by Jules Older Vermont Business Magazine Nobody said it was gonna be easy. And between rising costs and falling profits, slow payers and no payers, changing rules and changing technology, it isn't, for the home office, small office or entrepreneur. Here are some things that will help ease your business life, starting with an office product to help you live longer, and ending with a little item that will save you, oh, $2,000 …
Standing Desk
Sitting is the new smoking. Since sitting is now the source of all ills (with studies to back up the terrible harm it does), when you're working, you need to stand tall. This involves getting a standing desk, which can involve spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Or not. I work at a WorkEZ standing desk from Uncaged Ergonomics.
The WorkEZ lets me stand tall — and costs around $100. www.uncagedergonomics.com/standing-desks
Comfort Mat
OK, you've bought that standing desk. Why are your legs so tired? Because you haven't bought the one other accessory you need — a comfort mat. Good ones usually cost $100 or more. But not for you. GelPro, the leading manufacturer, sells perfectly fine seconds at half price. I'm standing on my NewLife Professional Grade Mat now; it cost me about $50. http://www.gelpro.com/shop/clearance-center/Factory-Second-NewLife-Brown...
Printer That Saves Money
Computers have changed. So have phones. And cameras. Less noticed, printers. They've move from dot matrix (with the tear-off tractor edges) to Laser Jet (priced at $3,600) to early inkjet ($1,000) to better and cheaper inkjet, which most of us use today. Now, there's another evolution.
The downside of inkjet isn't the price of the printer, it’s the cost of the ink. Those cartridges aren't cheap and don't last too long. But Epson’s EcoTank line changes that. Instead of cartridges, these printers come with Supertanks. You fill them yourself, then print away for up to two years.
I tested one of their low-end Supertankers, the ET-2550, which sells for $300. It comes with ink, built-in wireless, scanner and copier. Worked well from day one. Only downside — the Epson phone tech who helped me set it up was equally intent on getting the 2550 working and making me feel like an idiot. He succeeded at both. Still, if you're in the market for a high-quality, money-saving printer, Epson’s ET-2550 is a good choice.
Backup Drive
How many times have you heard it — back up everything or rue the day. And I'm sure you do back up everything. You do, don't you? Trouble is, there's more and more to back up. If you shoot any video at all, odds are your old backup drive is overloaded. I've used Seagate and WD drives; except for the time I dropped one on the floor, none have failed me. Ever. If you don't own one, get it now. They're not only better, they're much, much cheaper than the last time you looked. #BackUpNow.
The Hub
In the Digital Age chain between office and brain, there's often a missing link. It’s the hub, which links your computer with externals: keyboard, external hard drive, cell phone, printer, mouse, et al. Hubs keep you from having to plug and unplug all the time. Trouble is, most are too small (four ports aren't enough these days), too weak (it should have its own power supply) or too expensive.
I've found one that fills all these needs — cheaply. It’s a hub with seven USB 3.0 ports plus three charging ports. The cost? I paid $23 on Amazon. And it works like a charm. http://amzn.to/2d3BgX0
Microsoft Office ‘upgrade’
So far, we've talked about things you can do to make your work life easier. Here's something you can not do. If you're a Mac user, don't upgrade to the new Microsoft Office. Yes, the old one is, well, old. And a bit tired. And getting cranky with age. But it’s still better than the new Office, which uses the inferior Bing instead of Google, mysteriously blocks some websites, won't print an ellipsis unless you know the secret code (Option + Semicolon — shhhh!), and makes me wish I hadn't ‘upgraded.’
Landlines
Now that nearly everyone has a smartphone, landlines are so yesterday, so high on the get-rid-of list. Not on mine. Yes, I carry my iPhone 5s whenever I leave home, and yes, I keep that landline at home. Why? Maybe I'm a dinosaur, but here's my reasoning: 1. The USA has the shakiest mobile-network coverage in the civilized world. 2. Though cellphone reception has improved, it’s not always up to landline quality. 3. In an emergency, I trust the landline to work when the cell won't. 4. My landline never, ever runs out of juice.
