When you’re moving into a new space, it can be tempting to go on a shopping spree to furnish your entire office. Before you buy – especially if you are strapped for cash – you may want to think about a different option: leasing your furniture.

When to Buy

Buying your furniture can be a benefit to your business. For example, there are tax incentives associated with investing in equipment and furniture.

And you plan to be in your new location for several years, then buying your furniture will likely make the most sense. After all, you can lease furniture for years and never own it, and you may end up spending more than you would have if you had just bought it originally.

Tip: Always seek advice from your trusted financial advisor
when considering major purchases.

When to Lease

Leasing can be a good idea if your workspace is temporary or if you are especially tight on capital. Unlike buying furniture, there is often little or no down payment on leased furniture.

Bottom line

• If you have a flexible budget or there tax incentives that make purchasing feasible, you’ll likely want to buy — or, perhaps, finance.
• Over the long run, you’ll probably pay more by leasing–and own nothing after spending that money.
• If you’re not sure about your location or need more cash on hand, you should consider leasing until you feel more stable.

Every situation is unique, however. This is something you should talk over with your accountant or other tax or financial advisor.

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If your company plans to move into new office space in the future, here is some advice you should strongly consider: Hire a professional to help you design and plan your space. Hiring a designer is something you may think is an expense you can avoid, but having someone who plans offices for a living can save you time, hassle and money in the long-run. And in some cases, it may help you avoid wrongheaded decisions you’ll be regretting for years. 

3 ways a commercial designer will likely save you time, money and hassle

1 | Balance competing needs or desires

Whether it’s deciding on a color palette or laying out a budget and timeline for the project, there will be a constant parade of decisions that will likely include the question, “Do you want this or that, because you can’t have both?” Just a few of the topics that will likely need the help of a professional in the decision making process:

• Space
• Budget
• Color
• Style
• Work Processes
• Culture
• Privacy
• Noise
• Technology
• Lighting
• And more…

2 | Take care of the basics

There are some big-picture decisions you’ll have to make, but like most things in life, “the devil is in the details.” A professional commercial designer should be an expert in the details. He or she will help you through a long list of considerations that you’ve never considered. Here are just a few of the topics–each with  hundreds of associated details:

• Furniture
• Panel systems
• Conference rooms
• Seating
• Wall systems
• Power and Phone systems
• Data systems and networks
• Security
• HVAC
• Regulatory requirements
• And more…

3 |Answer lots of questions and hold lots of hands

A professional designer will ask you lots of questions. But more than likely, you will ask even more. Often, the questions will involve money and start with the word, “Why?”

Advice before starting the planning process

• If you purchase all your furniture from one supplier, they may offer to provide a designer as a free service. While this may be a good option for some, consider hiring a fee-based, independent designer who has no financial incentives to recommend one manufacturer over another.
• Appoint a committee of people on your staff to serve as a sounding board for the designer. Make sure the designer has the opportunity to ask everyone about the ways they work and any ideas they may have.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks paper as one of the largest components of most office waste. By eliminating paper from your office (or at least reducing it), you can significantly decrease your office supply and trash disposal bills in an earth-friendly (and cost-savings) way. Here are a few ways to use less paper in a typical small business.

1 | Pay bills online

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No need to write or print paper checks. Banks and online payment systems offer secure online bill pay options. You’ll save the cost of postage, paper, and checks by paying online, as well as freeing up the time you spent doing it the old-fashioned way.

2 | Issue invoices online

(Image: Thinkstock)

Like online bill pay, paperless billing is simple — and speeds up the delivery of receivables.

3 | Set up a cloud-based file-organizing and sharing system

Services like Dropbox,  Apple iCloud, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive (and others) are paper-free ways to organize, share, and archive work-related files.

4 | Scan archival documents and add them to your cloud-based system

(Image: Thinkstock)

Get rid of all those filing cabinets by scanning old paper documents and storing them on a hard drive or, even better, on a cloud storage site. You’ll also save space and improve your ability to communicate internally and externally.

