the right office printer becomes an invisible asset, humming along in the background while your team stays productive and your documents look sharp. Whether you are expanding your team, moving into a larger space, or simply outgrowing the inkjet you bought when you first launched, understanding what to look for in a printer for a growing business is one of the most practical investments of your time you can make this year.

At UBS Office Solutions, we have spent over 30 years helping businesses across the Greater New York area — including Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Nassau and Suffolk counties — find office printers that genuinely match their needs. We have seen firsthand what happens when businesses buy on impulse versus when they take a methodical approach. The difference in outcomes is dramatic. This guide walks you through every major factor you should evaluate so that when you make your next printer purchase, you make it with confidence.

Start With Print Volume, Not Price

The single biggest mistake growing businesses make when shopping for a printer is leading with price. Price matters, of course, but it should be the last filter you apply — not the first. The first question you need to answer honestly is: how many pages does your team print each month, and how is that number likely to grow over the next two or three years?

Every printer is rated with a monthly duty cycle, which represents the maximum number of pages it can reliably handle each month without excessive wear. A printer with a duty cycle of 2,000 pages per month will struggle and fail prematurely if you are regularly running 4,000 pages through it. And as your business grows, that page count will almost certainly climb. Choosing a printer that comfortably handles your current volume with room to scale is not overspending — it is smart planning.

For offices that print frequently, laser printers are generally the stronger choice. They are built for sustained, high-speed output and tend to have lower per-page costs compared to traditional inkjet models. If your team prints large volumes of text-heavy documents like contracts, reports, or invoices, a laser model will pay for itself quickly. Models like the Brother MFC-L8905CDW and HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 3301fdw are strong examples of machines designed to handle the demands of busy office environments.

Consider Whether You Need Color or Monochrome

Not every office needs color printing, and selecting the right option can significantly affect your long-term costs. If your team primarily prints internal documents, spreadsheets, or plain text reports, a high-quality monochrome laser printer may serve you better than a color model at a fraction of the operating cost. Black-and-white toner cartridges last longer and cost less per page than color alternatives.

However, if your business regularly produces client-facing materials — proposals, presentations, marketing collateral, or branded reports — then color printing capability becomes essential. A color multifunction printer allows you to keep that production in-house rather than outsourcing it to a print shop, which saves time and money over the long haul. The key is to be honest about how often you genuinely need color output rather than defaulting to a color model simply because it seems more capable.

Multifunction Printers Offer Significant Value for Growing Teams

As your team grows, so does the complexity of your daily document tasks. Printing is rarely the only function a busy office requires. Scanning, copying, and faxing are common needs that, if handled by separate machines, eat up floor space, create maintenance headaches, and add unnecessary costs. This is where multifunction printers, often called MFPs or all-in-one printers, deliver exceptional value.

A quality multifunction printer consolidates all of these capabilities into a single, networked device that your entire team can share. Instead of managing three separate machines with three separate service agreements and three separate supply inventories, you manage one. That simplification is particularly valuable for businesses in growth mode, where administrative bandwidth is often stretched thin.

• Multifunction printers reduce equipment clutter and office footprint
• They streamline supply management by centralizing toner or ink needs
• Network-connected MFPs allow multiple team members to print, scan, and copy from their own workstations
• Many models include secure print features, which are important as teams grow and shared equipment becomes more common
• Cloud-connected models enable printing from mobile devices, which supports flexible and hybrid work arrangements

Network Connectivity Is Non-Negotiable

If you are still operating with a printer that plugs directly into a single computer via USB, it is time to upgrade. A growing business needs a printer that connects to your office network so that every authorized team member can print from their own device without physically connecting to the machine. This is not a luxury feature — it is a baseline expectation for any modern office environment.

Look for printers that support both wired Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. Wired connections offer greater stability for high-volume printing, while Wi-Fi gives you the flexibility to place the printer where it makes the most operational sense rather than where the cables happen to reach. Many business-grade printers also offer Wi-Fi Direct, which allows devices to print without being on the same network — useful for visitors or contractors who need occasional access.

Beyond basic connectivity, consider whether the printer integrates with the cloud platforms your team already uses. Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and other common business tools often have native integration with modern printers, allowing for seamless document workflows without extra software or workarounds.

