How to Purchase Office Furniture on a Budget!
30 Mar 2023
If you want to purchase office furniture on a budget, then there are a few things you will need to consider. To start, you need to determine when to spend money and when to save money. There is a delicate balance involved in buying office furniture, especially when money is tight. Certain items may be cheaper, but may not last and need replacing and other items may seem expensive, but may help enhance your business in ways that will make the upfront cost worthwhile. Handy hint number one is to always check out the warranty on products purchased - this is generally a good indicator of the durability of the product
Begin by creating an overall budget that is realistic and feasible. Start listing out all of the office furniture you will need, in order of importance. Ideally, you will be able to purchase everything on your list, but that may not be possible in some cases. Listing the items in order of importance will make it easier to make those 'crunch' decisions if something needs to dropped from the list
Here are some additional Handy Hints on how to purchase office furniture on a tight budget.
How Do I Choose the Best Office Furniture?
The office furniture that you choose should be both aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically sound. Moreover, your selected items need to match your existing office decor as you don't want non-matching items to be an 'eyesore'.
Understanding the space you have available is also paramount. The office furniture that you select must fit comfortably into your office and not create a cramped office environment that can impact on employees comfort and productivity. And don't forget to allocate space (for staff and storage) that provides for growth into the future - if required.
Having a sound plan is paramount and ensuring the plan is communicated to all staff will ensure their support and buy-in during what can be a disruptive time. The plan should include a layout design drawing, so the entire team will know where everyone and everything is going, a checklist for delivery of the new items, temporary storage for these items, removal/disposal of existing items, assembly of the new items, removal of packaging and waste, IT and telecommunications support, contigency for critical workflow processes - during downtime and quality control checks to ensure everything is operational.
Benefits of Office Furniture That is Ergonomically Designed
Furniture that is ergonomically designed will help maximise efficiency and productivity and reduce injury to staff, causing expensive downtime. Poorly designed office furniture can cause injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, sciatica, neck strain, eye strain, headaches, muscle aches, and joint problems. It is important that the office products purchased have ergonomic features that are adjustable to meet the individuals specific requirements. This is particulary important when choosing office chairs for your staff. It is recommended that you seek advice on the best seating options for your particular business and also ask to trial the suggested chair/s - if possible. Desking options are wide and varied but once again you need to ensure that there is some flexibility to meet individual user's needs. Foot rests, monitor arms and desk risers are all products that can affordably achieve this flexibility
How to Furnish the Office on a Budget
Plan to buy all of the chairs you require (visitor, operator, cafeteria and meeting room) from the same source. This will give you bulk buying discounts - and the chairs (from the same stable) will blend in with each other. Multi-purpose storage solutions are also available and these will enable all of your office items to be stored within the same storage product - rather than incurring additional cost for different storage products. In addition, if you lack floor space for storage shelves and cabinets mounted onto your walls are available. Individual desks of different sizes are available to give you some flexibility within your layout design - and desks with shared frames (that create pods of desks) are also available. These shared desks are space efficient and cost effective. Low cost desk screens will provide staff with noise absorbtion and privacy. Open plan offices are significantly less expensive than individual offices and fixed partitions - and they take up less space.
Taking the First Step
Take time to explore the options available to you. Office Products Online provides on-site support to scope you needs, obligation free layout design drawings, a wide range of affordable office furniture products (many with 15 year warranties), delivery and installation, quality control checks and warranty management. Visit our website at www.officeproductsonline.co.nz and view our Case Studies and Testimonials from our many satisfied customers.
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