Starting a new business at home is costly enough. There are a lot of expenses – investments – to make to get the business up and running. You also have expenses such as marketing campaigns and production costs to worry about. The last thing you need is an expensive home office, especially if you want to stay lean and flexible.
There are several ways you can have a functional home office for your new business without breaking the bank. There is no saving too small. These simple tips and tricks will help you save on the tech and other equipment you use around the home office.
Find Multifunction Tech
You don’t have to get one gadget or piece of equipment for every purpose. Instead of getting a printer, you can now pick up an all-in-one and instantly have a printer, a copier, a scanner, a fax machine, and even a wireless document digitizer. When you need a video camera for product videos, pick up a capable DSLR or mirrorless camera that can also take great photos.
Even office furniture is now designed to serve multiple purposes. You can add a sofa that also doubles as a bed to make the home office more comfortable. A bookshelf or a cabinet can double as the feet of your desk; you just need to add a desk leaf to the set.
Buy Secondhand
There is nothing wrong with buying secondhand tech for your home office. As a matter of fact, going with secondhand items can save you up to 70% on the equipment you need around the office. You can even get secondhand furniture to complete your workspace, all for much less than getting new items.
Searching for used office equipment and tech just got a lot easier now that you have the best tools at your disposal. You can, for instance, do a national Craigslist search in just a couple of seconds. You can also turn to advanced search features on websites such as eBay to find items in fantastic condition at great prices.
Keep It Simple
Your home office doesn’t have to have everything, especially not when you’re just getting started. You may not need a file cabinet or all of that extra storage space you plan to add to the space, so why spend the money now?
Keep the home office simple and focus more on effectiveness. Don’t hesitate to leave space unutilized; you can always expand the office when you need more storage, new gadgets, or better equipment. Leaving space also means having more room for upgrades.
This type of gradual approach works well with the other two tips we covered earlier. Since the goal is to keep your initial investment at a minimum, you can save a lot of money – and use the funds to finance productive things such as marketing or sales – with the tips and tricks we discussed in this article. As an added bonus, you get to keep your investment to a minimum and will have the ability to set a lower breakeven point.