Print Speed Affects Productivity More Than You Might Expect

Printer speed is measured in pages per minute, commonly abbreviated as PPM. In a small office with occasional printing needs, a printer that produces 20 pages per minute may be perfectly adequate. But in a growing business where multiple team members are regularly sending large jobs to a shared printer, slow output becomes a real source of friction. People wait. Jobs pile up in the queue. Frustration builds.

Business-grade laser printers typically offer print speeds in the range of 30 to 50 pages per minute or higher for heavy-duty models. When evaluating speed, also pay attention to the first-page-out time, which measures how quickly the printer delivers the first page after receiving a job. A printer that takes 15 seconds to warm up before producing its first page feels sluggish in a fast-paced environment, even if its sustained PPM rating looks impressive on paper.

Long-Term Running Costs Matter More Than the Sticker Price

The purchase price of a printer is often far less significant than its total cost of ownership over two or three years. Running costs include ink or toner cartridges, drum units, paper, and any service or maintenance expenses. A printer that costs less upfront but uses expensive, low-yield cartridges can end up costing significantly more over time than a higher-priced model with efficient, high-yield supplies.

When comparing printers, look at the cost per page for both black-and-white and color output, and check the yield of each cartridge. High-yield cartridge options reduce the frequency of replacements and typically lower the per-page cost. For offices with particularly high print volumes, ink tank models like the Canon MAXIFY GX3020 or Epson EcoTank ET-5850 offer remarkably low per-page costs by using refillable ink reservoirs rather than traditional cartridges.

• Calculate the expected monthly supply cost based on your projected page volume
• Compare high-yield versus standard cartridge pricing across competing models
• Factor in drum unit replacement cycles, which are often overlooked in cost comparisons
• Ask about service plans and what they cover before committing to a purchase
• Consider the cost and availability of supplies locally, not just at the time of purchase but in the years ahead

Security Features Protect Your Business as It Scales

Printers are often overlooked in conversations about office cybersecurity, but they represent a genuine vulnerability if not properly managed. Modern networked printers store document data, connect to your internal network, and in some cases retain copies of recently printed files in onboard memory. As your team grows and more people interact with shared printing equipment, the importance of built-in security features increases.

Look for printers that offer secure print release, which requires users to authenticate at the device before their job is printed. This prevents sensitive documents from sitting unattended in the output tray. Additional features to look for include network encryption, user access controls, and automatic data wiping. For businesses in regulated industries such as healthcare, legal, or financial services, these capabilities are not optional — they are essential.

Support and Service Should Factor Into Your Decision

When a printer goes down in a growing business, every minute of downtime has a cost. This is why the quality of support behind your printer purchase matters just as much as the specifications of the machine itself. Purchasing from a vendor that disappears after the sale leaves you at the mercy of manufacturer hotlines and uncertain wait times.

UBS Office Solutions takes a different approach. Every printer purchase comes backed by knowledgeable support staff, professional installation, setup for networked and wireless environments, and access to certified technicians for ongoing service and repairs. Optional service plans are available to further protect your investment and keep your operation running without interruption. For growing businesses in the Greater New York area, that local, responsive support structure is a meaningful advantage over buying from a big-box retailer or an impersonal online storefront.

Think About Where Your Business Is Headed, Not Just Where It Is Today

Perhaps the most important piece of advice for any growing business evaluating printer options is this: buy for where you are going, not just where you are today. A printer that adequately serves your current team of eight may become a bottleneck when your team reaches fifteen. A machine that handles your current monthly volume comfortably may struggle when a new contract doubles your document output.

Thinking one to three years ahead when making your printer selection is not over-engineering the decision — it is responsible business planning. And it does not necessarily mean spending significantly more. It means asking the right questions about scalability, duty cycle headroom, expandable paper capacity, and service infrastructure before you commit.

If you are unsure where to start, the team at UBS Office Solutions is ready to walk you through the process. With over 30 years of experience and partnerships with leading brands including HP, Brother, Canon, Epson, and more, we help businesses across Long Island and New York City find printers that are the right fit today and capable of growing alongside them. We offer flexible purchasing and leasing options, professional installation, staff training, and ongoing support — because we believe the relationship does not end at the sale.

Visit our office printers for sale page to explore our current lineup, or reach out to speak with one of our experts directly. Whether you are replacing aging equipment or setting up a new office from scratch, UBS Office Solutions is the partner that growing businesses in the Greater New York area trust to get it right.