Printing and photocopy business is a very lucrative business one can engage within campus environment, that is why streets in the campus is filled with so much shop where people can print and photocopy their work.
Think about it, in some institution they are so predominant that it may seems as if there is no other business people can do than to print and photocopy. What surprises me most about this people is that they are always busy (all of them) do one printing or photocopy whenever I see them. To cover it up their daily revenue is more than just taking something little home as this people can still employ and pay people to from this daily income. I know married people who who take their family bread and and water from this business, what about people who in the same street have more than one doing the same thing, you say huh
If people can derive their family bread and water from printing and photocopy business, you too can make big earnings of which you have a better advantage than them been a student (I will tell you why in subsequent paragraphs). Let get started as we explore the possibility of setting up your own printing and photocopy business with little or no personal money. This is what you are about to read in this write up:
• Requirement for start up
• How you will raise your startup capital (money)
• Skills require for a startup (which is little or none)
• How to get customers
• Business opportunities
• Value added features
• How to maximized your sale
• How to prevent your system from malwares
• How to manage your academics with your business
REQUIREMENT FOR START UP
To start a printing and photocopy business, you will need to acquire some garget to get going and let me tell you these, you may not necessarily have to get everything at the startup depending on your planned start up amount, I mean you can first start with essential paraphernalia and buy other needed material as business boast so I have choose to divided this part into essential start up requirement and others.
Essential startup requirement include:
- A Computer (a desktop or a laptop)
- A photocopier (or a two-in-one copier and printer)
- A printer
- A stapler
- A good antimalware software (e.g. Smardav usb antivirus, Avast, AVG)
- An A4 paper pack
A COMPUTER? Yes, since you will need to open and edit (if needed) people’s file the computer before you can get it printed on a paper. You will a computer with desktop publishing programs installed and running on it, major form of these program include the Corel Draw, Microsoft Office (which will have MS word, PowerPoint, Access and Excel installed) and other programs like Photoshop…
Get a computer is now easy as you can get a desktop computer (new) at very cheap prices between #12,000 and #20,000 and and cheap but quality laptops too. Moreover you may not need to start with getting new gadgets as you care buy goodly used computer at a very cheaper amount.
A PHOTOCOPIER: you will require it to make carbon copy of peoples documents, photocopier is that machine you use to make a duplication of people’s document on another plain sheet. Getting a photocopier is now easy and an advantage is that you can buy a combined printer and photocopier (two-in-one) good quality and a very good price. The (Ricoh Aficio) printer I currently use is two-in-one, I got it for #28,000 thousand although I bought it in school area where electric gadget seems to be a bit costlier, meaning that you can get you on at a very less price.
A sound of warning: never buy deskjet or inkjet printer if you don’t want to get frustrated with you printing business. Printing and photocopy is fun, I do it here in school but when it get to getting you hand stained with printing ink daily when refilling you print catridge and buy a #3,000 almost every two month, then frustration can start. Also most inkjet are slow and prints on printed material can easily be wiped off with little contact with water.
A PRINTER: I can’t recommend one now but you can go out to price one yourself. I want to the HP1200 series printing but better printer exist which you may like.
Note: to minimize your startup cost as I want to help you to, you can get used printer and photocopier which can outperform the new ones and pay half amount you will pay to acquire new one but mind where you buy you gadget.
A STAPLER: a stapler is an essential item in starting up a printing and photocopy business although you will not be paid for stapler service but to prevent yourself from embarasement when customer ask for it you need to get one. Varous stapler exist, your choice determine what you have but make sure you buy enough pin along with your stapler.
A GOOD ANTIMALWARE PROGRAM: you must get good antivirus running on your computer as most of your customers will have their on their flash drive and or memory card, some will come with external disk and even their phone. All this storage media are good source of getting you system invected and can lead to abnormalcy of you computer and destruction of your computer IC which and other destructive effects.
You need to install USB antivirus in addition to the normal AVG or Avast, Northon antivirus e.t.c. as these usb antivirus are very fast to detect and immediately delete (depending on your settings preferences) any malware copied along with the files in this removable disk.
A4 PAPER PACK: paper is your most important raw material, as you need it to make your printing and photocopy on it.
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
- A Flash Drive
- Spiral binder
- A shop
- Additional computer(s), Printer, (photocopier)
HOW RAISE STARTUP CAPITAL
Everybody have one or two money making ideas, its amazing when you see people talk about great money making opportunity with good enthusiasm but to find out that what prevent them from starting is the fact that they cannot get startup capital. What you should first know is that money is not always the first thing needed to start a business, many people with money have started business with huge amount of money but have failed in the aftermath, what do I mean, lack of money is only an excuse people used to cover up their failure to started an business. When you devote yourself to learning and studying the rule of the business you want to do (like what you are doing presently), you will automatic attract money source for your start up. Don’t ask me how this is going to happen I may not be able to answer that here but I am very sure it will. Now let us see how you can get money to starup your business.
There is a slogan one of my secondary school teacher used to said then when I was in school, the slogan is simple, I heared, him say it over and over especialy whenever we are on the morning assembly, the slogan goes that “heavens help those who help themselves”; as simple as this life of phrase is it is highly applicable to generating income even if you will borrow from bank (of which I will not recommend borrowing from bank) as the bankers will require from varous documents of proof that you are already helping yourself before they can give out loan to you. This slogan depict that their heaven need be sure “who-is-who” and “what is what” before they give out their resources.
Let me tell you this; you have the money you need for this business already, you only need to wake and prepare yourself to get them. Let me tell you a shot story of mine of how I was about to get #15,000 from an uncle who I never ask for anything from before, its simple. I made an estimate of how much I am going to need for the business and also how much I have at hand, and then send the overall estimate of asking him to support my business project with mobile sms after which I gave him a call. On the sixth day I received an alert of the #15,000 deposited into my account (mind you I have never ask him for anything before “thanks dear uncle”). But do you think it’s that simple no!
I had been calling him (frequent a bit) before requesting for the support even before I came up with nourishing the idea of starting a business.
I promised him to used the money properly in my text message
I make him to know that I already have kept money myself for the business letting him know I was not passive about it.
Back to our discussion you can raised capital by requesting suppot from:
Your: uncle, aunt, brother, sister, your parents, your friends.
Let them know how prepared, how knowledgeable you are about the business, tell them about your past business success, let them how sure of profit you are about the business. If you cannot trust your profit making ability then no other person will do that.
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STUDENT BUSINESS IDEAS 