For small-business owners, maintaining a budget is a critical step in ensuring that the business is successful. Saving money whenever and wherever you can help keep finances in check and maybe even ahead of the game. One area where you can reduce spending is installation of various appliances in the office.
While having a professional install appliances is more convenient, it’s more costly, and you can often do this part yourself. Before hiring a professional, put your handyman skills to work when installing these items:
Handle Small Repairs
Changing a light bulb, updating a door handle, hanging new blinds – these are all simple tasks you can accomplish without hiring someone else to do them for you. As long as you know where the hardware store is, you can make small repairs like these around the office. Keep a tool kit filled with essentials – like a hammer, wrench, screwdriver, pliers, measuring tape and leveler – around in case something needs a quick fix.
Fix Technical Problems
Is your office too small to justify employing a full-time IT professional or a dedicated IT company? No worries! Learn how to fix common computer problems, and train employees how to as well. If an employee is especially talented with electronics, ask if she can train others to use hardware more efficiently and safely. And don’t forget that most problems can be solved with a little troubleshooting.
Assemble Furniture
Remember that nifty tool kit you stored in the office? That will come in handy whenever you need to assemble new office furniture. Cubicles, desks and chairs are pretty easy to make if you follow the instructions. And if, for some reason, you lose the instructions, you can usually find the assembly manual on the office furniture company’s website.
Hook up the Refrigerator
This DIY job involves a bit more skill, since you’ll be dealing with hooking up water lines. If you want to play it safe and have a professional do the initial installation, there are other ways you can save money in the long run. If the refrigerator stops working properly, you can purchase refrigeration parts to replace the part that’s not working and hook it up yourself.
Personalize the Office
When you decide that it’s time to give the office a much-needed makeover, don’t waste money hiring professional painters or decorators – do it yourself! Choose a design and color scheme that complements your brand, or go with one that will inspire creativity in your employees. Then, set aside a weekend or two to shop for paints and supplies, and get to work. Enlist the help of employees – offering to compensate with dinner and beer, of course – to get the job done even faster and build closer relationships between coworkers.
Considerations
Trying to save money by making your own office repairs is a worthy goal, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. Before attempting these or any other repairs in the workplace, make sure you have the skills, or at least know someone with the skills to pull it off. Hiring a professional in the first place might be cheaper than paying for repairs on a failed installation.
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