If you manage an office or run your own business, then you know the value of productivity. The more money you can save, the more productive you are; the more productive you are, the more money you make. Therefore, it behooves you to do everything you can to increase productivity, from hiring the most efficient workers to making sure you have the proper office supplies on hand. You’re on your own with the first, but we can help you with the latter.

Paperless office? Hah!

Offices run on paper. This was as true a century ago as it is today, despite the electronic revolution that was supposed to result in the paperless office. Sure, email is all well and good, and the Internet is a great way to browse the headlines and order personal checks online, but paper has hardly withered away; if anything, there’s more it than ever. From checks to receipts, meeting agendas, documentation, and expense reports, we’re all but drowning in paper. And we always need more.

With this in mind, it’s a good idea to keep copious supplies of the most necessary paper and paper-related supplies on hand, so that a simple thing like running out of printer ink won’t have your office in knots. We recommend that you always keep on hand the following supplies:

• Business checks
• Printer paper
• File folders
• Printer cartridges

Pretty paper…

Running out of business checks isn’t likely to shut you down, but it’s better to have them ready when you need them than to wait for a week while they’re printed. Quicken business checks and printer blanks are easily acquired online, whether you favor fabulous deluxe checks or cheap checks with a plain design. You should always have some on hand so that you can take care of expenses and bills.

As for printer paper, it goes without saying that you should have plenty on hand… but we’re saying it anyway. Paper should be available not merely in reams but in boxes, because once you’re out, your office is likely to shut down until you’re restocked. Of course you can recycle paper that’s already been printed on one side, but that can be confusing, especially if it’s from that novel you’ve been writing in your spare time.

Why file folders? Because as a matter of course, you should be filing every piece of paper that comes into your office, particularly if you’re the person in charge. Without file folders, things pile up, and before you know it your desk looks like an exposure at the Grand Canyon, and the paper spills off your desk and onto the floor, and a year later… well, you’re lucky if you can find your desk at all.

Last, but certainly not least — printer cartridges. This is another seemingly “Duh” suggestion, but the moment you use up the last one, that “Duh” will turn to “Doh!” It doesn’t matter how many reams of paper you have, or how beautiful and efficient your gleaming new PrintDream 9000 printer looks; if you don’t have ink or toner, you won’t be printing.

It seems absurd that something as seemingly minor as a lack of office supplies can cripple your office’s efficiency, but sadly it can. Most of us have seen just such an effect in our own offices. Sure, you can remedy the situation by sending the office boy on a quick run to the office supply store — but keep on top of things supplies-wise, and you won’t have to.

Published with permission (FCDMInc)