If you have managed to get a startup loan or grant it will be very tempting to spend it on fancy kit like a stylish looking Mac. However, unless you are involved in graphic design or programming, the extra spend on such a premium product is probably not necessary.
Remember that computers are like cars - they depreciate as soon as you take them out of the show room.
For many, a laptop is often the first choice as it provides maximum flexibility in terms of where the work can be undertaken.
This is fine if you have to start working at the kitchen table or in a shared workspace, but if you have an office or a fixed location right from the start, the laptop may start to feel limiting very quickly.
For example, working on a cash-flow forecast worksheet on a laptop can feel a bit like looking at a landscape through a very small window. It is not long before you want the larger panoramic view.
If all you do is write emails, promote on social media, accounts and financial planning then what you need is something reliable, but not necessarily that powerful.
If you are involved in anything handling graphics including the production of video content, then power and storage provisions will be much more important.
You do not need to go for one of the top brands to get the reliability providing you have access to the technical support you need when you need it. If you can build your own machine then you can always rely on yourself, but if you are one of the many who do not know your bits from your bytes you will need someone to fall back on.
The best source for this may not always be the biggest so it is worth looking around for local repair shops who may be able to provide speedy assistance at affordable prices.
With this support behind you, you can the look at alternative suppliers like Technextday. This company serves both consumers and business so get a value solution to get you started within a day or two. Of course if you want a powerful box with added flashing lights that is an option, but you probably don't 'need' it.
Beyond the basic considerations of power and productivity you will also need to add storage and data accessibility into the mix.
If you have more than one machine in use where will files be stored? This question is as relevant to one person using a desktop and laptop at different times as it is to an office with several people.
A central storage location is useful because it allows multiple individuals (or devices) to access the same information. It also allows a single point of backup so that all critical files can be backed up at once.
Consider this, if you were working with paper files, would you scatter them all over the office, with some kept at home by one or more employees? Or would you keep all of the files in a lockable filing cabinet in the main office where everyone who needs to can access them quickly?
It is always better to keep files stored away from the production machine in case something happens to it. This may not be a functional failure it could also be a virus or other attack.
So if your main productivity machine fails you can access your files via your laptop and vice versa.
These days there are many options open from client-server setups to network attached storage to cloud base solutions such as Microsoft OneDrive.
The storage / backup / availability issue is a seperate subject to be covered later, but it is an important consideration in your hardware / software spend.
One final not so minor point on this. Although it costs more for higher amounts of storage investing in solid state drives (SSD) for your productivity machine is a spend worth making.
These days it is more likely the option is not there, but if you are considering a secondhand or refurbished machine it is an option to look for as the access speed is so much faster with SSD. This means your machine will startup and shut down quicker and files and software will be accessible much quicker.
This speed of access and the resultant improvement of productivity that goes with it is worth paying a little bit more for.
