Category: Office/Business Resources

‘Office-in-a-box’ gives UK entrepreneurs their own business space for just £10

Posted on by chase

Here’s an interesting article I found over at the Daily Mail: a company in the UK, WH Smith, is offering business owners or budding entrepreneurs a little slice of the office life (complete with coffee) for a reduced rate:

Budding entrepreneurs used to turn to WH Smith for pens and pencils – now they can pick up a whole ‘office-in-a-box’.

Just £10 will buy them office space for half a day, with internet access and coffee thrown in.

The voucher scheme also offers a number of costlier options which include a personal assistant and meeting rooms.

At roughly $16 US at the time of this writing, I feel like this is a scheme that could easily catch on in the US. Even working from home, I have found times when it would be beneficial to have an office space just for working, without the home-based distractions I can see every time I look over my shoulder.

This could also be the jump-start many people need to test out new office-based ideas before jumping in whole-hog and renting out space. Overall, a really neat innovation that I hope catches on stateside.

Back to School with Less Plastic?

Posted on by chase

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article from a parent who is concerned about the level of plastics in her daughter’s school supplies. Emily Monosson, the article’s author and a toxicologist who has spent years studying our dependence on plastics, has this to say:

By some estimates, hundreds of millions if not billions of disposable pens are sold in the U.S. each year. Once disposed of or lost, bits of those pens will eventually add to the Earth’s expanding “plastic layer,” a marker of our penchant for the disposable rather than the reusable.

And while it’s true that some of our favorite office supplies are not immediately recyclable, there is hope. Companies like ours are proud to offer tons of recycled office supplies, ranging from hanging file folders and vinyl binders all the way to post-it notes and scrubbing pads. We feel buying recycled products is one of the small steps you can take to help protect the environment, and Monosson agrees:

…What if teachers — originators of “the list” — urged students to seek out recycled, recyclable or plastic-free supplies? At the very least, let’s teach them to slow the growth of the plastic layer.

This tactic, combined with buying sturdy, reliable supplies from a reputable dealer and treating them right, can help keep office supplies on your desk and out of landfills for years to come.

How to Save on School Supplies

Posted on by chase

The Yakima Herald-Republic has an article up about ways to save money during back-to-school shopping, but it’s nothing new. They advise checking fliers and websites for the best sale, getting to the store early to avoid crowds, planning your trips in advance so you don’t have to fight your way through crowded aisles…

Doesn’t it all just seem like a huge headache? This is the latest in a long line of back-to-school shopping tip articles flooding my inbox and they all seem to forget the same point: you can SHOP ONLINE and get your stuff cheaply, quickly, and reliably. No messing with sales, no throwing elbows down at the Walgreens to get the best deal on a gum eraser. Seriously, check out your options and make the smart choice.

Article: How Virtual Can Your Company Go?

Posted on by chase

Eweek blogger Don Sears has a post up compiling some information about the quest for the completely officeless company. In it, he talks about PerkettPR, a company that has existed virtually for over 10 years, and mentions some points from a ZDNet article on the subject. I’m more personally interested in his take on the situation, which comes later in the post:

You can create the right communication environment to do many of the daily tasks virtually, but it can be very difficult to replicate the in-person, physical workplace.

Having flexibility with commuting and saving energy are concerns for companies, but they will depend on the culture your leadership wants to promote and the needs of your business. Many managers want to have their key talent close by in an office or cubicle and it’s not something taken lightly, especially in a tighter economy. If there are sunk monthly costs for office space, you can guarantee that the chief financial officer is going to want to see people in chairs.

This ties in to some of my more recent posts about telework and telecommuting in general. While I appreciate the idea that companies will be resistant to going virtual, I don’t think it will be long before a lot more companies realize that, for the prize of outfitting a home office with essential supplies, almost any company can transfer large portions of their workforce to the digital arena.

How to make telecommuting a win for employers & workers

Posted on by chase

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has an interesting article up about teleworking at the potential benefits to employers.

In it, they showcase the Virginia Department of Taxation, who recently made a move to digitize their offices by sending certain employees home kitted out for telework.

The move saved them over $130,000 annually in rent, utilities, and other costs, though it is not without its up-front caveats:

There is an initial outlay of money. Your company will have to outfit teleworkers with whatever is needed to perform their job at home, for example:

A personal computer, a laptop and docking station, a business phone line, shredder, fax, printer, copier, Internet service and office supplies. Also, it has to assure that its computer system has “layer after layer” of security and the ability to apply patches to protect from viruses, Bowen said.

I’ve always been a huge advocate of the work-from home model, and it’s nice to see companies embracing it as well. I feel that with the right gear, there’s nothing you can’t do from home that you could do in an office.

Obviously it’s not the ideal solution for every company, but in these tough economic times, it seems like a move more should consider before resorting to layoffs (or, heaven forbid, buying fewer office supplies.)

Blurb: OfficeMax Posts Q2 Loss Right Alongside Office Depot

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From the Daily Herald:

Naperville-based OfficeMax Inc. announced sales declined about 16.5 percent in the second quarter that ended June 27.

