It used to be that starting a business meant that you had letterhead and envelopes printed, got some business cards, and you were ready for action. But, with the advent of the home computer and desktop publishing, has letterhead and business stationery become obsolete?
There are a few good reasons to get letterhead and business stationery—one, is if you are in a field or type of business where it really does matter. If you need to have professionally made letterhead in order to be able to appear professional and compete with other businesses, then this could be a strong consideration. Additionally, if you have a logo and a “brand” that you are trying to promote on a regular basis, then letterhead and envelopes may be in order. Also, if you do a lot of mailing—letters, statements, direct mail, etc.—then it may be cheaper for you to have your stationery pre-printed by a print or publishing house than to print it off each time from your home computer.
If you only rarely send letters or mail pieces as part of your business, then it is probably much more cost-effective to just print them off from your computer and desktop printer. You can design very professional-looking letterhead in your word processing or publishing software—including any logos or images you might want—and print directly onto purchased paper (you can even get fancy or varied paper if you’d like). It is also quite easy to print very sharp-looking envelopes of various sizes on a home or office computer.
Of course, these are just my opinions about whether or not it is worth it to have professionally-made letterhead and/or stationery for a home business. It would be great to hear from some other home-business owners in regards to whether or not YOU find it important to have your letterhead professionally printed, or whether you print your correspondence from your own computer?