Setting Up Your Home Office

A functional home office goes a long way in increasing the productivity of your business. Do not hesitate to invest in good furniture and equipments as they will pay you back many times in the long run.

Now that you have a home office, it's time to get set up in a way that encourages productivity. You can use existing pieces of furniture or equipment to get yourself started so you can save money, but you should think ahead and choose items for your office that are safe, in good working condition, and are pleasing to your eye.

If your budget doesn't allow for new furniture, check your local newspaper or telephone book for used furniture stores. The Salvation Army and other thrift or consignment stores often have close to new furniture for sale, so don't overlook such opportunities. Okay, let's start with the essentials.

Home Office Furniture

Desk and Chair

When it comes to choosing a desk, try to find a large one, if possible that will allow you plenty of elbow room when you're working. Your desk should be able to hold your computer monitor and keyboard, your telephone and still have enough room to write at and spread your papers around. Having enough room to allow you to stack inbound and finished work throughout the day is essential to help keep you on track. If your desk comes with a pullout drawer for a keyboard, make sure there's enough room on it for your mouse pad. Some of the newer keyboards, especially the ergonomic versions, are wider than a standard size keyboard, so you might want to take a tape measure along with you.

Your chair should also be of good quality, one with proper back and neck support, if you choose one with a high back. If the backrest, especially around your lower back, isn't sturdy, you'll end up with nagging back pain sooner rather than later. A chair with curved lumbar support is your best bet. The seat cushion should also be roomy enough to allow space around your hip and thigh area. And, of course, one with adequate cushioning is best so certain parts of your anatomy don't fall asleep after an hour of sitting. When seated in your natural position, your chair seat should allow good support for your legs without the backs of your knees pressing up against it. Does your chair pass the support and comfort test? Then let's move on.

Filing and Storage

File cabinets come in all sizes and shapes. There are vertical cabinets and lateral cabinets available, so choose one adequate to your space and filing needs. Vertical versions take up less wall space than lateral ones and can come stacked with two to five drawers. These types hold standard letter and legal-sized documents with ease and come in a wide array of steel gauges and colors. Consider spending a little extra and buying one that's fireproof if you can.

The lateral cabinets are wider, though not as deep as vertical cabinets. They also contain two to five drawers and hold standard size documents. Lateral cabinets allow you to store your documents either left to right, across the span of the drawer, or facing front in multiple rows. Many of the lateral cabinets will fit under work spaces and tables, so if your space is limited, you might consider one of these.

Bookshelves are also a must for many work-at-home businesses, and can be made of wood or metal. Do try to avoid the cheaper fiberboard models however, as they will not stand up to any weight and end up bowing in the middle. Watch out that you don't buy one that's too narrow, or it may become top heavy and topple, especially if you live in earthquake-prone areas or have small children that would love to climb on it.

You may opt to have worktable in addition to a desk in your office. These are great items to spread out you projects. Even if you don't have the space, perhaps you should consider purchasing a folding card table that you can use when you need it, and then tuck it neatly away in a closet when you don't. And of course, storage area is also very important, for keeping completed projects, business expenses, files and anything else that accumulates with the running of your home office. If you compile a huge amount of paper, you may want to consider renting a storage unit off location.

Home Office Equipments

The next important items to consider are your equipment choices. Of course, you'll need a computer and a printer, perhaps even a scanner and fax machine.

Computer

Your needs should determine the type of computer your purchase. If you spend a lot of time traveling, perhaps a laptop or notebook would be your best option. For home, a desktop is still the best. Notebooks are lighter and smaller than most laptops, but look them over and see which you prefer. If you opt for a notebook, you should choose one with a docking station, so that when you are at home, it will hook up to your standard keyboard, mouse and monitor.

One other possibility, if you don't want to lug a laptop or notebook around, it to purchase a PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant. PDA's are a valuable personal tool that, among other things, allows you to keep track of phone numbers, appointments and project lists. With a PDA, you can also hook up with a wireless internet access to your home office computer no matter where you happen to be.

