Real Estate in Phoenix, Arizona

Home Office on a Shoestring

Of course, a home office would be terrific, but you are just starting a business and don't want to put scarce capital into furnishings.  What's a thrifty business person to do?

    1.   Hit the yard sales!  I'm not a yard sale junkie normally; in fact my last two purchases were a desk for my son at $2.50 and a two-drawer filing cabinet for $3.50.  Granted, they each needed a sponging off, but both were in great condition and have served us well for four years now. My desk, solid maple with four broad drawers, was a pricier $20 second-hand.

          Shelves can also be found at yard sales, and are very versatile for the home business start-up.  They can hold reference material, computer media, equipment and even your iced tea (because there are strict rules about drinks never being on the computer desk.)

     2.  Use what you have.  TV trays often wander into our home office to give us a larger workspace temporarily; great for stuffing a few envelopes while checking email or waiting for programs to load (don't you hate those stolen minutes?) See Streamline your business with a Home Office for more ideas.

     3.  Shop the discount stores.  Files can be kept temporarily in cardboard file boxes from the office supply centers.  It's far better to invest in the folders (hanging and tabbed), taking the time to set up an efficient filing system in boxes, than to have your home business capital gobbled up by fancy filing cabinets for the first year or so.

          Paper for your in-house use can be the economy type from the big-box store, but keep some top quality paper on hand for important communications.

          A chair, I've found, MUST have wheels and rotation.  I haven't had any luck getting these second-hand (they're always broken).  But I did start with the economy model from the discount store -- I've now graduated to one that has arms.  Always test your chairs to make sure they are suited to your proportions - one size does NOT fit all.

Unless you are often meeting clients in a home office (most who work at home aren't), having posh furnishings is not an effective way to spend capital during the start-up phase of a home business.  The main essential at this point is to have a space designated and dedicated to your work (see Do I need a home office?) So to keep expenses down during your home business start-up, get your furnishings at a discount and use what you have on hand.  Put the word out to friends who ‘do' yard sales that you need office furnishings; maybe you'll get a call some Saturday morning with a smokin' deal on a $125.00 filing cabinet for $14.00.  You never know.

Call me at (623) 337-8990 to find your home office ready property in the Phoenix area.  Or search for properties on my website at http://www.homekey.org/   

Dedicating a room of the house to be used as an office is a major step.  It has tax consequences, (good and bad), and it takes up space that Braden may want for his Legos or Kayla wishes she had as a home theater to enjoy the latest flicks with her teen friends.  What are the top ten signs that it's time to set up a home office?

1. The files need to be moved off the bed each night to pull down the bedspread.
2. The dining table can't be used from February to April while the income tax info is being organized.
3. Clients can hear the rumblings of the dishwasher when you are setting up appointments by phone.
4. The computer screen doubles as a tie rack when hubby undresses at night.
5. There are sticky notes with clients' call-back information in every room of the house (and we thought Bluetooth was such a grand invention).
6. Where, oh where has my receipt gone? Where, oh where can it be? With its paper so short and its $ so long, oh where, oh where can it be?
7.  A stack of books, test papers to be graded, documents to be faxed, forms to be filled in, orders to be processed, articles to be revised (name your favorite) surrounds every chair in the family room. 
8. Because of #7, vacuuming is likely to trigger an avalanche.
9. Baby Britten learned how to receive a fax before he could say "Daddy".
10. The cat, the dog and the hamster have all been involved in ‘processing' your paperwork in the last two months.

Seriously, though, what criteria should we use to determine it's time to set up a home office?

1. Your ‘day job' requires night work that can be done at home (teachers, lawyers, ministers, etc.)
2. You have no permanent desk of your own at your day job (realtors, salespeople, artists, musicians, etc.)
3. You want to begin your own business entirely separate from your day job.
4. You have an online business that is booming, creating a need for storage space to stock supplies or inventory.

These are all valid reasons for a home office.  Sometimes life presents new opportunities that require more space to germinate and grow.  Confining a project to an unsuitable space limits productivity and puts barriers in our path (sometimes literally - like tripping over the laundry basket on the way to answer the phone). 

Unleash your business potential with a home office/library/study.  Amazing results happen when a space is dedicated and organized for action.

www.homekey.org

Packing and unpacking is like working a massive jigsaw puzzle.  When your home office is included, you can't afford to lose any pieces.  To add to the complexity, usually you keep the office functioning right up until moving day, and need to get it up and running again immediately after the relocation.  To make moving your home office a success, try these tips:

1.  Make arrangements in advance. Send out notifications of the impending change of address.  Order new business cards, stationery and other print items that contain your address.  Verify that the new location has the required number of telephone and internet lines; if not, make appointments with providers to have them installed.

2.  Begin packing rarely used items early.  Some items we reference daily, others we keep on hand 'just in case'.  Keep your daily items at hand, but spend an hour each evening boxing up the lesser-used supplies.

3.  Back up your computer hard drive.  This is essential to the success of your move.  Anything can happen to equipment in transport.  A moving company can pay you for lost or damaged equipment, but they can't get lost data back again.

4. Last out, first in.  Your most basic business items, the ones you refer to daily, should be the last to go into a box and the first out at the new location.  Make sure the moving company knows this, and mark each box clearly so necessary supplies do not get lost in the shuffle.

Expect to have some downtime in your business during your move, but minimize the pain by keeping in perspective your long-term goals for the move.  Transitions -- and the upheaval they cause-- are life's way of bringing growth and renewal.

May your move take you upward and onward.

Marsha Cleaveland

Contact me for your real estate needs in Phoenix, Peoria and Glendale, Arizona.

www.HomeKey.org

Today's connectivity makes working from home convenient and cost-effective.  Basic requirements for today's efficient home office include great lighting; telephone and Internet connections; and space for basic equipment such as telephone and printers, as well as paper files.  Shelves and cabinets organize storage. A bookshelf to the right of the desk, in arm's reach, for reference books and binders saves steps and compresses more work into less time. 

Using wall space for large desk-pad sized monthly calendar pages keeps us on-task and focused; I keep this month as well as the next two months posted.  A tiny spiral notebook beside the computer keyboard holds all those pesky user names and passwords that proliferate as our online time increases.  Elevate your monitor on a wire shelf and you will have less neck strain, as well as being able to keep CD-roms, notepads, and business cards conveniently under the shelf.

www.homekey.org