Just found this over at eWeek.com – it’s a slideshow of some pretty impressive office gear. While it’s a little more unique than the stuff we sell, things like this still hold a special place in my heart as a gadget lover. I think the perfect office is one that blends over-the-top tech like this with a full pantry of the basics; pens, paper, toner, that kind of thing. And while the best bet for, say, picking a reliable office chair is to find something comfortable and affordable, I’ll always drool over some of this stuff, like this Motoart B-52 Ejection Chair. Check out the E-Week article for more geeky pipe dreams.
Author: chase
Article: The Evolution of the Office Space
Wired.com posted a pretty amazing roundup of office layouts throughout the ages, and it really shows an amazing progression in how we’ve come to view our communal workspaces.
While the fundamentals of desk, chair, etc. are all there, it’s pretty cool to see how workflow, communication and technological integration have shaped the way we lay out our floor designs.
Most of my office career has been spent in one variation or another of #4, the “Cube Farm”, which, according to Wired:
[is] the cubicle concept taken to the extreme. As the ranks of middle managers swelled, a new class of employee was created: too important for a mere desk but too junior for a window seat. Facilities managers accommodated them in the cheapest way possible, with modular walls. The sea of cubicles was born.
From a row of school-like desks to the current fractal hubs of modern-day networking layouts, this article has a tidbit for all of them. Definitely worth a look.
Article: Professional Organizers help save time and money
Courant.com has an article up where individuals share testimonials they’ve learned from professional organizers. As that fits in with what we like to do around here, I thought I’d share it. The highlight that grabbed my attention?
• Organizing office supplies: Has prevented unnecessary purchases for my home and business.
• Organizing my garage business supplies: Has also allowed my employees to find supplies and not accidentally double order, wasting cash flow.
• Time is money: When I can find files, etc., I am more productive all day.
As we’ve shown before, just knowing where your stuff is can help save you needless expense and make your day a little easier all around. The right filing cabinet, a handful of binding solutions for all your loose papers, and so on can really spruce up an office, home or otherwise, and keep it running like clockwork. That article said it best: time is money, and the less time you waste finding the stuff you need to run your office and the more time you spend running it, the better off you’ll be.
Big Box Watch: Companies want tax refunds to cut losses
According to CNN.com, many large companies, inluding Office Depot and International Paper Co., are lobbying to revive a campaign to get refunds for taxes paid as many as five years ago, as losses mount.
At issue is a proposal to allow companies to use 2008 and 2009 net operating losses (NOLs) to get refunds for taxes paid as far back as 2003. Current law allows only a two-year carryback of those losses.
“The NOL provision is the strongest tool you can provide to help companies in a broad cross-section of industries weather the current economic conditions,” the CEOs wrote to lawmakers.
“It will allow businesses to meet payroll, retain their work force, help avoid additional layoffs and stabilize the business environment,” they wrote.
So basically, a lot of large big-box companies are in such deep trouble that they’re looking to extend the rule (which allows you to seek reimbursement for taxes paid up to two years ago) to go back FIVE years to try to cover their ever-expanding losses. I’m all for economic stimulus, but I’d like to think that there must be a better way to “meet payroll, retain workforce, avoid layoffs” and so on. In Office Depot’s case it’s especially hypocritical; they ask for government assistance with one hand and engage in all kinds of shady dealings with the other. Try offering value to your customer and provide a fair and honest work force, and I doubt you’d have all these money troubles. Seems to work for us.
Space-saving: The Office Desk Under The Stairs
Our good friends over at Lifehacker are showcasing a pretty impressive setup with one of their user’s home offices. Lacking space, one of their readers decided to use the opening under the large metal staircase leading up to his terrace as the ideal location for a compact workspace. Looks like a simple table desk, a standard metal filing cabinet, and his computer and knick-knacks on top of the desk, and it’s ready to go. Oh, and a pretty nice-looking chair as well.
All in all, an innovative approach to the all-too-common problem of not having enough space to suit your needs. If you’ve got a similarly compact home office setup you’d like to share, by all means forward it on to me at chase@ontimesupplies.