Printers

There are two kinds of printers, ink jet and laser. Laser printers use a toner cartridge and drum assembly and the ink jets use pop-in ink cartridges. Determine your printing needs before you purchase, as there is a difference between the two. If you anticipate a high volume of printed materials, you may want to opt for the laser printer. Specific models are usually rated by monthly workload anticipations. Laser printed copies also produce a better quality text than many ink jets, though the ink jet models are improving yearly and can now compete with the best lasers. Laser printers are also faster than ink jet printers, but ink jets are cheaper if you need color in your printed materials. Lasers that print color are still quite pricy. Still, you might want to buy one of each, which would allow for all of your needs with the optimum in savings.

Another deciding factor is the resolution of your printer. Resolution basically equals the print quality of your documents. By definition, the resolution is defined by the number of dots per inch on your printed page, and is measured vertically and horizontally. A 600x600 dpi resolution is adequate for most business needs.

Speed should be another determining factor. A laser printer should be able to print at least 6 to 10 pages a minute while an ink jet should be able to handle around 4 per minute. You don't want to waste valuable time waiting for your printer to print out your documents when you have better things to do. Today, you can purchase printers that come equipped with a scanner, copies and a fax. If you need all those things anyway, it's better to have them included in one unit.

Telephones

One staple you office needs is a telephone. No matter how techno your office, the telephone is still one of your basic modes of communication between you and your clients or customers. Most phone plans offer multiple features and are still quite cost effective. Most phones now come with programmable speed dialing; allow multiple lines, speakerphone option, conference call options and even headset jacks. You can also opt to add-on Caller ID, voice mail and regular long distance options.

If you move around a lot during your work day, a cordless phone should be your first choice. But choosing a cordless phone also requires a little bit of research. Make sure you choose the right kind of cordless phone. There are two types; analog and digital. Stay away from analog phones. They are extremely susceptible to interference and their range is very limited. You can even hear conversations via baby monitors and other cordless phones. Digital cordless phones have a greater range and insure better privacy due to codes that scramble communication between the base unit and the handset.

More recently a technology called DSS (Digital Spread Spectrum) is available. DSS uses different channels and frequencies to thoroughly scramble communications between the handset and the base unit for your cordless and also offer increased range. They limit electrical interferences and are allowed to use stronger transmitters.

Also take a look at the assigned radio frequency of the cordless phone you're considering. There are typically three categories:

1. 900 MHz: is the worst choice because this frequency is crowded with other electrical devices like baby monitors, cell phones and pagers. This frequency is also fraught with interferences and has a range of about 1,500 feet. They're cheap though, with prices starting at $20.00.
2. 2.4 GHz: This used to be quite popular, but even this spectrum is now inundated with wireless networks, microwaves and other appliances. The range on this phone is about 2,200 feet and prices start at about $50.00.
3. 5.8 GHz: This one is available for wireless devices and is not as crowded as the others, so interference is still at a minimum. The range on these is about 2,200 feet and their price starts at around $150.00.

Make sure that the phone you choose has a headset jack and then purchase a headset. Headsets allow you to keep working as you talk on the phone. And last but not least, make sure you notice the battery life of your future cordless phone. Most cordless phones allow up to four hours of talking time in addition to about seven days in standby. Make sure you are able to replace the battery pack yourself and that your local store carries the particular model number you'll need.

Internet

Depending on your Internet usage, you may opt for either a dial-up account or a dsl account. A dial-up access usually runs around $9.95 and upwards per month and is ideal choice if you use Internet only to check mails and browse sparingly.

If constant, high-speed Internet access is a requirement for your home office business, then you need to step up to either Digital subscriber lines (DSL), or a cable modem. Both provide sufficient speed for any type of business that you are likely to run out of a home office.

If you business heavy Internet usage, then you may opt for high speed DSL access or cable lines. Both services offer sufficient speed to satisfy your home office needs. DSL is superior in technology than cable connections and is usually the preferred choice. However, if it's not available in your locality, you can go for cable connections.

If both are not accessible to you, then you can consider either a satellite connection or a mobile Internet access. Satellite connection involves installing a small dish antenna on your home and it's quite affordable in recent times. Mobile connection involves signing with your cell phone company for Internet services and then using your mobile as a modem to connect to Internet or buying a separate data card exclusively for Internet usage..

As you can see, there are a few key things to remember when equipping your home office. Make sure you are happy with what you buy and that it is both productive and comfortable. Oh, and make sure you keep all those receipts for your new purchases, down to your ink and paper, for next year's tax write offs!

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