5 | Use secure online signing

(Image: OurHero via flickr.com)

No more need for those annoying post-it flags on print documents–DocuSign and other apps and websites provide secure ways to sign documents online. Besides reducing paper use, online signing is invaluable when deadlines are involved.

6. Use a collaborative note-sharing system

(Image: Evernote.com)

Popular note-sharing platforms like Evernote allow users to capture and organize notes, then share them with others. You can tag and annotate notes, and organize them into notebooks for easy sharing.

7 | Go digital with calendars

(Image: Wikipedia)

An online calendar with supporting apps can easily replace a paper one. Google, Microsoft and Apple all have calendar approaches that make it easy to share an office calendar. It’s one of the easiest ways to save paper and improve office efficiency, too.

8 | Use mobile apps to scan documents, receipts and business cards

The most downloaded business apps, both Android and iOS, are variations of one function: capturing documents with your camera and organizing them in various types of folders. Use one of those apps to transfer information into other services mentioned above.

One last tip

Turn off all of those computing, scanning and storing devices when you leave the office each day.

Recently, we received an email* that asked one of those questions that make us realize that even simple words like “fulfillment” can be confusing to new small business owners. For others perhaps, the term can refer to some state of bliss achieved from a job well done. But for those who run a small business, the business term “fulfillment” is all about getting your product into the hands of your customers.

*Email us at Tips@SmallBusiness.com

What does the business term fulfillment mean?

Fulfillment is the process of getting products to customers who order them. (As in, “fulfilling an order.”) While the term “fulfillment” is simple to understand, it’s one of those “devil in the details” things a small business owner or manager discovers can be the business version of juggling buzz saws.

The pieces and parts of fulfillment

Historically, the term “packing warehouse” was used to define what is today called fulfillment house or fulfillment center (or in the U.K., fulfillment centre). The term fulfillment is attached to other points along the “supply chain” and can be associated with terms like “order fulfillment” or “product fulfillment.”

The term “fulfillment center” is used for the large warehouse structures where the logistics of processing and shipping products to customers take place.

Fulfillment comes in many flavors

There are several ways the word is used and there are various types of ways a company can access fulfillment services if their business involves the shipment of products, parts or other goods. Here are some examples.

• You sell products and outsource the fulfillment to a company that specializes in storing and shipping products for other companies. The term “drop shipper” or “drop shipping” is sometimes applied to such businesses.
• You fulfill your own orders, perhaps in your kitchen until it takes over the garage and guest room.
• You work with a larger version of a drop shipper and utilize the services of a logistics company that will handle your warehousing and fulfillment.
• You become a major manufacturer or retailer and you operate your own fulfillment center or networks of fulfillment centers.
• You become massive and not only handle the fulfillment of your own products, but you sell fulfillment services to other companies. (Example: Amazon Services.)

Outsourcing fulfillment vs. DIY shipping

There are clear benefits to packing and shipping your own orders: it’s flexible and cheap. For these reasons, businesses that are just starting out or businesses that have unique packaging needs, often choose to handle their own logistics.

And regardless of age or industry, any business that is struggling with cash flow will often be better off handling things in-house. Sometimes you have more time to spend than money.

But if your business is growing quickly and you have the cash on hand to outsource, you may be interested in exploring third-party warehousing and fulfillment. There are many logistics companies that will store your product, and take care of packing and shipping your orders.

How to choose a logistics company

If you want to hire a logistics company, the first thing you’ll probably do is head to Google. If you’re lucky, maybe you have a friend or colleague who can make a few recommendations. Now, how do you choose the right one?

1. Industry specialization

More than anything, it comes down to finding the right fit. Just like every e-commerce store functions a little bit differently, so does every fulfillment company. Many of them specialize in certain industries or types of business.

2. Their existing clients

Try to find a logistics company that already works with businesses similar to yours. This is particularly true for e-commerce merchants who have their own sets of needs.

Consider more than the price when selecting a fulfillment company

While price is important, finding a company that is a good fit is just as important. Many companies choose a provider based solely upon price, only to find out that quality is absent from the equation. This can be very painful when shipments are delivered without the proper items or are not delivered on time.

