In a recent post I talked about setting up your home office. I like working from home. At the moment I’m sitting on my bed with the laptop, as the rain streams past the window and the Concert Programme is playing the Grand March from Aida,. Working from home gives me flexibility to spend time with my kids after school, and then I work later while they relax in front of TV before bed (I stopped watching TV regularly years ago, around 2002 when I left the UK. I haven’t found anything to catch my interest regularly since).
As mentioned, there are lots of things to think about if you are setting up your own office. Perhaps the most taken for granted thing is stationery. Technological gadgetry such as printers, faxes, laptops, desktops, PDAs are much more exciting than consumables like paper, pens and rulers. But good stationery can make you feel more satisfied and look more professional.
There are a number of aspects to consider:
* Cost
* Quality
* Reliability
Finding a reliable supplier is not easy. There are plenty of big companies like Viking Direct or Staples. While you might get the lowest cost, quality can be variable, and you may be at their whim when it comes to reliability of supply. Dealing with a large, impersonal company can be frustrating and slow. Alternatively, there are many small- to mid-range stationery suppliers and stationers, who can provide a personal service, but of course, price can be an issue and you must assess the quality. And reliability can be an issue for them too.
Of course, you must watch out for fraudsters. Online retailers without a physical presence are to be watched out for. If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. When ordering you may be signing up to special reward programmes without realising it, incurring regular charges on your credit card that are very difficult to remove. You can also become the victim of rip-off artists who take your money with no intention of delivering any goods. Though this can happen with a physical store, it is much harder to front up to an Internet company, which may have an office in a different city, or can have a fraudulent physical address, and demand your money back.
If you know others running small businesses or sole trading, you may be able to set up collaborative deals. This lets you order larger volume, which should provide better prices, so clubbing together with friends or colleagues in similar positions can provide benefits also.