Whether you run your own business from home or work in an office, your productivity depends on having functional, reliable tools. For example, most people need a good computer and possibly a mobile device, various software applications, a work station, and miscellaneous office supplies. Quality tools support efficiency and productivity. Poor tools can force you to redo your work, costing precious time and money.
If you’ve been on the fence about investing in higher grade tools of any kind, here are several reasons to pull that trigger.
- Reliable laptops support a smooth workflow
There’s no reason to buy an inferior laptop to save money since high-quality laptops are affordable. In fact, laptops from reputable brands, like HP, are on sale all over the internet, and you can get a powerful computer for a decent price.
As your main work tool, your laptop needs to be fast and reliable. Buying the cheapest device is risky because you can’t afford to deal with random breakdowns. For example, if your keyboard goes haywire and you have to get it replaced, you’ll be without a computer for at least a day or even a week. That’s not acceptable. Worse, if your hard drive fails because you bought a defective device, you’ll lose important data.
Since good laptops are available for just about every budget, you have no reason to go cheap. The processor will be fast, the keyboard will feel nice, the screen will be more vibrant, the components will last longer, and you’ll have all the ports you need.
- Low-quality tools force you to redo work
Anytime you buy cheaper tools with the intention of saving money over meeting your needs, you risk having to redo your work. A common example is when people choose a free or cheap email marketing provider and find out several months later that it won’t meet their needs. After integrating their shopping cart, landing pages, and creating elaborate email sequences, they have to move their contact database to another service and recreate all of those email sequences from scratch inside the new system.
Choosing the wrong tools can end up forcing you to start your work over from scratch. Whether it’s rebuilding email sequences or setting up files on a new computer, the end result is always lost productivity and wasted time.
- A superior tool supports a smooth workflow
Your workflow is the core of productivity. When you can sit down at your desk and start hitting your tasks in a seamless flow, that’s when you’ll produce the best work and meet your deadlines.
On the other hand, when you’re constantly interrupted by small breakdowns, it can throw you off. For instance, say you’re writing a document that has to be sent to a client by the end of day and all of a sudden, your laptop freezes. You reboot and it freezes again. After the third reboot, you realize you’re not going to be able to finish that document until you fix the issue, which could take days. If you had purchased a reliable laptop from the start, this wouldn’t have happened.
- You’ll hit deadlines faster when you have everything you need
Whatever type of deadlines you create for yourself, you’ll hit them faster and easier when you have all the tools you need immediately accessible. Don’t wait to get all the tools you know you’ll be using. Even if you have to buy a software subscription and pay for a couple of months before you actually use it, that’s fine. If you wait until you need to sit down and actually use an application, you’ll have to go through the learning curve and figure out how it works. This will inevitably delay your ability to get work done.
Prepare ahead of time by gathering the tools you need and figure them out beforehand. This can include everything from software applications and external hard drives to physical office supplies and equipment, like staplers, printers, and more.
- Cheap costs more in the end
Going cheap will cost you far more money in the long run. According to one survey, 63% of people admitted to being burned by choosing a cheap option. If you do that, you’ll eventually have to buy a different tool or software application. By that time, you will have spent more money than if you chose the quality tool from the start.
Quality is a worthwhile investment
Investing in quality supplies and tools supports higher productivity and eliminates unnecessary expenses. Think twice before going cheap because that never works long-term.