Setting Up an Office

3. Office Equipment

The time saved by having the right equipment in your office will more than justify the cost.

3.1 Most start-ups find that a computer system pays for itself within a year, even if it is only used for word processing, some spreadsheet work and storing a simple contacts database.

See Setting up your first IT system.

3.2 If you need a photocopier, choose one to suit the expected copying workload.

Many small businesses can just use the fax for everyday copying, and use photocopy shops for large numbers of cheap copies (usually 4p to 8p per A4 copy).

• Basic copier prices start at around £200, though more sophisticated machines are often leased, rather than bought.
• Maintenance charges are around 2p a copy all in (including toner powder) for smaller machines and up to 2,000 copies a month, falling to 1p per copy for volumes of over 5,000 copies a month. Watch out for expensive maintenance commitments, buyout clauses and minimum usage contracts.
• Check the number of copies a minute the machine can make. This is shown in the manufacturer's brochure. Ask for written confirmation of the number of copies a month it is designed to handle, and of its expected lifespan.
• Features you may want include reduction and enlargement, the ability to use A3 paper, and automatic paper handling for multiple sheets.

3.3 You may be able to save time and money by investing in basic postal equipment.

• Buy a set of postal scales, to avoid frequent trips to the post office.
• A franking machine saves fiddling about with stamps by automatically stamping your mail. Rental costs start from around £5 a week. Royal Mail can give you the names of recommended suppliers.
• If you use stamps, keep them in an indexed (1p, 2p, etc) stamp book.

3.4 A dictating machine can be a cheap and efficient way of recording information.

A dictating machine costs £25 to £150. A transcription kit, to help transcribe your tapes, will cost from £100.

3.5 A scanner with optical character recognition (OCR) software can save hours of work, if you routinely need to re-type large volumes of text into your computer.

• OCR allows the scanner to read text off a page and capture it in a computer file suitable for word processing or other uses.
• Choose a flatbed scanner (about £50) which is fast, with high resolution and a good OCR software package. Test the model you are thinking of buying, by trying it out on a document that is typical of your workload.