VIA (and for more information) | Shopify.com “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Third-Party Warehousing and Fulfillment“

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A chair becomes ergonomic only when it specifically suits a worker’s size (body dimensions), his or her particular workstation, and the tasks that must be performed there. From the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, here are the basics of ergonomic chairs.

Why is having the right chair so important?

Today, in industrialized countries, many people sit for most of the time that they are awake. Although sitting requires less physical effort than standing or walking it puts a lot of stress on lumbar area. Combined effects of a sedentary lifestyle and a job that requires sitting can lead to many health problems.

Key things to consider when purchasing an ergonomic chair

One chair does not fit everyone | The users’ body dimensions must be used when selecting a chair so that it does not strain one part of the body while fitting another.

Collect data about the user’s body height | The optimal seat height is about one quarter of the body height. But this is only a rule of thumb since the torso-to-leg ratio can vary widely.

There is no chair suitable for every activity | For example, dentists require a different chair than industrial workers or computer operators

Consider maintenance and repair costs | Check with the manufacturer for items to inspect and when to inspect them.

Features of a good chair (checklist)

Adjustability | Check to see that seat height is adjustable.
Seat height range | Check whether the seat height can be adjusted to the height recommended for the worker(s) who will use it. Other chairs may have to be selected for very short or tall workers.
Backrest | Check to see that the backrest is adjustable both vertically and in the frontward and backward direction and has a firm lumbar support.
Seat depth | Select the seats that suit the tallest and the shortest users.
Stability | Check for the stability of the chair; a five-point base is recommended.

Additional considerations

• Armrests with adjustable heights are good for computer operators.
• Wider or narrower armrests may also be required depending on the worker’s dimensions and tasks they do.
• If chairs with casters are needed, choose ones that match the type of flooring you have

Who should pick out the chair?

Personal preference is essential to the process of selecting a chair. But after some suitable chairs have been identified, allow the person who will use the chair most to try it out in a real work situation. It is especially useful to obtain several sample chairs for a trial comparison by those who will be using them. Make sure that the chair meets the needs of the workers and their jobs before any final selection is made.

Even a great chair can’t solve all of the ergonomic problems of working in a sitting position

A chair is only one of the components to be considered in workstation design. All the elements such as the chair, footrest (if needed), work surface, document holders, task lighting and so on need to have flexibility and adjustability to be “designed in.”

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Small Business Office Furniture Glossary for the First Time Buyer

VIA | Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

Photo | H. Michael Karshis via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

At SmallBusiness.com, we’re fans of anything that helps organize and store the wires, cables and blocks of plastic that have taken over our lives. Here’s proof: We even have a Pinterest board devoted to the topic. So yes, we were impressed recently when we learned about the Slyde Charging Solution, a family of products that provide lockable workstation spaces where a worker can charge, store and secure valuables and electronic devices—while hiding the wire-nests that have become a fixture on most open-space desks.

Slyde is the brainchild of Scott Lesizza, one of the owners of the New York-based furniture dealer Workwell Partners. Frustrated with the sameness of open-office designs and workstations with too few plugs, Lesizza began working on a solution that evolved into the products that are now a part of Slyde.

The Slyde Divyde

A great example of the Slyde concept is its Divyde Desktop Charging Station. Like traditional dividers in an open-space office design, Divydes help establish territory for workers and provide accessories like racks for hanging folders and family photos.

But the Divyde also provides the worker a convenient area in which to charge their cell phone and mount and charge their iPad.

It also has a lockable cabinet (key or combination) and two side baskets that provide additional storage for electronic devices and office supplies.

Inside the lockable cabinet, there are electrical outlets and USB 2.0 ports so up to five devices can be charged simultaneously.

Slyde Charging Drawer

The Slyde Charging Drawer takes electronic devices off the desktop and houses them in a lockable charging drawer beneath the work surface. It comes with plugs for charging up to three devices, enough space for iPads and other tablets, notebooks and phones, and two USB ports for syncing multiple devices to your computer. It is also lockable, providing workers a secure place to house devices.

