It is the consensus of almost all startups that every money should be spent wisely. But it is easier said than done. How to deal with daily expenses such as rent, water, electricity, manpower, etc. is often mentioned and easier to understand. But when it comes to the cost of equipment procurement and management, many startups are still confused. How should the purchase money be spent appropriately? Segmenting needs and optimizing resource allocation can often provide entrepreneurs with unexpected money prospects.
Beijing Zhuwei Yijing Architectural Design Consulting Co., Ltd. founded by Qi Kai is mainly engaged in architectural design, interior decoration design and related technical services. In such an industry that integrates professionalism, design and service, there are naturally no shortage of professional requirements for equipment. At the same time, as a start-up company, Qi Kai has been looking for how to balance a lack of money. Equipment performance versus cost.
For many start-up companies in non-industry industries, such as many of Qi Kai’s peers, the so-called procurement is just making a list, going around Zhongguancun, comparing prices among various product advertisements, and finding a middle point to make a decision. But Qi Kai is not.
There is no one who knows as much as me in similar design studios. Qi Kai said. Compared with other colleagues, he is different. This is due to his other identity. Although he graduated from the architectural design major, he has worked as a network administrator and has a deep understanding of various devices. He is a geek. He purchased multiple computers and related hardware equipment, printers, scanners, etc. for this one-person company to set up a high-speed LAN system. Every once in a while, he personally debugged and tested all the equipment and continued to do so. Understand industry-related product updates so that you can take action in a timely manner.
Of course Qi Kai did this not just because of personal preference. How important is equipment to a startup? In Qi Kai's company, a printer can reflect the ultimate entrepreneurial experience of a geek.
Caption: Geek entrepreneur Qi Kai and the company’s printer
For an architectural design company, the design copy and drawings of the project are the soul. In addition to computers, printers are also very important equipment.
Qi Kai simply calculated for the reporter that an institutional calculation sheet for just a small construction project would be hundreds of pages long. These project drawings need to be printed and archived according to specifications. In addition, they must be submitted for review, project filing, and records kept by designers and companies. Each project requires printing a large number of documents. Although a large number of printing jobs can be completed by a graphic agency, daily printing needs still have to be carried out in the company. At the same time, architectural design drawings have extremely high requirements for printing accuracy, color, time and conditions for saving prints, etc. The cost of printing and the consumption of printing raw materials are a considerable investment for the company.
In addition, one of the most troublesome things as an architectural design company is to carry office printing equipment when going out. For almost every project, Qi Kai and his colleagues have to go to the construction site to work. Every time they go out, they have to prepare printers, routers, network cables, switches, and data cables. Sometimes they also need to scan and send and receive faxes. The tape almost fills a car.
Starting from demand, Qi Kai made clear requirements for the performance of printing equipment. As a start-up company with only 2 employees, Qi Kai initially installed three printers in the company. Recently, the company added a multi-function printer.
Qi Kai has divided the functions of each printer to save costs. Laser printers are better at printing white drawings, and the printed drawings can be delivered directly as finished products. Another inkjet printer is affordable and has low maintenance costs, and can be used to print sketches. Dot matrix printers can be used to print invoices.
And his latest purchase of HP multifunctional laser all-in-one machine integrates multiple functions and is unique in mobile office. It integrates seven functions: wireless hotspot, print/copy/scan/fax, automatic switch on and off, smart driver, wireless direct printing, and cloud printing. As a laser printer, its print quality and continuous working stability are remarkable. At the same time, it can use mobile devices to directly send printing tasks. The cloud function allows users to use the printer anywhere and via email, even if they are thousands of miles away. Sharing information with colleagues is quite suitable for start-up companies that pursue high efficiency, low investment and the office environment is still in the creation stage.
In terms of printing, Qi Kai can use laser printers directly to print white pictures in his work. At the same time, it also has a special advantage, which is humanized and intelligent operation. In the control panel, many functions can be seen at a glance and various indicators of the device can also be monitored. You can see the toner capacity in real time in the control interface. Qi Kai said. When there are a large number of print jobs that need to be set up in advance and printed over a long period of time, the remaining amount of toner can be easily monitored to avoid the situation where the print job is suspended in the middle because there is no toner.
Illustration of the printing room in the company
When talking about the reason for the choice, Qi Kai said that for start-up companies in the architectural design industry, the most outstanding highlight of the multi-functional laser all-in-one machine is that it integrates the wireless hotspot function Printing equipment. Its advantage in this regard is that first of all, for entrepreneurial teams who are building a new office environment, network equipment and data cables not only bring troubles to the company's daily management, but also add constraints to the space arrangement of the office. The first three of his four printers were placed in a separate printing room to facilitate the installation of routers and network cables. The wireless hotspot function was integrated into the printing equipment. Not only can he work online through the wireless network, but he can also use mobile devices to Send a print job. Now Qi Kai's is placed next to the conference table at the entrance of the company's office, saving space and reducing the trouble of laying network cables. Secondly, in Qi Kai's words, saving space is equivalent to saving rent, and capital is the most important thing for entrepreneurial enterprises.
In addition, the convenience of the wireless hotspot function when working on construction sites is fully reflected. Now Qi Kai and his colleagues can wirelessly print, copy, send and receive faxes, etc. on the construction site without carrying numerous devices and data cables when they go to the construction site. Moreover, as a laser printer, it is not only easy to carry but also lightweight compared to inkjet printers. It is also more adaptable to the harsh office environment full of dust on the construction site and will not cause ink leakage or clogging.
Cloud printing and features are unique in wireless printing solutions. HP Cloud Print can support users to print through mobile terminals anytime and anywhere. If the terminal used by the user is an operating system, you can choose the application to find the printer and print without downloading and installation.
Picture at the conference table
Integration of office equipment is a development trend in the industry and something Qi Kai, a geek, is very happy to accept. At the same time, in terms of procurement, another major benefit brought to startups like Qi Kai by integrating multiple functions into an all-in-one machine is that it saves money on purchasing a variety of equipment. At work, architectural design projects require a large number of faxes, scans, and printing. The integrated copy/scan/fax function allows employees to reduce the time spent traveling between multiple devices, improve work efficiency, simplify the workflow, and save the purchase of fax machines and scanners. Especially when you go out to work on the construction site, you can avoid the drudgery of carrying a lot of equipment. And the effect of each function can reach a high level to meet the needs of customers and review departments.
In addition, smart applications were also specially mentioned by Qi Kai. As a geek, Qi Kai rarely uses device driver CDs. He believes that the intelligence and ease of use of devices are very attractive factors in terms of customer experience. In terms of driver, plug in the data cable and the driver will be automatically installed, eliminating the trouble of a driver CD. An auto-on/off function that automatically turns off the power when idle also saves power.
If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. In fact, focusing on procurement is not only about improving work efficiency and saving costs internally. The performance of the equipment can often help us obtain greater benefits because today's companies compete for services. Qi Kai said.
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