Your Business Equipment

[Mary Jo Cochran]

I put this on my Linkedin Post:

Freelancer?  Invest in your equipment.

In my younger days when I was a temp I was assigned to a few solo attorneys.  My first impression of their practice was the office equipment they used.  Microsoft had already hit the market.   These attorneys were using big floppy disk word processing systems.  I didn’t stay long.

 As a court reporter I felt accomplished when I passed the RPR.  Moving up to CAT  I bought a very old, very used Xscribe writer, a company bought out by Stenograph in an effort to rid the profession of obsolete equipment.  I also bought a small netbook to write to.  What was I thinking? 

 I had a few instances of computer/laptop failures during a deposition.  Then the motherboard died.  That forced me into buying another writer.  I did not buy a Mira, but I did get a Stentura 6000.  It has an LCD screen.  Too late.  I have already tarnished my image. 

 Obsolete writers or equipment are obsolete for a reason.  They are no longer fully functional in the business world.  They do not provide the accuracy and speed or competency of newer equipment.

 Your equipment is part of your image.  It is a reflection of your competency. You present yourself to your clients sharply dressed and groomed.  The next thing your client sees is your equipment you use to do business – their business.  Your most important asset next to your skills is your competence, which is reflected by the equipment you use to do business. 

 Be sure your equipment is competitive to the next best thing.  Don’t destroy your image because you used obsolete equipment.

NOTE:  I had earlier posted about the netbook being a flop.  I only used it for a few jobs.  It crashed on each of those few jobs.  I wasted the attorneys' and the deponent's time.  I was embarrassed (humiliated).  On one job it had been working, then just stopped.  About 20 pages of what had been there apparently just disappeared.

If you can afford $200 for a netbook, then you can afford $500 for quality.  If you can't, then use a credit card.

[Janiece Young]

I agree with you Mary Jo. Good post.