Would you want a 3rd-party to come to your house to setup a home office for you?

Austin Marks
15 replies
It would operate as a monthly rental/subscription. The 3rd-party would be providing most of the equipment needed to have a great WFH setup (besides the computer if your work requires you to use theirs).

Replies

Bill Haywood
I just had a complete nightmare scenario hooking up a printer, new desktop, speakers, and dual monitors. I nearly tossed everything in the dumpster and a poured kerosene over it. I wish someone would have just set it up nice and pretty from the get-go. Why would it need to be a monthly subscription though? Are you renting the furniture, decorations, and equipment and maybe even some degree of digital service?
Bill Haywood
@austinmeta Oooh, ok. I'm beginning to envision that in some ways. .... I would still kill a llama if someone would set up my home office permanently though.
Austin Marks
@bill_haywood Exactly, you would be renting the entire "setup". It would be a subscription so when you return to your regular office or maybe want to change some things out equipment out you could do it with ease.
Shahrzad Darafsheh
Oooh @austinmeta this is an intriguing idea! Who would be your target audience? I assume it would be renters?
Austin Marks
@shahrzad_darafsheh Have not put much thought into it. Someone ran the idea by me the other day. Their reasoning was, "people pay you all the time to come setup their TVs, computers, etc... why wouldn't they pay you to setup a WFH station". Maybe the PH community isn't the best group to ask because people here are very much DIY'ers, but overall, I was just curious.
Shahrzad Darafsheh
@austinmeta ah gotcha. Yeah I think if I was renting, I would. Otherwise, I'd want to customize it to my liking. This kinda reminds me of that company that allows renters to subscribe to rental furniture -- https://www.cort.com/furniture-r...
Austin Marks
@shahrzad_darafsheh Yeah, exactly there is no shortage of rental companies but we would combine a few of them, offer a variety of different setups to choose from, and that's it!
Shahrzad Darafsheh
@austinmeta oooh yeah I like that. Like a 1-stop shop
Sonika - Zonka Feedback
Seems like an interesting idea. But too much of a control-freak to let someone else to a set up 😂
Austin Marks
@sonika_zonka_feedback Completely agree HA! But there are many people who don't care to do it themselves or don't know how, right?
Sonika - Zonka Feedback
@austinmeta You're absolutely right. The way you work and how everything is set up can make a huge difference.
Andrei Popa
@austinmeta I'd see this the other way around, if I were company who's workspaces are not compliant with the whole pandemic thing, I'd try to get some office workers to WFH instead of renting more place. Companies can give office workers some laptops to WHF, but not all of them have an actual office at home. So in the end, yes if I were a company, I'd pay another company a subscription to set up offices at the homes of the workers I need to WFH. For a business, this could be cheaper and with less commitment than renting a building for 5 years.
Austin Marks
@andrei_popa33 That's a good point and it makes a lot of sense. If you have to buy all the equipment to furnish your office regardless, than it would save you a ton of money. You wouldn't need to have office space anymore and you can either have the 3rd-party take all that equipment you were going to use and create WFH setups or rent directly from them.
Alex Marks
@austinmeta @andrei_popa33 yes this was the major target for the idea. hit the nail on the head. People get a job and the company doesn’t have an office. People/companies are going to want a “work station” type environment so they will need a someone to go set up that space for people. People want to do it for themselves, but maybe while you’re in sales you work from home, if you get moved up and have to go into the now smaller office you no longer are working from home so a company no longer needs that space. As for the other side. Individuals who run an online business could want a set up in there house as well. And there is always the “leases to own” model that could be incorporated on the small business side.
Bill Haywood
Tough audience here. Lots of DIYers who like their tech specific ways. A home marketer, telecommuter, or small business owner may feel differently.