Setting up a home office is an exciting time. You’ve decided you need a proper space for your entrepreneurial efforts and have just the place for it. If you’re not careful, it can cost a lot of money, so here are some tips for keeping costs down at what is typically already an expensive time for a new business.
Get a low-cost courier for the larger/bulkier items
For large furniture pieces like a desk and chair, you might find that delivery is not always included in the price. If you’re buying second hand, you might find that all the furniture that’s suitable for your office is located too far away for you to collect yourself, or is listed as ‘collection only’. If this is the case, use Shiply to find a courier to make the delivery for you. Just make a listing for the delivery job you need and wait for quotes to arrive in your inbox that are up to 75% cheaper than standard delivery rates.
Get creative with your office decorations
You don’t need to spend lots of money on decorating your office space. Perhaps you’d like to commemorate your business achievements or celebrate a milestone with a framed membership certificate or by displaying your awards rather than searching for artistic prints. Many that work from home like to keep their working and family lives separate so they can be productive when they’re committed to working, and relaxed with family the rest of the time. You might like to decorate your working space so it has a very different feel to the rest of the house to further create a separation between environments in order to switch on/off work mode when you need to.
Ditch the paper and use digital productivity tools
Think about the paper-based things you might be likely to buy and decide whether they’re really necessary when there are so many free online tools that are available. Are business cards really necessary when you’ve got a LinkedIn page? Do you really need a big business diary when you’ve got a good calendar app on your smartphone? Do some research for organisational/productivity apps online to see which ones work for you that could save you time as well as money.
Buy second hand
Buy second hand where you can – you’ll be amazed at the bargains you can get on sites like eBay and Gumtree for barely used office equipment that could work perfectly for you.
You could buy used office furniture and even buy your computer second hand, or use your current one. If it’s a laptop, just make sure to follow DSE guidelines so you’re sitting correctly – you may need to invest in an external mouse and keyboard for when you’re at home to prevent back/neck pain and any other problems that can arise from sitting incorrectly at your computer for long periods of time.
