If you're going to set up a home office, you're going to have to invest in technological devices. But if your eyes widen like the proverbial kid in the candy store whenever you walk into the computer store, you need to plan your technological purchases for your home office carefully.
Determine what you absolutely need to run your business, determine your budget, make a list, and stick to it. To help harden your resolve, here's my list of technological devices no home office can do without.
A second phone line for your business is a home office essential. Having only one line for your home and your home office makes you look unprofessional. Also a second phone line makes it easier to answer the phone in a professional manner. When people call your home-based business, they shouldn’t get someone who just says, “Hello”, and then going through the conversational awkwardness of determining whether or not they’ve reached the business they’re trying to contact. They should get someone who says, “Gloria’s Gift Services. Gloria speaking. How may I help you?” Phone Answering Tips To Win Business gives more phone answering advice.
If you’re Internet-connected, and your modem operates over a phone line, a second telephone line is even more crucial for your home office. Customers trying to reach you when you’re online are not going to be impressed with a continual busy signal. (If the service is available in your area, I strongly recommend switching to a cable modem, which entirely avoids this problem.)
Make sure your business line has its own answering machine, so you can set up professional-sounding messages for those times you can’t answer the phone. The recorded messages that many people have on the machines that pick up their personal phone calls, such as, “Hi, you’ve reached the Swift family. We can’t come to the phone right now because we’re bathing the dog,” are a turn-off for business callers.
Your business’ recorded message should state the name of your business, welcome the caller, and provide any necessary additional information, such as the number of your cell phone, if you’re out on a call but can be reached by cell, or your hours of operation. Keep your business message updated. If, for instance, you’re closed for a holiday, say so in your recorded message and state when you’re going to reopen.
Business cards. Get these professionally printed, and keep lots of them with you to hand out to people you meet, stick up on bulletin boards in malls, and attach to whatever professional documents you produce, such as estimates and reports. (See my Business Cards library for tips on business card design and using your business cards as marketing vehicles.)
A Yellow Pages listing. Invest in a separate listing for your business, even when you’re operating out of a home office. It enhances your professional credibility and makes it much easier for potential customers/clients to find you.
A computer. Consider what business tasks you’re going to use your computer for before you buy one; for instance, if you run a computer graphics business, you’ll need high-storage capacity. As a minimum, you’ll need a computer that’s business-capable, with at least a 2 GHz processor and 512 MB Ram, so you can multi-task a business suite such as MS Office.
An ISP (Internet Service Provider). Even if your business isn’t directly related to the Internet, the 'Net is a valuable source of business-related information, and how can you possibly function without e-mail? An Internet connection is now definitely a home office essential.
When it comes to technological devices that it would be nice to have in the home office, the sky's the limit. But you'll find a few suggestions to make your work at home more productive on the next page.
