Office Space, Technology, Hardware, Software, and More - Start Your Own Business Step 10
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| Photo by Grovemade on Unsplash |
Okay, depending on the industry, this should be clarified well in advance. But since this series of articles is aimed at self-employed people on the Internet, it is usually not necessary to make large investments in office space, hardware, or technology beforehand.
Of course, this depends on the individual case and that's why I will go into more detail in the following article in the self-employed series and give tips on office technology.
You will also find out which technology and software I use.
Office Space for Start-Ups
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| Office Space, Technology, Hardware, Software, and More - Start Your Own Business Step 10 |
Many start-ups continue their self-employment where they have previously worked privately. In principle, that is not the problem either.
If you could work well there beforehand, for example in a corner of the bedroom, then there is not much to be said against it. Especially since at the beginning of self-employment, every euro that you spend needs to be carefully considered.
I've published a lot of articles here on the subject of the home office. I started a survey a while ago. The question was: do you have an external office?
After all, 71% of 338 participants do not have an external office. 15% already have an external office and 14% are planning to move to external offices.
When Do You Need an Office?
Without going too deeply into the details, I would like to briefly summarize the topic.
If you have customers or employees, or if you simply don't have a proper workplace at home, then you should move to an external office. Even those who cannot concentrate in their home office and are always distracted should consider moving to an office.
The additional costs are more than outweighed by improved visibility and higher productivity.
However, I got along very well in my office in my house and many self-employed people on the Internet work alone. That's perfectly fine there, of course. There is no compulsion to have an external office as a matter of principle.
If you need a shop, the question doesn't even arise for you, but that's less of an issue for the self-employed on the Internet.
In addition, all those who run an online shop should plan well, because the storage and packaging of products in the home is not recommended in the long term.
More articles on this topic:
- Home Office Tips - Distractions, Setup, Motivation, Planning, and More
- Important tips for working from home and typical dangers!
- Office or home office for the self-employed on the net? Advantages of the external office compared to the home office
- Home office tips in book form
Furnishings - Office Technology, Hardware, Software, and More
The furnishing of the office space is of course also an issue. Especially when you settle in an external unfurnished office. But also in the home office, you should provide certain basic equipment for the furnishings.
This includes office furniture that can hold any necessary documents and folders.
An ergonomic desk and a comfortable and healthy office chair should also be purchased.
For many, things may go very well at the kitchen table with the old folding chair. But believe me, the back pain is coming!
Back health and the like is one of the most important working capital, especially for self-employed people online. Anyone who sits at the computer for many hours every day shouldn't save money in the wrong place. That will take its toll a few years later.
Overall, however, setting up your own office does not have to be expensive. You shouldn't fall into the cost trap when dealing with customers and buy very expensive furnishings. On the one hand, this is usually not necessary and it can also have negative effects on potential customers if, from their point of view, one earns more than enough.
Hardware for Start-Ups
Of course, self-employed people online need at least one computer. Depending on whether you travel a lot, an additional notebook or tablet could also make sense.
Many also only work with a laptop, which is out of the question for me. I have been working with 2 monitors for a long time and I don't want to be without them anymore. In my experience, this increases productivity a lot.
More important than gigahertz numbers, etc., are, in my experience, other factors of your office computer :
- Volume
I think that's very important. A few years ago I had an office computer that had a loud fan. That was exhausting and at some point, it was no longer possible. Now I have a desktop computer that is whisper-quiet, which is very, very pleasant and protects against headaches. - RAM
The RAM of a computer is one of the most important factors for the speed of a PC. Especially with older models, you can often get a lot of speed out with more RAM. - Monitor
You look at the monitor for many hours every day (or 2 as with me). That's why you should choose a good monitor. It doesn't have to be for more than 500 euros. But you shouldn't necessarily take the cheap bargain from the supermarket either. You should help your own eyes here by buying good quality. I also find ultra-wide curved monitors exciting. - Mouse and Keyboard
I think that's just as important. Anyone who writes a lot needs a good quality keyboard. And these aren't even particularly expensive. - Connections
Many current USB connections (3.0) should also be available, as well as 2 monitor outputs on the graphics card and ideally also card reader connections. The latter makes it much easier to work with your photos and films.