Slyde Charging Drawer Insert

For use with existing drawers, the Slyde Charging Drawer Insert houses devices in an underutilized area of storage pedestals and cabinets.

Slyde Ped

As more and more paper records stored inside hanging folders are being replaced by digital files, workstation pedestals have become less and less “file drawers.” Now, much of their function is for storage.

In addition to having space for filing, electronics, and personal items, the Slyde Ped also has charging receptacles, and docking stations—and even some room for a few remaining hanging folders.

Pricing and ordering information available from Slyde:

Slydedrawer.com
info@slydedrawer.com
646.630.3090

Photos via Slyde Charging Solutions

If you’ve kept up with the SmallBusiness.com coverage of the shared-office or shared-workspace concept called coworking, you know it is booming. Emergent Research has recently updated their on-going research into the growth of coworking. Once again, we thank Emergent’s Steve King, a regular contributor to SmallBusiness.com, for bringing us up to date with Emergent’s forecast of the future of coworking.

Coworking is growing and hybridizing so fast, we’re having a hard time keeping up with it. Emergent Research recently released our 2016 coworking forecast and we are projecting continued rapid growth over the next four years, although at a slower rate than the industry’s current dizzying pace.

Future global growth in the number of coworking spaces

(Note: Coworking facilities describe themselves with different names (places, facilities, locations, etc.). We’re using the term “Spaces” in this article.)

11,000 | Number of coworking spaces (locations) available now (2016)
26,000 | Number of estimated coworking spaces available in 2020.
23.8% | Compounded annual growth rate in coworking spaces, 2016-2010

Future global growth in the number of coworking space members

976,000 | Global coworking members in 2016
3.8 million | Global coworking members in 2020.
41% | Compounded annual growth rate in coworking space members, 2016-2020

Why is the rate of growth of members higher than the growth rate of facilities?

Because coworking spaces are getting bigger, both in size and number of members

• New coworking spaces tend to be much larger than older spaces
• Existing spaces are expanding by adding more space and members
• Coworking operators are focusing on better designs that serve more members per square foot of space
• Emergent is forecasting a 77% increase in the average number of members per space over the next 4 years

Why will the rate of growth of new spaces slow?

The number of spaces is forecast to grow 18% in 2020, down from a 41% growth rate in 2016. This, in part, reflects larger sizes of coworking spaces. But it also reflects a maturing market and the challenges associated with rapid growth as an industry grows larger. Member growth also slows over the forecast period but is still growing at a very brisk 26% pace in 2020.

Bottomline | Coworking still has a lot of room for growth

In terms of share of the market, coworking will still be small to tiny in 2020 depending on your market definition. The real estate firm JLL says coworking spaces represent only “0.7 percent of the total U.S. office market” and less than that outside of the U.S. (Our forecast would bump that up to about 2% in 2020.)

Here’s another way to think about the growth potential of coworking spaces.

23,000 | Number of Starbucks locations globally | 2016
34,000 | Number of McDonald’s locations globally | 2016

We think it’s reasonable to believe coworking could be bigger than Starbucks. Interestingly enough, by 2020 some Starbucks stores might be considered coworking spaces.

Parkopedia, a Yelp-like web-based service for finding parking lots, has announced it will start providing data to users of Apple Maps.

Parkopeida, accessible via its website or mobile apps, allows drivers to find the closest parking to their destination and tells them how much it will cost and whether or not  a space is available. Parkopedia also allows drivers to pay for parking online, through a mobile app.

Users will now be able to find parking lots via the Parkopedia iOS app and then click through from Apple Maps to more detailed information including pricing, user reviews, special offers and real-time space availability. Users will also be able to make reservations.

Parkopedia has information about parking lots in 75 countries and provides information to drivers of several models of cars, including such as BMW, Ford, Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, Toyota, Volvo, an VW, as well as via devices from companies like Garmin.

Parkopedia provides information on 40 million parking spaces in over 150,000 facilities across 6,000 cities in 75 countries; including real-time parking space availability information in over 500 cities in 30 countries.

