Typing from Home - office & equipment for a typing from home service

Typing From Home - Office Space & Equipment

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Working from Home - Office Space

Before you start typing from home or, setting up a virtual assistant business working from home, you need to consider your family life and your home circumstances.

If you have noisy children, you really need to have a separate room in the house set aside as your office where you can work undisturbed. It really wouldn't be professional to answer a phone to clients with children creating bedlum in the background!

Though having said that, my "office" for my typing from home service is set up in the corner of the dining room! This is because my son was at Primary School when I started Typing Solutions and, I enjoyed the fact that I could download and allocate work of a morning and still be with him whilst he was having his breakfast. Then the rest of the day was peaceful whilst he was at school.

So it really depends on whether your children are of a pre-school age and, whether they are quiet or noisy! Would they stop creating havoc, if asked, when you answer the phone?

Some people like to have a separate room in their home to use as an office as, they can then treat working from home typing as if they were going out to work, where they work office hours or whatever hours they decide and then shut the door on it! If you have the computer in a room in your home where you are consistently in and out, you may well find yourself checking it all the time, which rather defeats the object of enjoying the advantages of working from home.

Computer:

It obviously goes without saying that you need a computer (same for the internet!). Your computer must however be fully proofed against viruses. If you are using a MAC, most businesses and clients who outsource their work require it in a Word document and you must ensure you have Microsoft Office for Mac to complete work.

I would also recommend getting an additional separate hard disk to back up your client's templates, etc. Things do wrong with computers and, it can cost you clients if you do not have the back up in place. I have a separate laptop as well as my tower computer so, if something did happen to go wrong with the main computer, I can use the laptop and plug in the separate hard disk and business is not affected. Do ensure that your laptop is able to connect to the internet so that you can work online and answer emails.

Keyboard:

When you are working constantly with a keyboard typing or entering data you really must invest in a proper ergonomic keyboard. The standards keyboards are not designed in a way so that your wrists and hands are in the correct position and therefore you will be at a high risk of developing repetitive strain injury (RSI) and other problems.

I use the keyboard below and, have found it fantastic. Not only do I not suffer from aching wrists as I used to, I also make far few typing errors - not completely sure why I don't make as many errors but, I believe it may be something to do with the fact that your wrists and fingers are always in the correct position due to the design layout of the keyboard.

Chair:

I know this might sound nuts and you will be saying a chair, of course I know I need a chair! But, seriously, if you are going to be working office hours, you need to be as comfortable as possible especially as when working from home you do not tend to get up and move around a lot as you would in an office. Make sure that you get a chair that is designed to support your back adequately and prevent you slumping or being hunched over the keyboard as, this will only create back and neck problems for you later. I have the following, which I would highly recommend.

Phone

When you are working from home typing and running your own business you do obviously need to have a phone. Whether you have a separate line specifically for your business is a consideration you must give some thought to. Personally, I do not have a separate phone line for my typing from home service BUT in office hours I always answer the phone as though I was in an office, i.e. if the phone rings at 10.00am, I would answer it by saying, "Good morning, Typing Solutions". This does actually make some of my friends laugh as they are sure a lot of my clients think that we are running our service from a plush office and not from the dining room of my home!

If I am going out during the day, I have an answer phone with a message stating "Typing Solutions is on the other line at the moment. Please leave a message and someone will answer your query shortly"

First and lasting impressions count and, even though you are working from home, you must retain a professional demeanour at all times when answering the phone and when conversing with clients via email or on the phone.

Fax/Printer

Having a fax or printer depends on the type of work you are going to be undertaking when working from home typing. If you are going to offer a copy typing service and the material is sent via email in, say, PDF format then, you will need to have a printer to print this off to commence work. Unless, you have a huge computer screen (as I do) where you can pull up the PDF to one half of the screen and the document which you type on the other half of the screen. Also, if the work is in written format and the client does not have a scanner and wishes the work to be commenced there and then, a fax will be most useful. These days you can buy office printers/fax and scanners in one unit.

Wrist Rests:

This is a subject that is up for debate. I know that when I worked at an Accountants we were all supplied with one but I never used it as I found it uncomfortable and, of no benefit whatsoever. Other people find a benefit from using them to help prevent wrist strain. The following site discusses wrist rests and, the correct position for your wrists and hands while typing to prevent RSI (repetitive strain injury).
http://www.wisegeek.com/do-i-need-a-wrist-rest-for-my-mouse-pad-and-keyboard.htm

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