Hi Folks Dave Waring here from Fitsmallbusienss.com and today's lesson of the day. In the last
video in our series on how to start a successful business, we looked at how to choose the right
computers for a new office. In today's video we are going to continue that series with
a look at how to setup your new office.
The first step is to get an amazon prime account.
Almost everything you need to setup a new office can be ordered on Amazon. If you are
a prime member then you also get free two day shipping, and this is true on everything
from envelopes to desks and couches.
The cost at $75 a year is almost a joke for the amount of ordering that you will do when
setting up a new office. I have included a link where you can signup for Amazon Prime
in the resources link below this video.
Next, make a list of what you need
Here is a list of the bare minimum that almost any office is going to need.
Desks Chairs
Computers Monitors
Phones Lighting
Internet Pinter
Scanner General office supplies (pens, paper, envelopes
etc)
Other things you may consider:
Pictures for the walls Alarm System
Office Insurance Coffee and Tea
Water Dispenser Fax Machine
Next Decide on a Layout
Much of the layout is going to depend on the space you have chosen, however an open layout,
which is what most new businesses have is the easiest. I have included a link to an
article where you can learn more about the pro's and cons of the different types of office
layouts in the resources link below this video. The article focuses on the pro's and cons
for tech workers but the points made are relevant to pretty much any type of work.
Now you are ready to start choosing the products to fill your space with, starting with the
necessities:
Office Desks
We save a lot of money on desks by simply using folding tables for our desks. We got
ours from Ikea so they are a little more stylish, but you can order very similar tables from
Amazon for around $60 including shipping, an example of which you can find in the resources
link below this video.
Chairs
If there is one place that you don't want to skimp, its on the chairs which your employees
will be sitting in for most of the day. For this I feel that I am a great case study,
as I have had a serious back injury in the past and spend between 8 and 14 hours a day
in my office chair. I use the Staples® Baird™ Bonded Leather Managers Chair, for both my
office and home office chair and couldn't be happier. There is a very similar looking
option available from Amazon which I have included a link to in the resources link below
this video.
Computers
The first decision you have to make is Mac vs. PC (Windows). The short answer is if you
don't know what you want already, then you should go with a PC. They are still the standard
for most types of businesses.
Next you are going to want to decide whether laptops or desktops are best for your employees.
Once you have decided these two things you need to decide on the brand, how powerful
you want your computer to be, and what operating system and version of Microsoft office you
want.
And lastly you are going to decide if you want to buy new or refurbished computers.
We personally like and use Dell computers and cover how to make all the above decisions
in our full article on how to choose an office computer which you can find in the resources
link below this video.
Printer/Scanner/Fax Machine:
Unless you plan on doing a super high volume of printing, faxing, or scanning you are going
to save a lot of money by going with an "all in one" machine. For this we also recommend
and use dell ourselves. If I were ordering a new all in one printer, fax, and scanner
I would order the Dell 2355 DN. That printer is going to run you around $430.
How to save money on your all in one printer
If you do not plan on doing much faxing or scanning then you can save a few hundred dollars
by simply going with a black and white printer Dell B1260dn Laser Printer and then using
an online fax services for your faxes and an iPhone or Andriod app for your scanning.
For scanning we use the Jotnot iPhone app. We rarely fax so when we need to we simply
go to Kinkos. If you decide to go with one of the VOIP phone providers that we recommend
below, many of them also give you online faxing capabilities as well.
Phone System
Due to Voice over IP technology the cost of implementing a phone system for your office
has dropped dramatically in the last 10 years. What once cost thousands of dollars can now
be done for a couple of hundred dollars a month or less.
As an example, a fully hosted phone system from Vocalocity, the service we recommend,
will cost you around $175 a month for 5 users, with unlimited calling to the US and Canada.
This also gives you the ability to forward calls to your cell phone, as well as take
your office phone with you wherever there is an internet connection.
Internet
There are three primary types of internet connections that you will encounter for your
office:
DSL: Generally the slowest of the three options but can be more stable than cable because
you have a dedicated line. Cable: Generally faster than DSL but can be
less stable because you share your connection with multiple people in the area.
Fiber: The fastest and best.
Long story short, if you can get it opt for Verizon Fios (Fiber) which is what we use
and is the top rated internet service provider. If Verizon Fios is not available then AT&T
U Verse is the next best and is also a fiber provider.
I have included a link to an article where you can learn more about choosing the best
internet connection in the resources link below this video.
Lighting
Studies have shown that lighting can have a significant impact on employee productivity
so you want to get this right from the beginning. Most obviously make sure that if there is
a natural light source that is it not blocked, and touches as many of the areas where your
employees sit as possible.
For your artificial lights you want to avoid fluorescent bulbs wherever possible. Instead
opt for full spectrum light bulbs which mimic the light of the sun. They are more expensive
but definitely worth it for the improvement in office environment that will result. I
have included a link where you can order full spectrum lightbulbs from Amazon in the resources
link below this video.
Alarm System
If you want to have an alarm system for your office then there are a variety of options
available. I have included an article with a good overview of some of the better ones
in the resources link below this video.
Business Insurance
If you have read our article on how to choose the right business structure and are operating
as an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp then, you have protected yourself from most types of personal
liability related to the business. However, you can still lose your business as the result
of being sued, or one of many natural disasters that could occur.
This is where business insurance comes in. You can buy insurance to protect your business
from lawsuits related to things like accidents, injuries, product liability (problems with
your product that you are sued for), and malpractice. You can also buy insurance to protect your
business from natural disasters like fires, floods, hurricanes and more.
For small businesses there is a type of policy whose goal is to wrap all of these things
up into one policy which is known as a Business Owners Policy. Pretty much any insurance firm
that you choose to work with will have this type of policy. We like State Farm, however
we also think you should work with an insurance broker that operates locally. With this in
mind we recommend getting quotes from 2 or 3 different providers in your area.
I have included a link with more information about how Business Owner Policies work in
the resources link below this video.
Office supplies
For things like pens and envelopes we also use Amazon prime. The good thing is that if
you forget something you just log back in, order it, and it is there in two days.
Water
We have water delivered to our office monthly and have chosen Poland Springs as our provider.
When ordering for the first time you may want to obtain quotes from a couple of different
providers in your area as they are often willing to negotiate if they know they are competing
for your business.
Coffee and Tea
We use the hot water dispenser option on our poland spring water tower to make tea that
we order from Amazon Prime. For coffee we use a Kureig coffee maker and order K Cups
from Amazon Prime. I have included a link where you can order both in the resources
link below this video.
Artwork for the wall
In addition to lighting sprucing your walls up with some artwork can create a warmer and
more inviting place to work for your employees. In case you weren't convinced that Amazon
offers pretty much everything you need to setup your new office check out Amazon art
where you can order everything from sub $100 paintings to Andy Warhol's.
That's our video for today, if you have any comments or questions please leave them in
the comments section below. Also be sure to stay tuned for the next video where we will
begin a new series on how to hire and manage employees.