Where is the money in home office?
Retail Ideas
Leslie Carothers -- Furniture Today, November 17, 2006
I am actively seeking my perfect home office solution-I want a computer armoire. Has anyone seen it? As a trainer, consultant and (sometimes) writer I have a well-defined set of functional requirements. Easy enough to go to a big box store, an office superstore or similar outlet for an inexpensive solution to my functional requirements.
But, and this is the huge but, I can't find ANYTHING that resonates for me emotionally. And herein is the opportunity for my retail readers..
I have checked out every website I can find and "googled" for others that I didn't even know existed. I typed in lots of different series of keywords hoping to strike it rich (By the way, one very large, well known brand didn't even make it onto page 2 of search results on Google!!!). Guess what? There are thousands of desks and computer armoires being made-no surprise.
However, none of them and I mean none of them, allowed for any type of personalization based on my particular needs. What am I looking for (I am, by the way, your typical female consumer running a business who needs to put together a home office).
Here's a list of what I'd like:
A footprint that isn't a big rectangular box.
A way to personalize my computer armoire with the interior options that are important to me. For instance, I need lots of file space but work with a laptop so I don't need the space that usually is reserved for the computer underneath.
Side pieces that I can add on now or at a later date that allow me to display my books and personal mementos- with options for glass or enclosed doors and lighting.
A way to personalize the front of my armoire-right now, most of what I'm seeing is wood. Why can't I have the option to paint the wood a color of my choosing, have several different decorative finish options to choose from or have it covered with fabric to match the rest of my room or have it covered with blackboard paint or corkboard? Would it be possible to switch these options out -just like you do with slipcovers?
Extra coordinating file cabinets and book cabinets that complement (not match) the computer armoire.
And, I want to make sure that the lighting I need is present and that it is easy to change the bulb and manage the wires.
Did I say I might need to move it at some point so it would be terrific if it could be disassembled in two pieces or more so that it would be easy to get around stairways and into elevators?
Ok. Now you have a blueprint of what your female consumer is looking for when you go to market in 2007.
A unique, personalized solution that appeals to the female consumer with money to invest in an environment that supports her functionally and resonates with her emotionally has a surefire winner on their hands-are you letting me know through your website and advertising?
I also want to share one more thing...I have shopped every brick and mortar store in my area and, since I travel, several others around the country. I have never had a sales consultant, upon hearing that I needed a home office, ask me any of the following questions:
What equipment do you need space for?
How do you use your office?
What style of furniture do you prefer?
What else is your home office used for that I have to take into consideration?
Can you describe for me what else is in the room where this furniture will be going?
Can you tell me the architectural details of the room-can you sketch your home office area for me?
You get the picture!! Seriously, when it came time to talk to me about home office, all of the associates focused only on price. Now, this is not usually the case when I've been looking for upholstery or other case goods, but price has always been the first focus for home office.
Let me say this to all of my valued retail readers-please know that their are, according to a 2004 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 20.7 million Americans working at home. Of these, 7 million have a home based business only. Of these, 45 percent are in managerial, professional and related occupations and an additional 15 percent are in sales occupations.
Employed persons with a bachelors degree or higher are 6 times more likely to have a home based business than those without! And the percentage of men and women who have home based businesses is about equal. So, that is a market(in 2004) of approximately 3.5 million female consumers who work full time out of home offices and are seeking(one might surmise) more than a utilitarian solution to the place where they are spending upwards of 45 hours a week and willing to pay extra to get just what they want!
Opportunity is lurking-please ask your manufacturers to talk to us -give us a forum and we will give them our feedback.
This is a huge growth juggernaut for your business if you really hear what your female consumer is saying to you, find and floor the product and then let us know about it through email blasts and your advertising.
One last thing...I know there are a lot of men reading this who might want the same things, too( the ability to have a map of your favorite golf course on the front of your armoire maybe?), but it just seems there are lots of armoires already designed for a more masculine sensibility.( I see a GREAT opportunity here for a private label line designed by a female designer who is also a mom working from a home office)
As always, please email me at leslie@tkpartnership.com and, if you have the home office of my dreams, please let me know! (Remember, ask me those questions first..)
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