A better vacuum cleaner
In our house/home office, I'm the VIC. As Vacuumer-in-Chief, I grew to hate our old VC. Let me count the ways. Different heads for rugs and floor. Nasty bag needed checking and changing. Clumsy on corners. And the bloody cord wouldn't retract unless I noodged it along every inch of the way. What I needed, sales staff everywhere told me, was a Dyson. Only trouble: Dysons cost over $400, and I'm terminally cheap.
Then, ogling new vacuums for the fourteenth time at Bed Bath & Beyond, I saw the word cheapskates love to see: SALE. The Dyson DC 47 was on sale for less than half price. I spoke the word that retailers love to hear: “SOLD!”
The sales folks were right. One head cleans all. It rolls around corners. Cord retracts. And there's no bag. Now I clean the home office with a smile.
A Perfect Carry-On
It’s the business traveler’s friend. A carry-on small enough even for regional airlines, strong enough to protect Digital Age gear, compartmentalized enough to separate work stuff and clothing, roll-y enough to glide from airport to office, and just roomy enough to carry clothes for an overnighter, the Victorinox Swiss Army Spectra 2.0 Dual-Access Global Carry-On is a friend, indeed.
This friend doesn't come cheap; it retails for $585 (though often sold considerably cheaper). But bear two things in mind. It comes with a ten-year guarantee. And the last piece of Victorinox luggage I owned survived a dozen years of my international trudging abuse.
Reading Glasses
Face it — if you don't need reading glasses now, some day you will. They're cheap and effective and prescription-free. Two of uncommon usefulness are Clic Magnetic Glasses that hang around your neck so you can't lose them, and my reading-the-menu friend, ThinOptics pince-nez glasses that slide into their highly protective phone case when they're not riding on your nose. I don't leave home without my phone or my ThinOptics. www.clicmagneticglasses.com and www.buythinoptics.com/a3/casestyle
Trackball
If you use a cheap mouse, or worse, a trackpad, you're just inviting RSI into your life. Instead, get thee a trackball. Test some before you order, but in the end, order. I tried and didn't much like Seagate’s SlimBlade. My wife uses Seagate’s Orbit Optical Trackball, and she raves about it. It costs less than 30 bucks. www.kensington.com/us/us/4493/k64327f/orbit-optical-trackball#.VncCkjYcvjQ
SSD Drive
You're gonna love this. And why wouldn't you — it could save you $2,000?
Right. It's a solid state drive for your aging computer. An SSD makes your machine faster than anything you've ever owned, and it costs a tenth of what you'd spend for a new computer. Yes, you have to install it, but that's not nearly as hard as you — OK, I — imagined. This is a biggie, so listen up.
Older computers, like my 2010 MacBook Pro, don't have the power or memory to handle power-hungry tasks — in my case, making minimovies (http://bit.ly/2dLkKJG) — without groaning and crashing. When I called my compugenius and said, “I think I need a new computer,” he said, “No, you need a new hard-drive. An SSD.”
“SSD?”
“Solid state drive. They used to cost $1,000 and up, but the SanDisk Ultra II with 960 gigabytes is on sale for a little over $200.”
I bought it. And, lord, how I love it. Now, everything is speedier, and computer crashes are just a bad memory. Plus, I have $2,000 and change crowding the sock drawer that I didn't spend on a new Mac.
Lagniappe: A Compugenius
Unless you are a compugenius, you need one. I don't know if mine is taking new clients just now, but if he is, I most highly recommend him. He's Patrick Leith. And though he's in Montreal, in the Digital Age, that's of no consequence. Rarely a month goes by when I don't say, “Where would I be without Patrick?”
Here's his address: [email protected]
Whomever you choose, a good compugenius makes your life easier … and probably diminishes your use of strong language at the same time.
Jules Older is a multi-award-winning writer. His newest ebook is TAKE ME HOME: How to Rent or Buy in a Hot Home Market. http://amzn.to/2drI8tv