Essential Office Set-up For Start-ups

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As a start-up business, you need the right systems and environment to make your business more efficient. Plan properly from the beginning to make sure you have everything you need, and spend and save in the right places. 

Furnishing

Start with the basics in furniture and equipment. 

• For most people a standard desk with an adjustable chair with proper support is ideal. 
• Go through office supplies catalogues to see what you’ll need. 
• Visit auctions of office furniture to get good value.
• Check an office clearance company for complete sets of office furniture from closed or downsized companies. 
• Check if your rent includes any furniture. 

Plan Your Layout

• Arrange the office so time isn’t wasted moving around. 
• Keep the equipment and files that get used most in easy reach. 
• Seat employees who work together close together. 

Visitors

If you will have visitors, think about what they might need. 

• Do you need a meeting room?
• What will impress your visitors when they arrive?

Communications

Make sure you have plenty of telephone lines and extensions, through business networking cable installation. 

• Shop around for a supplier to save money.
• If you will be working from home, think about adding a dedicated business line. 

There are a few different ways to get the communications equipment that you’ll need. 

• Most equipment can be bought, rented, or leased. 
• Find suppliers online. Shop around for bargains. 

Make sure you are easily contactable, so your customers and clients can always get in touch with you when they need to. 

• Being available is essential for start-ups. Think about what you will need to use to make sure you can always be reached. 
• Most customers and suppliers will expect to reach you by email. 
• A mobile phone will keep you contactable at all times, so get a business mobile. Call charges can soon add up but look for tariff structures with pre-pay deals designed for businesses. 
• Set up call waiting alerts, so you will know if someone is trying to reach you while you’re on another call. You can then switch back and forth between calls as you need to. 
• Get call diversion so you can redirect incoming calls to the best person to handle them. 
• Some callers might not like leaving messages, so you try to answer every call. 

Office Equipment

The cost of buying all your office equipment will soon be offset by the time that you can save by having it. For most start-up business, computer equipment will be able to pay for itself within the first year. 

• Get the right software, so it can improve your accuracy and productivity, and reduce the amount of time you have to spend on repetitive tasks. Accounts software is a good example of this. 
• Quality hardware needs to be reliable and fast, so you don’t struggle with downtime. 

If you need a photocopier, make sure you buy one that will suit the amount of copying you expect to need to do. 

• A lot of small businesses do well with an all-in-one printer for everyday copying needs. You can use photocopy shops for larger amounts of copies. 

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