The lowdown on high tech - the latest office products - Buyers Guide

Keeping up with the latest office products can make the difference between success and failure for small businesses. Here's what's on the cutting edge. In 1980, Karen Mann started a homeappraisal company, Mann & Associates, in Fremont, Calif. Her home doubled as the two-person firm's headquarters. By 1989, the company had grown to 20 employees, many more than her home could accommodate. Now the firm is down to six employees, is still housed in leased space, and is thriving at the new, lean size, she says. Mann, the firm's president, credits technology for the company's ability to grow and shrink rapidly without compromising customer service.

For example, part of the business involves preparing appraisal reports for prospective lenders, usually in triplicate. The conventional way of documenting these reports consists of taking extensive interior and exterior photographs of properties, having the film developed at a photo lab, selecting representative prints, and having the lab make enlargements. The cutting-edge way of accomplishing this task, now used by Mann and her employees, involves making the photographs with a Canon digital camera, downloading the resulting digital images into a computer, and printing selected shots on a Hewlett-Packard color inkjet printer. Your needs may be sharply different from Mann's, however, and this special report is designed to help you identify equipment that can help you meet them.
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Offices go digital and portable - office equipment for small firms - Evaluation

Many authorities in the computer industry see the small-business office equipment now appearing in stores as technology of the 21st century. These so-called multifunction products include printing and copying capabilities and can save businesses money, time, and even space. "We are seeing the first fingers of dawn streaking over the horizon" and casting light on the next generation of tools for enhancing office productivity, says Barry Tepper, an analyst with BIS Strategic Decisions, a technology market research firm based in Norwell, Mass.

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3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked? 13 Job Interview Mistakes To Avoid. Even today's entry-level multi-function devices possess some or all of the capabilities of full-functioned laser printers, image scanners, fax-machines, and copiers. They achieve this remarkable diversity thanks to clever engineering and powerful digital technology--the same family of technology used in today's audio compact-disc players and tomorrow's high-definition television sets. And although these products tend to be a bit more expensive than one-function peripheral devices, they are cheaper than the total prices of the several stand-alone peripherals they can replace.
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Worldwide Office Products Market: An Analysis - Out Now

The Office Product market is very large and fragmented. It includes almost everything used in office, from office stationeries/supplies like writing instruments, paper, cards, to computers and furniture. The top players in this market are Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Corporate Express and Lyreco.

These companies in this market are generally superstores or distributors, and they do not manufacture products but source them. Private label brands are fast catching up with these retailers, as they are relatively cheaper than the national brands and provide good margins to these retailers. In fact these retailers are now becoming brands by themselves. Emerging markets like India are fast catching up with the trend. Global players and domestic businesses are getting into these markets to get an early share of a growing market. This report gives an overview of the office products market with a global perspective. It discusses the industry, major players, type of customers this market caters to and its distribution channels. It also talks about the trends going on in the market and the shape this market is taking. Lastly it profiles the key players in this industry.
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Why can't office products dealers hire salespeople?

YOU NO LONGER SELECT CANDIDATES, ATTRACT GOOD ONES WITH YOUR PROGRAMS. The days of seeing five candidates and picking the good ones are gone. Neither can you use elaborate, elongated and tedious interview procedures. Gone are the 3-step, 10-hour, 3-week cycles of interviews. Welcome the new era of two 45-minute interviews, and a job offer. This is not to say that you give up on quality or good recruiting practices. All it says is that if you are "attracting good candidates" you need not go through lengthy procedures to predict if your candidate will "make it".With so few people available, recruiting and interviewing must become a DAILY TASK, just the same as making customer calls.

Even in the great metropolises of America, where millions of people reside, businesses are coming up short when they go out to hire. Here's what they, and no doubt you, are finding: THE PICKiNG ARE SLIM. Classified ads, referrals and even agency contacts produce few, if any interviews. THE QUALITY IS DOWN. Those who do show up for interviews are not the kind you want to hire. HIRING EXPERIENCED PEOPLE IS EXPENSIVE. Those who are successful and employed are asking a small fortune to make the switch to your company.

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