Of course, the GigaHertz number is not unimportant, but you shouldn't be impressed by it alone.
And you shouldn't wait forever to buy a new computer. Good office computers aren't expensive these days. When I keep seeing how some self-employed people or their employees struggle with 8-year-old PCs and spend more waiting for the slow PC than with the actual work, then I ask myself why this is the completely wrong one Position is saved.
You should buy additional technical devices if you need them. I have a large color laser printer here, which I also use almost every day, including a scanner. The investment is worthwhile for anyone who needs a device regularly. But you should not lump sum at which start-up set everything just because you might need it any time.
You can certainly deduct technical equipment for self-employment from the tax. But that just means you get the sales tax back. You still have to pay the net price and these are costs that should be carefully considered.
Business Start-Up Software
Hardware alone is not enough. Of course, you also need software for your own office space.
With the choice between Mac, Windows PC and Linux system you have of course already made a decision. Some software is available for multiple operating systems. Most of it is exclusive.
I am a Windows user and I am very satisfied with it. Still, of course, I try to save money. I haven't used Microsoft Office for a long time but instead, use Libre Office. And I've never had any problems there.
However, I have subscribed to Photoshop and Lightroom, which is not cheap, but I don't see any equivalent alternative. I use the free Davinci Resolve for video editing.
And so everyone has to decide for themselves which free software they use and what they are willing to spend money on.
I have often given software tips for the self-employed here in the blog and will continue to do so in the future.
In my opinion, the most important thing is to make sure that you choose the software for the long term. If you use proprietary software (developed by a company and not compatible with other providers) and this is no longer developed after a year, you have a problem.
Open-source software with open standards is usually the best solution. Before using software for business, you should read carefully whether it is trustworthy. Quite often there were problems for the self-employed because the cheap software tip from the web contained a virus or a Trojan.
Make Backups!
Backups are very, very important. Self-employed people on the Internet, be it bloggers, online shop operators, web designers, etc., have a lot of intangible assets on their hard drives. You should protect this by regularly performing backups.
I have found inexpensive and free software solutions in the article “ Safe against a data crash! Data backup for the self-employed ”has already been presented.
This is possible in many forms. It doesn't always have to be a NAS (Network Attached Storage) with RAID and automatic backups. An external hard drive, USB sticks, or DVDs are also sufficient for a start. However, these local solutions do not help in the event of a break-in or fire.
Online solutions are ideal for securing at least the most important data outside of your own four walls.
Location of Your Own Office Space
Last but not least, a few words about the location of your own office space.
You should have already worked through this topic by the time you start your business because the location analysis is part of the business plan and should be carefully analyzed.
For self-employed people on the Internet, however, the location is often not nearly as important as it is for traditional services, shops, restaurants, etc. Since large parts of your own business are processed on the Internet, including customer acquisition, it is not very relevant where you physically are working.
However, one should bear in mind that many customers still value personal contact today. I know self-employed people who have settled somewhere abroad and manage their websites from there. That too can have great advantages, especially financial ones.
However, if you are based abroad, you may have a problem with some of the potential customers. Who likes to order expensive things in an online shop whose owner is outside of Germany?
This will at least partially have a negative impact and one has to weigh up whether the positive effects then outweigh the consequences.
You should also think long-term when choosing a location. Contact with other self-employed people or direct cooperation with freelancers and freelancers is made more difficult if you live somewhere in the country.
And there is often the problem for the self-employed that the DSL expansion is nowhere near as good as it should be.
I only recently found out from a friend that he couldn't get a DSL connection in his new house because, according to Telekom, everything is at full capacity. I didn't even think about that a few years ago when we were building an office building. A cold chill runs down my spine when I think about not having DSL.
Overall, however, it can be said that self-employed people are much more flexible in choosing a location online and that their physical location does not have as much impact on the success (positive or negative) as is the case with traditional self-employed.
So It Goes on
The next article in the series of articles to become self-employed is about taxes.
I give an overview of the taxes that are relevant for business start-ups and try to point out possible pitfalls.
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