Your Portable Office

You have an ample office with all the amenities an office should have. But do you find yourself away from the office most of the time? If you are on the road quite a bit, you may want to equip your car or truck with a scaled down version of your business office.

For starters, you should invest in a portable file box. They make some great plastic ones with a handle on the top that easily fit hanging file folders. In these folders, you can put all the blank forms you use, such as estimate sheets, invoices, checklists and more. Additionally, you can keep fliers and brochures in here. In lieu of a file box, you could also use a larger brief case or satchel bag.

You should also have a calculator, writing materials, paper clips, small stapler and compact hole puncher. All these small items can be placed in a plastic container as well. Just look in the school supply section of your favorite office store.

A field checkbook is also something you should bring, as well as a contact list. You could place your contact list; along with any other pertinent information you want to have on hand in a three-ring binder. This binder can then be placed inside your portable file folder. A portfolio is also a must.

If you have enough in your budget, you could also have a laptop computer to look up things, or make estimates right from you portable office. Another useful item could be a PDA. These, of course the pricier ones, can include most everything a computer could.

We just talked about the tools you need for doing work and gaining new business, but if you are traveling from site to site, you should also keep a tabbed three-ring binder of your current projects, the contacts, the crew, etc so you can have everything you need when checking on them.

The important thing about your portable office is that you should never have to say, “Oh shoot. I forgot to bring….” Having all the tools on hand in a portable office makes working on the road very efficient. But, it also adds a whole new element of ‘getting out of the office!” (As in, you can never leave!)