Total sales were $1,657.9 million in the second quarter of 2009. The office supply giant also reported a net loss available to OfficeMax common shareholders of $17.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share.

Almost 18 million? Not quite as bad as Office Depot’s $82 million loss, but hey. We’re just happy to see bad business returning bad results.

Big Box News: Ex-Office Depot Worker Says Company Asked Him to Falsify Records

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According to the website Inside the Bay Area (a division of the Oakland Tribune), a Fremont man, claiming he lost his job at Office Depot because he refused to falsify data that showed the company overcharged the city of Berkeley hundreds of thousands of dollars, is suing the office-supply giant in federal court.

Earl Ante, a former Office Depot salesman, seeks unspecified damages for lost wages, benefits, mental distress and punitive damages. He filed the suit in federal court in San Francisco about the same time the owner of a rival office-supply store in Hercules used purchasing records she obtained through a public records request to show Berkeley officials that Office Depot overcharged the city $289,000 from early 2007 to early 2009.

Berkeley officials conducted their own investigation of the city’s contract with Office Depot and came to the same conclusion. Office Depot paid back the city in April.

Three cheers for whistle-blowers, I say. This is just the latest in a string of Office Depot horror stories, but at least this one has a quasi-happy ending: the man didn’t do it. It’s despicable that Office Depot would not only overcharge their government customers, but also that they would ask someone to lie about it on paper. Not that OD asking employees to lie is anything new, but this is a pretty desperate move from a company that’s already facing allegations of misconduct in over five states.

I want to be clear: when OnTimeSupplies.com started this blog, we didn’t set out to specifically trash Office Depot every week. They just keep feeding me material.

Secret to Cheap School Supplies: wait.

Posted on by chase

Over at user-generated content site The Examiner, they have posited an interesting conundrum: what happens when you buy TOO MANY school supplies?

The theory goes like this: you have a general list of things you think your child may need, and you buy enough of them for everyone before the first day of class.

Maybe you see a good deal at your local big-box store and, fearing the worst, snatch it up while you can. Now you feel you’re geared up for school, and this happens:

Picture yourself running out buying four notebooks here, five folders there, not to mention the six 2” ring binders that you had to get because you couldn’t resist the sale sign. All, only to find that after the first day of school, Mrs. Douglass only allows 1” ring binders. Mr. Pryor requires a 3” ring binder for science class and science labs. Now, Mrs. Rogers is simple. She only wants loose-leaf paper in a 3 Prong, 2 Pocket, $0.49 folder. What a waste.

Sure, it makes sense to buy pens, notebooks, and other simple items ahead of time. But don’t get caught up in all the back-to-school craziness, sending your kid off to their first day weighed down with a hundred and one awesome supplies that will end up going to waste while you scramble to buy the “right” ones.

Instead, try this: kit your kid out with a simple loadout: notebook, pens, pencils, simple folders. This will give them the ability to store any materials they are given, while writing down what supplies they still need. Then, find a reliable web distributor of office supplies who just so happens to offer next-day shipping, and boom. Your shopping is done, you have exactly what you need, no fuss, no muss.

Developer Sues VistaPrint and OfficeMax

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A developer of automated Web-to-print workflows, ColorQuick, Pennsauken, NJ, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Vistaprint and OfficeMax, according to graphic arts online. ColorQuick claims that the automated print processes used by VistaPrint and OfficeMax’s ImPress digital print services use a process similar to ColorQuick’s patented process. The suit wants OMAX and VistaPrint to stop using the process, and seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

While it’s certainly no shocker to me that OfficeMax may be engaged in shady dealings, it’s a bit disheartening to hear this about VistaPrint. For a long time VistaPrint was where I got my business cards, because they would offer free samples (with their logo on the back) for the price of shipping. Of course, much later I found out how easy it is to make your own business cards, but the fact remains that they offered a pretty helpful service. I hope the lawsuit works out in everyone’s favor, and VP gets to keep doing what they’re doing, somehow.

Cuts Force Teachers to Scrounge for Supplies

Posted on by chase

The Athens Banner-Herald is reporting a story that is at once tragic and heartwarming: teachers in the area are being forced to pay for supplies out-of-pocket, and many of them are having to go without. Or WOULD be having to go without, if not for a special program put into place:

During the past five years, teachers from Clarke, Madison, Oconee and Oglethorpe counties have been able to stretch their supply budget by taking advantage of the Teacher Re-Use Store, a clearinghouse run by the Athens-Clarke Solid Waste Department’s Recycling Division.

Local businesses, like Merial, a veterinary pharmaceuticals company, and the University of Georgia, donate items that otherwise would end up in a landfill and the store invites teachers to go “shopping” for supplies.

“It’s kind of like a huge yard sale, but everything is free,” said Suki Janssen, waste reduction administrator for the Athens-Clarke Solid Waste Department, who runs the store each year at the recycling center on Hancock Industrial Way.

I have to say, this is a pretty excellent program. It’s recycling in the truest sense of the word, and I definitely approve. And hey, once the Re-Use Store has freed up a little budget money, send those teachers on over our way. We’ll take care of them.