Equipping Your Start-Up Office

Equipping Your Start-up Office
1. What is your reaction to each article?
My reaction to the article “How to Create a Great Start-up Office Space on a Bootstrap Budget” was overall positive. I think the author provided a lot of realistic and applicable tips and ideas to create a comfortable and operative workspace for a business.
Some of my favorite ideas were pretending to shop as a college student on a budget and buying in good used condition. Having this mentality as a college student can save you hundreds of dollars and allows business owners to get a quality item that gets that serves its purpose. Also, when you buy used, you can literally save over half of the cost for the same item. An item’s value depreciates so much compared to its
condition, in most cases. Lastly, I also liked the idea of taking off 18” per measurement just to make sure you have enough room. It’s better to have too much room when planning than not enough.
My reaction to the article “Nine Tips for Equipping Your Start-up’s Office on the Cheap” was also positive and beneficial.
It provided nine helpful tips (some of which were already covered in the previous article) that allow business owners to save time, resources, and money when establishing their new work office. Some of the key tips I took away from this article included being able to think before you buy and to procrastinate on the purchase of office space. I think these are two great tips because they make you question yourself on if you actually need an office space in the first place and these tips also make sure you’re not wasting excess money on things you won’t need or use in your
office.
2. What is your overall impression of each article? Helpful? Not so much. Why?
My overall impression of the first article was surprised that the owner was able to get as much as they did for only $4,500. A big part of this was due to the location they chose to set up their office. By choosing the right location, you can save a lot of money that can be put towards other start-up expenses. The only thing I disagreed and disliked was their color palette. I thought the whole orange, blue, and green color scheme looked unprofessional and childish. The office looked more like a kindergarten workplace than a professional workspace where business occurs. I thought the article was overall helpful, but not specifically for the circumstance with my start-up since I won’t be requiring new construction of an office space. However, there were a lot of helpful tips when it comes to budgeting that could be applied to me and my start-up.
My overall impression of the second article was also positive because all nine tips that were given were good and beneficial tips to have not only for your office but for your business as a whole. Once again, since I will be working from a home office, the article wasn’t entirely helpful for me personally, but all the tips were definitely beneficial as an overall guide to business owners looking to create an office space. Some new tips from this article that would be applicable to me include not immediately investing in software, thinking before buying, outsourcing, and the procrastination of office space.
3. List four helpful ideas from each article. Tell me how these four ideas will assist you in bootstrapping your start-up business office.

The four main helpful ideas I obtained from article one includes the idea of shopping like a college student, making your office space a comfortable and suitable atmosphere for you and your employees, taking advantage of sales, and putting your office space together fast.
By shopping like a college student, I would keep in mind that I am on a tight budget and that I only buy what I absolutely need. It would also remind me that I don’t need the best items, I just need something I’m comfortable owning and something that will get the job done. The biggest takeaway from this advice would be buying used or buying from other businesses. Buying used can get you the added quality you might need at a fraction of the cost; you just might have to settle for some minor cosmetic wear and tear.
The author is absolutely right when they talk about making your office space as comfortable, if not more comfortable than your own home. The article states that we spend about one-third of our day in the office. We don’t want to absolutely dread being there, so we should make our surrounding tolerable that way it is easier to focus on business and getting more work done each day. Since my office space would be inside of my own home, I would already be pretty comfortable.
When buying a lot of the same type of office supplies at the same time, coupons and savings from different retail stores can come in handy. Usually, 10% off one minimally priced item isn’t much, but when we’re talking about purchasing a few hundred dollars’ worth of office supplies at the same time, that 10% off can add up. By taking advantage of these savings, you can have an extra one or two hundred dollars in your wallet that can go towards even more items. I would search for deals and coupons especially around Black Friday to purchase inventory for my business as well as a laptop exclusively designated for work-related material.
The last piece of advice from the article that would be applicable to my start-up would be putting my office space together fast. This is pretty common-sense stuff. The sooner you get settled in, the sooner you can get back to business. And the sooner you get back to business, the more revenue you take in. It wouldn’t take me too much time to assemble an office space inside of my own apartment or home. I would estimate that I could have my office space set up within one week of assembly. Even though it may seem like common sense. A lot of people drag out the process of completing their office space and it can take months to finally get settled in.
Four helpful ideas from article two include not immediately investing in software, thinking before buying, outsourcing, and the procrastination of office space.
For my business, I will not need to purchase high-end software, at most I will need an online spreadsheet to track and store inventory as well as customer information. These services can be completed for me using inexpensive software such as Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
By thinking before I buy items, it allows me to check in with myself to see if I actually need this item for my business and assess if it will actually see use. By taking the time to ask yourself if you really need something, you won’t get sucked into overbuying and overspending.
Even though I will rarely take advantage of this method, outsourcing personnel services such as an accountant or lawyer could be a huge asset and money-saver.
In the rare case of a business lawsuit, I could outsource a lawyer to represent myself and the business and if numbers beginning to get too extensive to calculate on my own, an accountant might be called upon for their services during the tax-filing season or quarterly or annual financial reports/evaluations.
Lastly, the procrastination of office space would highly be considered. I am almost certain I could handle 100% of the business tasks within my home office. If the company were to expand drastically, then I might want to consider expanding my office space as well, but until that happens, it is important to hold off on expanding until it is absolutely necessary; that way you aren’t wasting time and money.
4. You may consider (1) using a room in your apartment (designate that space as an office space; it should be separate from any common areas) or, (2) leasing a space. If leasing a space, tell me what that will cost you each month including rent, insurance, utilities, etc. Save this information. You will use it in your business
plan.

I will be using a separate room in my apartment or home as an office space for RETT Rentals.
5. Using a bullet list, name the office items that you will be needing in your office space. Along with that list, give the approximate cost of each item.

 (1) 512 GB MacBook Pro (Used) $1,000
 (1) Glass Desk (already owned) $0
 (1) Leather Adjustable Office Chair (already owned) $0
 (1) Desk Fan (already owned) $0
 (1) Trash Bin $10
 (1) Color Printer/Scanner/Copier and Ink $200
 Computer Paper $5
 Pens, Highlighters, Pencils, Erasers $20
 Post-it notes/Index Cards $10
 (1) Desk Lamp (already owned) $0
 (1) Smart Phone w/ GPS (already owned) $0
 (1) Used couch on Craigslist $200
 (1) Large Decorative Plant $30
 (1) TV $500
 (1) Fish Tank with Accessories (already owned) $0
 (200) Custom Business Cards $20
 Google Sheets, Slides, Docs $0
 Gmail $0

TOTAL: $1,995