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Last week's tip: Get the Most Bang for Your Marketing Buck

 

 

This week's tip:   How I Organized My Workspace to Save Time and Make More Money

 

by

Flora M. Brown, Ph.D.
Copyright 2007
All rights reserved

 

You may have a beautiful office with shiny furniture and the latest ergonomic chair, but if its not organized properly, it will cost you time and money. When you can spot where things are and reach them quickly, you avoid the frustration and aggravation that slow you down.

Here are some of the ways I organized my workspace to save time and make more money.

 

1. Make your space functional, not fashionable.

 

My garage is used as my warehouse, work area and office space.  Creating a place for storing inventory and assembling designs was of most importance. I didn't need fancy furniture since hot glue and other residue of my designs would certainly land on my work table. For storage  I chose industrial shelving that could be assembled without nails, and could rise taller and wider than the typical organizing units you find in home improvement stores. On the shelves I grouped non-food inventory in plastic containers with drawers. I found it very helpful to keep the catalog for the product in the drawer with the items to make re-ordering easier.

 

2. Make your workspace flow and easy to navigate.

 

I need to be able to move from the inventory storage area to the workspace., so I made clear pathways. My office area is to the side of my work space where I can easily answer the phone, create invoices, and receive faxes.

 

3. Keep your most frequently used tools nearby, but not necessarily on your work table.

 

I stretched  a bungee cord high between the columns on each side of my work table. I hang my orders and the basket description with clothespins where I can see them above my work table. On the columns I've hung my scissors, glue gun, heat gun, and hole puncher. My curling ribbon is on free-standing racks designed for them. These racks can be relocated whenever I want.

 

4. Make your work area attractive and inspiring.

 

I have photos of my grandkids on the bulletin board above my desk to make me smile. You may want to put a favorite cartoon or positive affirmations where you can see them also.

 

How did these things help me to make more money?

 

1. Being organized puts me in a good mood. I answer the phone with a lighter, more confident tone, and callers can hear that.

 

2. Being able to know where things are enables me to retrieve them when needed. When a customer calls to check on the shipment of a gift basket, I can easily give them the date and tracking number  from the files in my desk file drawer.

 

3. Working in my organized space where everything I need is at hand makes it  a snap to create gift baskets.

 

4. Saving time enables me to be more productive and generate more creative ideas to lead to  more profits.

 

Here are more ideas for organizing your office and studio:

Gift Basket Business World is the place to go to learn

 

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Keep up with the gift industry and stay inspired. Read my blog about setting up a sucessful home-based gift basket business.

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©2006 Flora Brown Associates. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted from "Gift Basket Business World Newsletter," a free ezine
featuring tips, resources and tools that increase profits for gift basket retailers
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email: mailto:  flora@giftbasketbusinessworld.com

address: 446 S. Anaheim Hills Rd,#167
city/zip: Anaheim Hills, CA 92807
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