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Section 2 – Managing Your Office  |
Don't skimp on quality
The old saying, “You get what you pay for,” still holds true. So before you spend any money on new equipment or on modifying your existing equipment, consider the following questions:
Will the new equipment help you save time?
Can you afford it or will you have to settle for a less expensive, less effective model? If you can, wait until you can afford the better model. You'll save time later on.
Do you know how to use the equipment? If it is going to take you six months to learn it on your own, pay someone to teach you how to use it immediately.
One frequently overlooked item is a file cabinet. Cabinets are often on sale at irresistibly low prices, but don't be deceived by the price. A lower priced cabinet will initially cost you less, but will eventually wear out. After you have replaced it several times, you will have spent as much as you would have on a higher quality cabinet.
The same is true for an office chair. It may seem insignificant to spend time selecting the right chair. Yet if you spend a majority of your time in your office, you will appreciate the extra amount you spent on an ergonomically correct, comfortable, and functional chair.
Make sure that you avoid wasting time and money by taking the time to find and buy the right equipment and furniture.
Buying a computer is like shooting at a moving target
Finding the right computer is easy for technology-savvy buyers, but the rest of us face a tougher task. However, it all boils down to your knowledge about computers, your needs, and the amount of speed you need. As you walk down the aisle of your local computer store, flip through the pages of a computer catalog, or search the internet, don't consider price alone. Before you make the purchase, you'll inevitably ask the question, “Should I wait for the next model?” If you wait until a faster computer with more storage capacity than you will ever use comes along, you'll never buy.
Don't do business with friends and relatives
Inevitably, you will receive a call from a friend or relative asking for your services. At that point, you have three choices. You can charge them your normal rate, give them a discount, or turn down the business altogether.
If you have ever agreed to do something for a friend or relative and later experienced a pain in the pit of your stomach, you may want to choose the third alternative. Often, mixing business with pleasure is like holding a flame to an open gas line – someone is bound to explode.
Don't hire friends
It is true that friends may come and friends may go, but you may find them going a lot faster if you hire them.
Before you decide to include a friend in your business, ask yourself the following questions:
Will I be able to tolerate this person for eight hours each day?
Does he or she fit the image of my company?
Is he or she personable, thus giving my company a good name?
If things don't work out, will I be able to fire him or her?
Will he or she be able to separate our personal life from our working relationship?
Don't skimp on quality
The old saying, “You get what you pay for,” still holds true. So before you spend any money on new equipment or on modifying your existing equipment, consider the following questions:
Will the new equipment help you save time?
Can you afford it or will you have to settle for a less expensive, less effective model? If you can, wait until you can afford the better model. You'll save time later on.
Do you know how to use the equipment? If it is going to take you six months to learn it on your own, pay someone to teach you how to use it immediately.
One frequently overlooked item is a file cabinet. Cabinets are often on sale at irresistibly low prices, but don't be deceived by the price. A lower priced cabinet will initially cost you less, but will eventually wear out. After you have replaced it several times, you will have spent as much as you would have on a higher quality cabinet.
The same is true for an office chair. It may seem insignificant to spend time selecting the right chair. Yet if you spend a majority of your time in your office, you will appreciate the extra amount you spent on an ergonomically correct, comfortable, and functional chair.
Make sure that you avoid wasting time and money by taking the time to find and buy the right equipment and furniture.
Treat your Home office as a corporate office, while staying in contact with your family
Working from home requires discipline and a bit of imagination. When you work within a corporate setting, the cubicles, offices, and copy room set the tone of a traditional office. When your office is in your home, you have to work harder to recreate a business environment.
When you work in your home office, treat it as you would an outside office. In an outside office, you wouldn't run to the refrigerator every thirty minutes, or throw in a load of laundry between phone calls or leave to play with your children on an hourly basis. Stay in contact with your family while you're working, but strike a balance between keeping in touch and avoiding work.
Be willing to pay for quality assistance
As your business grows and the amount of time you have to spend on administrative tasks diminishes, consider adding additional staff or hiring subcontractors.
If you want to pay someone minimum wage, yet expect the quality of a salaried employee, you may be in for a surprise. You have an option to pay a person what he or she is worth, or hire someone at a lower rate who needs to be trained.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both. A skilled professional will minimize the time you need to spend training. He or she may bring ideas and systems to your business that had not occurred to you. Your close ties to your business could give you a distorted view, and a fresh view from an outsider could give you the extra push you need. The disadvantage is that person may have bad habits that have to be “unlearned.”
With an unskilled employee, you can train the person to your specifications. Because the unskilled do not have extensive business experience, they probably have not developed bad habits that need to be broken. The disadvantage is that they will require more training and patience on your part.
If you want to avoid the inconvenience of training, office politics, and tax requirements, consider hiring freelancers to handle certain projects. You can use a graphic artist to design brochures, sales sheets, or handouts, instead of hiring someone to do that. A freelance administrative service can give you the time you need to handle more pressing matters.
The rule of thumb? Ask yourself what your time is worth. If paying someone to do something that will take you several hours is less than the amount of money you can generate during that time, give the task to someone else. |
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