NOPA Urges Governments to End Sole-Source Contracting
In light of recent allegations of big-box retailers abusing their stranglehold on government contracts, the National Office Products Alliance (NOPA) has put out a statement calling for an end to single-source contracts with state and local governments. The statement was triggered by an announcement to local government customers that, effective approximately March 30, nationwide pricing of office products under the “U.S. Communities” contract would be changed across-the-board without input from local government customers. According to the NOPA press release:
NOPA contends that more competition is essential at the local government and school district levels to ensure consistent delivery of “best value” and help government customers avoid the need for costly, time-consuming and sometimes embarrassing audits of their office product purchases. “Regrettably, such competition has been lacking and the growing number of public audit findings indicating non-compliance with contract pricing and product purchasing requirements should be a major concern,” said Chris Bates, president of NOPA. “In several cases, state and local governments have been refunded public funds that their audits determined were due.”
This sort of day-to-day competition would not only close the door on single companies that seek to abuse their contracts, but open a new one for smaller, independent retailers to get their products in the hands of those who need them. More competition leads to better value for the buyer, and more opportunities for the seller. It’s a win-win situation, and one that’s been a long time coming.
Big Box Watch: Ex-Office Depot Worker Speaks Out
A CBS2 investigative report has an interview with former Office Depot manager Ed Kurkurian, who was fired for following orders handed down from his superiors to lie to customers about laptop availability. Despite initially not talking to the investigators who came to his store looking for evidence of misconduct, Kurkurian was later fired, with Office Depot saying he was to blame for instructing salespeople not to sell computers without warranties.
Kurkurian gave the interview to clear his name and set the record straight about Office Depot’s policies:
…Kurkurian reveals what he says was the company’s secret policy. Designed to get consumers to buy expensive extras on computers. One he says was handed down from his district manager to some Office Depot stores in Southern California.
“What specifically did he tell you to do?”
“Go ask questions and ask if they want a warranty. If customer doesn’t want a warranty, go in back and pretend like you’re looking for computer and come back and say no. We’re out of stock.”
“That’s lying to the customer?”
“Yes.”
Despite the truth of these accusations already being revealed by an undercover report, it’s pretty damning to hear it straight from an ex-employee’s mouth. Though there will surely be those who accuse him of using this as an opportunity to “get back” at his former employer, the fact that independent investigations have found evidence of similar wrongdoing at stores accross the country lead me to believe that Kurkurian is telling the truth. Shame on you, Office Depot. Maybe there’s a reason your stores are “like ghost towns”. No one likes a crook.
Schedule C – What expenses can your business file?
Tax time is upon us once again, and small business owners, especially new ones, are likely to be blindsided by the sheer amount of tax information out there for a business owner. According to an article posted on Mary953’s “Caps” blog (a division of popular money site The Motley Fool), the 2006 tax code was the same word length as 10 King James Bibles. No one should be expected to remember it all.
In the spirit of compiling useful knowledge, I thought I’d link you to Mary’s post as it is indeed incredibly helpful in finding out what expenses you can claim. And since we have a particular focus around here, here’s an excerpt that stands out for me:
Office Expenses (18) – Office Supplies – Ink, paper, toner, pens, staplers and staples, paper clips, folders, and, guess what? If you have an office with a public bathroom, then use that company credit card to buy hand soap, towels, toilet paper and the rest because it is deductible too. Coffee service is here if for clients. You can put snow removal, lawn care, cleaning service under this also. Remember that the name of the game is to spread the expenses out so that you have something under as many spots as possible.
The links above are my own addition, of course, but it’s still cool to see that you can list all this useful stuff on your taxes. Check the article for a full list of how to get the most back (or at least avoid giving too much) this tax season!
Big Box Watch: Story of a Whistle-Blower
Naples News has an incredibly in-depth article on the story of David Sherwin, who blew the whistle on his previous employer, Office Depot, for allegedly overcharging millions on government contracts.
David’s story is interesting not only for the facts he presented, but the way in which he presented them. Not knowing the best way to put forth his beliefs of the company’s wrongdoing, David ended up sending an explosive letter that cost him his job and downplayed the credibility of his accusations (warning, mild foul language):
What would become his resignation letter, the caustic e-mail, stared at him from the computer screen on his kitchen counter, near a half-drunk bottle of Smirnoff. The vodka helped him escape the obvious: don’t send it.
“I would kick your ass so hard that you would fly across Florida like Tinkerbelle,” read a part of the message, a “Reply All” with company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Odland as the intended recipient.
This, Sherwin said, was his breaking point. He wanted out of Office Depot.
“I actually had the e-mail sitting on my computer, I remember, for probably two hours, staring at it, and I would walk around the room,” Sherwin said. “I would get madder and madder and madder, and then I would take another shot of vodka, stare at it and scowl at it.”
