If you are a new business, one of your first responsibilities is supplying your office space with essentials. A lot of startups lease empty office space, while others build their own space to operate out of. Either case, you need supplies.
First, you need artwork. Nothing turns off a potential client or customer than bare walls. Austere and spartan are not adjectives you want people using to describe your headquarters. You want them to talk about how beautiful your office setting is. If you are trying to sell a product or service, you need help from your environment.
Next, you need furniture. You can’t afford to conduct business from a folding chair and a card table. Again, there are some businesses that while furnish your office space for a fee. However, most new businesses go it alone. You want to choose your furniture carefully, from desks and chairs to couches and lamps. If it’s in you means, you should definitely hire an interior decorator to help you select the right art and furniture.
But what about the behind-the-scenes stuff? Do you have the necessary office appliances? Do you have a coffee maker? What about a microwave and a fridge in the back room? Do you have a printer and phones? Behind-the-scenes supplies also include things like stationary, printer paper, pens and pencils, and more.
Then there’s the business of keeping things clean. Are you going to hire a cleaning service from the outside, or will you retain a janitorial staff in-house? If you are a really small business—say no more than a handful of employees working out of a two- or three-room office space—then chances are you will do the cleaning on your own.
That means you will have to buy cleaning supplies. We personally recommend Melaleuca products for cleaning needs. All of their cleaners are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Melaleuca cleaning products include window cleaner, furniture polish, bathroom cleaner, and more.
The point is, there are a lot of things that go into supplying an office. It starts and ends with art, in our opinion, but there are lots of other things in between.