Designers beware of… technology and supplies.

When running a design office or a design department, you need to assess the kind of equipment you'll be needing and the supplies you'll be using on a daily basis.

If you're starting out, you need to decide the extent of your operation, research the types of activities you'll be performing, so that you can assign a budget for your equipment. Try to figure out how long it'll be before you have to update your hardware and software and take this into consideration when managing your current budget and the budget of the upcoming years.

Also, beware that technology changes too fast in these times. Subscribe to a technology magazine or newsletters and be constantly aware of new developments that can make your work easier of more efficient, or new things that you can offer to your clients. A great one for we designers is Macworld (www.macworld.com). Joining a few technology forums in Ecademy or other platforms is also a great way of being up to date and asking people around for the latest and greatest.

Less expensive items like general office supplies also need to be accounted for. Measure their use and unless you have an unlimited budget for this, try to recycle and get the best of them. You don't always know when you're going to run out of printer cartridges or glossy paper.

All the best!