SMBs are wasting valuable time with inefficient technology that could instead be spent on important business operations. It’s critical for SMBs to make their own lives easier and invest in helpful technology that doesn’t drain resources. 

HP Inc., with HP+ for business, is looking to resolve the pain points SMBs face when managing office space, particularly in the hybrid working environment. 

HP+ for business is a smart printing system that allows for the reliable management of a fleet of printers and is available with the new HP LaserJet Pro 3000 and 4000 series printers. 

To demonstrate how HP+ can help SMBs, we asked a small business to trial HP+ themselves and tell us what their first-hand experience has been. 

Hylo Athletic  

Hylo is an athletic footwear startup based in the UK. Founded in 2020, the company uses materials science to create running shoes that deliver high performance for athletes and low impact for the planet.   

The brand’s launch shoe is vegan, uses renewable materials, is recyclable and has a 52% lower carbon footprint compared with the average running shoe. The brand is focused on building a community of Athletes for Planet, using their platforms to influence positive change. 

Earlier this year, the company raised a Series A round of £2.5 million. 

The team is made up of 12 people in the UK and three overseas in Asia. The company operates a hybrid model, with three days a week in the office and the rest spent at home.  

Over the last month, Hylo has been testing out the new HP LaserJet Pro 3000 and 4000 series with HP+. The printers are based at Hylo’s offices, being utilised by all the members of staff, and also in some staff’s home offices, to really test the hybrid working set-up. 

We spoke with the team at Hylo Athletics to see how they have been getting on.  

Putting HP+ for business to the test 

Hylo has a small workspace in London – currently the team has one printer set up in the main body of the office, one in the meeting room and one at a home office.  

The set-up  

“The set-up was very easy,” said Adam Yardley, Operations Executive, Hylo Athletics. “The problem with most printers in office buildings is that you can’t do it on public Wi-Fi, but we managed to set up these printers over hotspots and with USB cables.  

“HP software is also pretty easy to install and navigate – it helps that I’ve done it before on a personal printer so I’m already familiar with it.” 

The printers can actually be set up without any tech admin, which makes it easier for businesses to focus on growth and not worry about the small IT problems that can occur.   

The benefits 

HP+ allows the small business owner to undertake a range of tasks, from printing to their office printer from home, to scanning important documents all by using the HP Smart app. 

“We didn’t have [a printer] before this and having one gives us the opportunity to visualise things as and when we feel like we need to,” said Michael Doughty, Co-Founder & Managing Director. “Sometimes it’s important for us to collaborate away from our screens – the screens are very useful but sometimes you want to disconnect or be able to talk about something in a less technological way.” 

The printing to the office printer from home feature is especially important, notes Yardley. “My current home printer is out of ink, so having the ability to send important documents to the office ahead of my arrival is very useful.” 

Doughty also comments: “I imagine a world in which you’re running late, which happens sometimes, and you need everything ready for your pitch or presentation – this type of function could advance things for us and ultimately improve the way we work.” 

So far, the team has utilised the printers to print design guides and mock-ups of what different footwear products might look like. They have also been able to print calendars and key dates for the team to visualise. 

Yardley said: “From an operations point of view, it has been quite useful to print out flowcharts and processes that help us wrap our heads around certain things and iron out any kinks – for example, printing out the process for customer services.” 

The HP Smart Admin Dashboard 

The HP Smart Admin Dashboard lets Hylo set up and manage its printers from a single dashboard, invite new users, track toner levels, monitor security and control settings from any location. This feature is great support for a flexible workforce. 

“Anything that allows you more time to do what needs to be done on a daily basis is well received, because there’s a lot of things to be doing for a small business!” notes Doughty.  

Impact on the planet 

Hylo has a huge focus on lowering its impact on the planet, as mentioned previously its brand’s launch shoe is vegan, uses renewable materials, is recyclable and has a 52% lower carbon footprint compared with the average running shoe. Partnering with the right company on its sustainability journey is really important to Hylo.  

“We are of the opinion that collaboration is the way forward, this is a global problem. As a small business, we don’t have big budgets and there are certain requirements we need to meet in order to do business and when we get support and opportunities from like-minded companies that is great,” said Doughty.  

HP is one of the most sustainable tech companies in the world, with the goal to become the world’s most sustainable. More than 875 million Original HP Ink and Toner Cartridges have been recycled by customers with HP Planet Partners. 

With HP Instant Ink for Business, toner cartridges require less packaging and fewer shipments, and you can return your cartridges with the prepaid envelopes and be a part of HP’s closed loop cartridge recycling programme. 

“We are trying to limit the amount of paper that we use but the printer is useful for when we need to be a bit more creative,” Doughty notes.  

When utilising HP+, you’re helping to give more back to forests – through sustainable forest restoration and protection – than the impact of your printing. HP’s Forest Positive initiative maintains commitments to sustainable sourcing of paper whilst restoring and protecting forests around the world. 

Safe and secure 

Security is also important to Hylo. The team found it reassuring that the printers are always up to date with the latest security features, utilising HP Wolf Pro Security, and has 24/7 automated monitoring to ensure their information, and all of the fleet, are secure. 

“Protecting data is very important at the moment so the security on the printers will certainly put the operations team at ease!” said Doughty.  

For the team overall, having the ability to bring their ideas and creations to life in different ways has been extremely important.  

Whatever the challenge, time is often the most precious resource and making efficient use of it could determine the success or failure of the business. With the smart printing solution from HP, Hylo can spent more timing focusing on growing the team and the business without wasting valuable time with inefficient technology.