VIA | MacRumors

graphic | SmallBusiness.com

Open office design is a popular trend these days. To cope with ambient noise, workers have invested in headphones with noise reduction technology built in—or earbuds with the volume cranked up. But what about those times when a chat among co-workers is needed (and Slack isn’t the answer)? Some clever designers are coming up with ideas to baffle the noise, using techniques first developed for recording studios. Here are just a few examples of how acoustic furniture and other sound abatement approaches are entering the workspace. Note: Most of these examples are not available for sale in the U.S. 

Elite Furniture Retreat Double Booth

This “Retreat Booth” offers face-to-face collaboration which encourages creative and spontaneous meeting’s between colleagues. Privacy can be maintained via the acoustic benefits of the design incorporating a connecting panel with an integrated roof panel.

Aden chair & sofa

This approach offers an uncomplicated acoustic space. Available as a single seater or sofa with metal sled frame (not shown) or wooden legs (shown).

The V1 chair by ODESD2

According to the manufacturer, the V1 chair’s acoustic atmosphere “allows you to concentrate on your own thoughts and feelings.”

Whisperwave Ceiling Cloud

This sculptured foam accent product allows you to use cloud computing under the clouds. The idea is that the foam clouds absorb the sound. Sounds angelic.

BuzziShade Ground Lamp

BuzziShade is a sound-absorbing floor lamp. According to its manufacturer, the lamp creates an intimate space and ensures a pleasant area of light

Industrial Telephone Hoods

From many different makers (google “acoustic hood for telephones“), these hoods have been in factory-settings for decades. For today’s open offices, many hoods no longer have phones mounted — they are places people use with mobile phones.

We’ve been covering the development of coworking spaces that cater to small companies and independent workers who need office space during a start-up phase. Or, as we’ve learned, some small business and indie workers just prefer it over traditional office space. Our expert contributor on this  topic, Steve King (SmallBizLabs.com), a partner in the firm Emergent Research, examines how the largest traditional-model “office suite” company, Regus, is trying to respond to the new model of coworking space.

When it comes to the office-leasing segment of the commercial real estate business called “executive suites,” the 800-lb. gorilla is Regus. The publicly-traded company operates 3,000 business centers in 120 countries. Its office centers focus on privacy, security and their view of what a professional corporate office should look and feel like. The same is true for most other executive suites.

The Regus brand is similar to that of an upscale hotel chain catering to globe-trotting executives. From their size and scale, it’s obvious that there’s a large market for their approach.

However, Regus is a savvy company and has been watching and following the development of coworking spaces for years. But like most of the commercial real estate industry, they have only recently figured out coworking is a trend and not a fad.

Recognizing that the Regus brand does not fit well with the fast-growing coworking space marketplace, Regus has launched and acquired two brands that it is now using to compete in the new segment. Officing Today recently explored the Regus strategy with the brands ThinkKora and Spaces.

Key quote:

“Regus is well aware of the fact that young, cool, hip and creative people may not associate their aspirations with a corporate Regus environment.”

I agree. The Regus brand is not a good fit with the type of people flocking to coworking spaces, their physical spaces and the way they are configured don’t work for this segment.

Our research clearly shows that people in coworking spaces are looking for more than just a place to work. They’re also looking for enhanced social experience, networking, community support and opportunities to learn new skills.

Regus understands they can’t deliver this type of experience in their current spaces. So they are opening new spaces under these new brands.

Key quote from ThinkKora’s homepage:

Join a growing entrepreneurial community, connecting with Kora and Regus members and partners from the world’s of business and learning … Find the inspiration, knowledge, skills, services and people you need through our learning and network events and our local Kora directors and connectors.

That’s definitely coworking-like branding.

Regus is responding to the growth of companies like WeWork.


There’s little doubt rapid coworking space and membership growth—especially by the growth of WeWork—is driving this shift by Regus.

I think this move by Regus is a good idea.

But existing players often struggle responding to disruptive new entrants using new business models and business methods. It will be interesting to see if Regus can successfully execute on this plan.

This move by Regus is more proof that coworking has reached an inflection point and will continue its rapid growth.

(Photo: Mike Schinkel via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)