In the order you will actually need them, with what each costs and how long it takes. Written after doing this for a lot of shops on and around the main road.
Three weeks out, the long items
- Signboard. The one thing you cannot rush and the one people judge you by from across the road. Flex on a frame from ₹18/sq ft on 440gsm, backlit from ₹28/sq ft, acrylic letters with LED quoted per job. Get the shopfront measured properly, not paced out.
- Logo. If you do not have one, ₹2,500 gets three concepts, two revision rounds and the vector source files in every format you will ever need. If you have one but only as a small image, ₹300 to redraw it as vector. Do this before anything else is printed, because everything else uses it.
- Offset stationery. Letterheads and envelopes at 1,000+ should be offset and need four to six working days.
Two weeks out, compliance and paperwork
- GST bill book. From ₹350 for two duplicate books of 50 sets; ₹500 triplicate. Get the format right the first time, under Rule 46 an invoice for goods needs three copies marked ORIGINAL FOR RECIPIENT, DUPLICATE FOR TRANSPORTER and TRIPLICATE FOR SUPPLIER. We see bill books every month, used for years, that carry none of those markings.
- Cash receipt book. ₹350, with serial numbering included.
- Letterheads. ₹600 for 500, ₹1,000 for 1,000. Order 1,000, the price per sheet drops sharply and letterheads do not expire.
- Envelopes. ₹900 for 500.
One week out, the customer-facing items
- Visiting cards. ₹250 for 100, ₹850 for 500. Design free. Put your Google Business Profile QR code on the back, cards handed out become reviews, and reviews are what move you up in Google Maps.
- Opening pamphlets. ₹6,000 for 5,000 A5, plus roughly ₹0.35 to 0.55 per copy for newspaper insertion. Insert on Thursday and Friday for a weekend opening; Monday inserts get lost with the week's other paperwork.
- Shopfront flex and entrance arch. Same-day if the design is approved before noon.
- Staff polo shirts. ₹599 each printed, ₹899 embroidered, minimum ten, allow 7 to 10 days.
Indicative total
| Item | Typical spend |
|---|---|
| Signboard, 8×4 ft backlit | ₹8,960 |
| Logo design | ₹2,500 |
| Shopfront flex + arch | ₹1,500 |
| Visiting cards, 500 | ₹850 |
| Bill books, 2 triplicate | ₹500 |
| Letterheads, 1,000 | ₹1,000 |
| Envelopes, 500 | ₹900 |
| Pamphlets, 5,000 + insertion | ₹8,250 |
| Staff shirts, 10 | ₹5,990 |
| Total | ≈ ₹30,450 |
Where to spend more, and where not to
Spend more on: the signboard, and the paper on anything a customer holds. Both are judged instantly and neither can be quietly upgraded later.
Do not spend more on: spot UV and foil on a first run of visiting cards, or heavy paper for newspaper inserts, 90gsm is correct there and anything heavier physically falls out of the paper.
One thing almost everyone forgets
Keep your logo's vector source file somewhere safe, and email a copy to yourself. Businesses come to us every month having lost it and needing it redrawn from a photograph of their own signboard. It costs ₹300 to fix and five minutes to prevent.