Consumables purchasers most stressed in SMBs

September 18, 2014

A Staples survey found that small business owners spending more time managing printer consumables are “most stressed”.

The survey, called Know Your Type, focused on “identifying workplace personalities” as well as discovering the purchasing habits of SMB owners when it comes to inkjet and toner cartridges, with management of this aspect of a business causing “high stress levels” for business owners. 300 SMB owners were surveyed from companies varying in size from one to 19 employees and 20 to 49 employees.

One third of SMB owners who classified printing as “very important to their business” were said to have either “high” or “very high” levels of stress, with those spending more time managing printer consumables “the most stressed”. More than 70 percent of the owners surveyed described their position in the workplace as a “hands-on doer”, in that they “prefer to dive in and tackle the work themselves, rather than spending time convincing others to take action”.

38 percent of owners identified as “helpers”, meaning that they “focus on the well-being of others and what they can do to help”, and these owners “have high stress” when purchasing printer consumables. 85 percent of “helpers” are “somewhat last minute in buying ink and toner”, and more than 75 percent “frequently run out of ink and toner during a job at least some of the time”, with 69 percent buying their consumables at a retail outlet.

“Creative” owners, who “prefer going with the flow and working with minimal structure or direction”, are said to be “more organised than they appear […] keeping ink and toner supplies organised”, with the survey finding that 57 percent of creative types “tend to stockpile or keep just enough ink and toner on hand”, though 60 percent of these had “forgotten” the model number of the cartridge they needed “when shopping”.

Finally, the “organiser”, who would “prefer to create structure and follow a routine”, is the one SMB owner that “recycles more”, with 68 percent of “organisers” saying that they “always recycle their ink and toner cartridges”; Staples added that recycling used cartridges “is particularly common” among these SMB owners.

Alison Corcoran, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Staples, stated: “Small business owners tend to operate as CEOs – chiefs of everything. Their focus needs to be on increasing productivity and running a company as efficiently as possible, not worrying about their ink and toner.”

Michael ‘Dr. Woody’ Woodward PhD, an organisational psychologist, added: “Doing it all can mean losing it all. Being hands-on isn’t necessarily a good thing, particularly when it comes to growing a business. Knowing your workplace personality type can help you manage others more efficiently, so you can spend more time on CEO duties.”

Categories : World Focus

Tags : Business Cartridges Staples