6 items under £175 total to keep your power on new biz calls at home.

6 items under £175 total to keep your power on new biz calls at home.
 
 
 
2020 taught us a lot about working from home, but for many of the businesses I work with, the spare room has been their home office for longer than Covid has dominated the headlines.

By this stage, you’ll have seen a hundred or more tips of working, hiring and office partying from home. I know I’ve seen more than my fair share of these articles.

But one thing I feel has impacted smaller, creative businesses disproportionately over this time, are the challenges around asking for money when working from home.

The reality is, if you’re in your zone of comfort where you normally relax, it can be hard to command the money that your services deserve when you’re on that all-important pitch or chemistry meeting via Zoom. Many don’t feel like they’ve got the upper hand, or power in the meeting, to confidently raise their pricing.

But for most, it’s also as simple as creating a backdrop that represents their achievements, and the image they want to project.

Here are 6 items that cost less than £175 total, to allow you to claim your power back on your next virtual money meeting.


#1 Rack Shelving, £129 at IKEA.

This is fundamental in your office staging. A rack storage system that you can place behind your back when at your desk. It is the perfect set up for storing the suggestions below, takes up the majority of a Zoom backdrop when positioned close enough, it creates a great screen in a room, to hide away domestic crap that piles up in the spare room, and best of all, doesn’t break the bank.

#2 Your products, free.

The number one item to show off on your shelving: Showcase what you have worked on. Ask for free samples or dummy packs from your clients and their printers. If this item is intangible and hard to show (i.e. a website) consider another way to showcase that you have worked on this project. i.e. a visual of the site or at a push a client logo in a frame.

#3 Any awards/ certificates you have, free. Frames, £6 at IKEA

Showcase any silverware or certificates you’ve received. If you’ve made the shortlist for something and haven’t received anything to show for it, create a visual to represent this achievement and frame it. Obviously, be responsible and don’t claim what you haven’t won. If you haven’t won awards, frame a visual of the results you’ve had for a brand. i.e. '30% increase in sales for GoodCheese.'

#4 Any coffee table, art and design books you have lying around, free.

In some of the spare shelving slots, group together books you favour and look good sideways on. Personally, I’m a sucker for arranging these in rainbow colour order. I should probably see a therapist about that. I’ll leave your aesthetic order preference to you.

#5 Plants, from £5 at IKEA.

The no brainer. Not only are plants healthy to have around, but they are also naturally calming, and have the bonus of subliminally representing growth (key when you’re talking to new clients). Plus they add volume, height and colour to the shelving set up. Obviously better if they’re alive, but if you have a bad track record with plants, IKEA has great artificial ones. (So good, my mum always waters them when she comes to stay.)

#6 A laptop riser, £30 at Amazon.

If you’re working on a laptop, you’re likely sick of the sight of your own double chin on video calls by now. When you join a call, lift your laptop to your eye level, to allow you to speak face to face, as you would in a physical meeting. It’ll also discourage you from typing on the laptop/checking other apps too much, as it’s harder to navigate when the laptop is lifted.


Now you’ve got your power-wielding kit set up, make sure you have the best practices for getting clients through the door, with Kafeen marketing and new business toolkits. You can grab it in the Kaffeen Shop.

Ps. If you want a list of my exact home office set up, check out this post.

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