People seem to be very quick to judge you by your appearance and same, it seems, goes for your office furniture. When we started our new business, the last thing on our mind was the image our desks and chairs would create – we were far too busy focusing on the skills we had to offer and assumed others would be too. How wrong we were.
When one prospective client made a disparaging comment about our ‘temporary’ working environment, we had to take a good, hard look around us and try to see things through completely different eyes. It was true we had picked up serviceable desks, cabinets, chairs etc from junk stores and clearance outlets, but for serviceable read shabby rather than smart.
Being on a tight budget, we could not afford smart designer furniture and were in a dilemma. We discouraged clients from dropping in to the office and people sensed our hostility. Now my favourite uncle always used to say that bargains don’t just fall from the sky; you have to go out and hunt them down; but he was wrong for once. An ex-colleague told us of a furniture supplier with a planning service built in and a guarantee to supply and install attractive, affordable office furniture. It sounded too good to be true, but from the outset we were offered excellent advice.
Apart from future planning for expansion and creative space for new staff, we were also advised not to neglect the need for comfort as well as style. This was important considering we were spending ten hours a day in the office while we got our business up and running. Our workstations should be adapted to our needs, not the other way round. ‘Making do’ with available space had a detrimental effect on efficiency and output.
We imagined our dream office would be completely beyond our budget, but the company we used had its own manufacturing contacts and guided us into making the right choices, which saved us a great deal of time. Every piece would match perfectly and we were assured that adding items in the future would not pose problems as stocks would always be available.
We had briefly considered buying refurbished furniture, as there are some great deals to be had on solid, well-designed and constructed items, but we felt this would be too risky. To achieve our uniform look and ensure we got exactly what we wanted at the very best price, we just let our designer take over. We had built up such a good relationship by this time that we were happy to accept all suggestions.
We were very happy we had gone along with the designer’s ideas when the furniture had arrived. It was modern, chic and extraordinarily practical. The company took care of the installation and the whole process was painless. The transformation of our working environment was stunning.
For one thing the uniformity of the furniture gave it a sophisticated and more professional appearance and that seemed to have a knock-on effect on us. With more orderly and efficient workstations, we became more orderly and efficient too. We could tell from our clients’ faces that first impressions were very favourable and, whilst I still don’t think you should ever judge a book by its cover, I can’t deny that in business, it seems you are what you appear to be.
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