NFIB

Home Office Make-Over
03/ 12/ 2002


Whether you're just establishing your small/home office or you've decided it's time for a change, focusing on function over form will reap returns by maximizing efficiency and providing flexibility for future growth, advises Robin Stroebel, owner of Interior LOGIC, Madison, Wis. Today's workshop writer Karen Bankston offers some points to consider when redesigning your home office.

Stroebel recommends that one-person operations undertake a streamlined version of the strategic facilities planning process larger companies use. That entails analyzing how you work, what type of equipment you use now and will add down the road, and what goals you have for your business in three to five years.

Specifically, consider these questions:

How do you use your office? How much space do you need to spread out blueprints, page layouts, research notes, etc.? How much desktop space do you need? Do you need several work surfaces for simultaneous projects?

How much time do you spend in your office? How much time do you spend in the field? What type of business equipment goes with you on the road, and what do you do with it when you're back at home base?

Do you need a conference table to meet with clients and/or colleagues?

How much time do you spend on the phone? With your PC? Digging through files?

What business equipment do you need now? What might you need in the future?

How will your requirements for file storage and other functions expand?

Looking ahead will help you design an office with room for growth. "If you think about how your office might grow, you won't have to squeeze a new file cabinet in and make your whole office less efficient," Stroebel suggests.

As you order installation of electrical outlets, phone lines and data jacks, make sure you have enough for future requirements. Many one-person operations are surprised at how quickly they need a second phone line or fax machine. It'll be cheaper and less disruptive to add outlets and jacks now than, say, 18 months down the line.

On the other hand, Stroebel suggests a frugal approach to purchasing furniture for a small/home office. "I don't think people need to spend a lot of money on their first work surfaces and office furniture," she recommends. "Unless you've got clients coming into your office on a regular basis and you want to look established, focus on functionality more than on how it all looks."

Modular furniture that you can add to as you grow is a safe bet, she notes. Smaller pieces of furniture and mobile carts afford greater flexibility at a better price than traditional L- and U-shaped desks. The additional flexibility will make it easier for you to move into standard square footage if you see a larger office or facilities outside your home as a possibility in the future, she adds.

Like larger businesses, one-person operations benefit when they carefully plan their office layout. "Your office is the heart of your business," Stroebel stresses. "That's where your work flows from."

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