As Sherwin paced, he passed plaques, certificates and photos on his walls and refrigerator — reminders of his successful law enforcement career.
“And then, finally, I just said screw it and I just hit the send button,” Sherwin said. “And at that point in time, I knew it was no turning back.”
Office Depot fired Sherwin a day later for, “workplace misconduct.”
While the entire article is worth a read, I found it particularly great how the story captured the emotion inherent in making such a difficult decision. It also highlights Sherwin’s career as an administrator and investigator, skills which would have made him the perfect whistle-blower had it not been for his ill-fated delivery of the news.
“Because I more or less had a mental snap, I didn’t think things through. Had I thought things through, I would have waited a couple weeks,” Sherwin said. “I would have actually gone to the Attorney General’s office as an employee and they probably would have kept me on, had me wired and stuff like that. But for somebody who did this precipitously, I was able to eventually gather up enough information for them to believe me.”
Regardless of his initial explosion, Sherwin has worked tirelessly to bring word of Office Depot’s misconduct to anyone who might have been affected. Working out of a home office, he sends out emails and is in touch with representatives from all 50 states, 700 countries and numerous government agencies, and he’s not stopping until his story gets out.
“Almost every day he turns around to me and he says, ‘Do you think Office Depot realizes that I’m not ever going to stop and that I’m going to continue until somebody’s in jail or they’re out of business?,’” (Sherwin’s friend Brett) Vining said. “And I keep saying, I say, ‘Yeah, I think they’re getting the idea now, David. I think they’re finally getting it.”
If the number of stories filling my inbox every day is any indication, we’re getting it too, David. Keep fighting the good fight.
Article: An Orderly Office? That’s Personal
Sara Rimer at the New York Times recently published an incredibly in-depth article about her time spent with a professional interior designer who specializes in work spaces. It contains some anecdotes we can all relate to, and is a great read for anyone looking to re-do their home office.
When Sara first had help organizing her office, she felt great about it. Her filing cabinet was organized, her desk was clear, and everything was in its place.
She had accomplished what many people consider to be the goal of having a tidy home office: she had gotten the clutter out of her sight, and for all intents and purposes, out of her thoughts. A lot of people take this step and feel like they’ve done all they need to do, but even Sara’s friends were skeptical:
“I did that once,” said one of the men at the table, a computer consultant, with a skeptical tone in his voice. “I got everything put away. And I never opened the filing cabinet again.”
“That,” I said serenely, “won’t happen to me.”
A few months later, it had. The cabinet was again serving mainly as a place to put notebooks, scraps of paper and letters I was planning to file tomorrow. The clutter had not only returned but multiplied. I was back to where I’d started, or worse.
In the end, she realized her solution was not going to be hiding everything away in a filing cabinet, but keeping it out in front of her, where she could look at and visually sort her materials without having to root around for them in a drawer.
Employing a label maker and some storage and “bin boxes”, Sara created the perfect organizing system to match her needs and her space.
After that, personalizing the decor and updating the furniture were all that was left to finish off her perfect, customized home office. She even had space to invite her boyfriend to set up his own office space in the small room (though that ended poorly, highlighting another concept touched upon in the article: the need for a personal office space.)
Lisa Whited, the designer who helped Sara, has these tips to share regarding designing a home office:
• The No. 1 rule is clear out the clutter. Get rid of broken things that you won’t ever get around to fixing. Karen Kingston’s book “Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui” is a helpful guide.
• Color can help make a small or confined space feel more livable, and paint is the cheapest way to get it. “I painted the walls of my home office — a five-by-seven-foot, windowless walk-in closet — yellow,” Ms. Whited said. “I like yellow, and we had leftover cans of Behr’s Cornmeal in the basement.”
• Lighting is important: beyond a room’s general illumination, which could be overhead lighting, you can use task lighting, to work at your desk, and accent lighting, like a hanging light, to create an inviting space.
• Choose containers that are an appropriate size to hold what you’re putting in them. They don’t need to be fancy, but if they are going to be visible, they should at least look similar, so the space looks more organized.
• Get the best chair you can afford. “It’s like your bed,” Ms. Whited said. “You spend a ton of time in it.”
• Always have extras of whatever you usually run out of on hand. “I have at least one extra printer cartridge,” she said, “two reams of paper, staples, tape, etc.”
• Don’t dismiss the importance of candles, flowers, a great piece of art — whatever inspires you. It all helps.
All in all, an amazing piece for anyone looking for stories about redoing a home office, looking for inspiration or helpful hints.