Utilizing small businesses is ultimately good for your community but it can have several advantages for the customer as well. Small businesses are more likely than chains to support to local organizations, deliver quick solutions, provide personal interactions and offer specialized services you can’t find anywhere else. Here are a few ways you as the consumer will benefit from choosing a small business:

Support Community

Small businesses tend to give back to their local area by supporting local non-profits, donating to schools, and attending charity functions. Since they are not spending money on national advertising campaigns, they are able to sponsor local events or organizations as a way to get their name out and network within the community. Because small businesses are a part of the community, they are invested in helping their town thrive. Keeney’s provides supplies, donations and volunteer time to various organizations in the Puget Sound.

No Bureaucracy

Because of the uncomplicated structure of many small businesses, decisions are able to be made quickly without waiting for a question to move up the corporate chain. Small businesses are also able to have flexibility on policies unlike corporate companies so issues can be addressed and handled on a case by case basis. The staff at a small business has access to the key decision makers or owner and can get the right people involved if a customer needs additional assistance. At Keeney’s, our President is very involved in customer matters and is often in attendance at customer meetings and events.

Personal Interactions

Due to the size of the staff as a small business, customers get a more personal experience. Clients speak with consistent contacts so they don’t need to repeat their history and their needs are already known by the team. At Keeney’s, customers work with the same customer service team members, have consistent drivers delivering their products and have designated account representatives to service their needs.

Specialized services

Small business are more likely assist a company that needs a unique service than a chain store. With the flexibility of a small business, they are able to create specialized services and get them implemented quickly to meet a customer’s needs. Due to the need of some of our customers, Keeney’s has created programs to offer desk top delivery, inventory management and custom web pages.

Whether you’re starting a new project or looking to change your supplies or furniture provider, give the Keeney’s team a call and we will show you first hand the special small business experience.

If you spend most of your work day sitting at your desk in your office, you should definitely make a high-quality office chair a priority. Low-quality chairs can cause lower back, leg, neck, and shoulder pain and tend to only last a couple years before needing to be replaced. While the aesthetics of the chair matter since it is part of your office decor, you will mostly want to consider the following features when looking for a chair:

Lumbar support

Quality office chairs will provide excellent support to the lower back and will usually have adjustable lumbar supports, allowing you to properly fit the chair to your lower back. This goes a long way toward helping prevent some of the types of back strain making the chair comfortable for everyday use. Look for a chair that allows you to adjust the placement and degree of lumbar support.

Adjustments

Just about any office chair you find is going to have adjustments for height. This adjustments, however, are less important than others like lumbar support, seat depth, seat and back angle, arm width and height, and tilt tension control. The various knobs and levers on each chair will allow you to adjust the chair to fit your body and the task you are performing. These features are also helpful if your office would like to have a standard chair for all employees, as a more adjustable chair will fit more people.

Modularity

Adjustability is essential, but given the range of body sizes and shapes in the workforce, modularity is just as important. Some chair lines offer a range of cylinder, seat and back sizes, further allowing you to outfit your entire office with a chair design that is consistent, yet fits 100% of the people on your team. A chair that has the wrong seat depth for an employee – whether it is too long for a person with short legs, or too short for a person with long legs, or too wide for a person with narrow shoulders – can lead to serious repetitive stress or fatigue issues. A truly modular chair line will allow you to change out a seat or back years down the road, so when an employee leaves and is replaced by a person of a different size, rather than buying a new chair, you can simply buy the appropriate seat and change it out. This functionality helps extend your investment, and respects the environment by reducing waste.

 Upholstery

Choose an office chair that has a breathable fabric, so it will not become uncomfortable after you have been sitting in it for a long time. Many chairs come in a mesh fabric that allows air flow and can provide you will cool comfort, especially during the summer months.

Ultimately, having a good chair for your office is important for reasons beyond just your comfort and health. Studies show a good, supportive, comfortable office chair helps you be more productive with your work, and can even help reduce distractions. Before purchasing a new chair, contact Keeney’s ergonomic team to assist you in selecting the best chair for your needs.

Working on a computer all day long can be extremely stressful on your body. With improper posture, your neck and shoulders can become very sore, making it even harder to sit and work properly day after day. Using the proper office furniture and ergonomic positioning will help you use good posture and avoid pain after a long workday. Here are a few tips to help you stay comfortable:

Adjust your screen to eye-level

One of the biggest causes of neck pain at the office is keeping a computer screen too low. This forces users to slump over to type and positions their neck downward to view the screen for long periods of time. Get a monitor stand or monitor arms that allow you to position your screen at a comfortable viewing height. This will let you keep your neck relaxed and straight while you work.

Position your screen arm’s length from your face

Nearly as important as screen height is the distance your screen is from your body. You don’t want to be sitting too far away from the screen and have to lean in or hunch over to view it but you don’t want your nose to be touching the screen either. A good rule of thumb is to keep your computer screen approximately an arm’s length away from your body.

Don’t twist your back or neck to view the screen

Make sure to position your computer screen at the center of your vision so you do not have to twist your neck or lower back to view it. Avoid working on computers that are seated to the side of you, or use a swivel chair to physically rotate your body toward the screen if you have a duplicate screen setup.

Use a headset for calls

If you’re making a lot of calls, there’s a good chance you’re working with a telephone held between your shoulder and your ear, which can cause a lot of neck pain after prolonged periods. To avoid uncomfortable positions, use a hands-free headset that allows you to take calls and type all while sitting up straight.

Making these simple changes can help to make you comfortable all day long (even after you clock out!) For assistance adjusting your workstation, contact the Keeney’s team and one of our representatives will conduct an ergonomic assessment and make sure you have everything you need to avoid neck and back pain at the office.

As we make strides towards a paperless office, one paper product still remains irreplaceable: the business card. When attending conferences, fairs or networking events, exchanging business cards at the end of a conversation is crucial for following up afterward and remembering each person you met with. Prepare your design carefully, and your business card will make you look professional, build trust and set your company apart from others in your field. Below are a few things to consider when creating your business card.

Incorporate Your Branding

Remain consistent with your brand when developing your business cards. Use your brand colors and include your logo on your business card to create a seamless connection between your cards and company website. This connection will also help in remember who you are and what company you work for.

Highlight Your Name

Besides your company logo, the most prominent thing on your business card should be your name. Make sure it is easily readable by selecting a legible font and a color with contrast to the background. You will also want to include the title of your position for more context.

Include Important Contact Information

Make sure your contact information is easy to read on your business card. To prevent crowding your business card, you may want to select one or two methods of contact to showcase. This commonly includes a phone number and email address. Remember to include a personal email (not generic), and direct phone number.

Be Mindful of White Space

Once you’ve added all the above mentioned elements in your business card, make sure there is still sufficient white space. This is important to allow readers to easily skim the card. Your card will also look more professional if it isn’t cluttered with too much information. If you find that there isn’t enough white space, you might consider decreasing your font or logo size, or completely removing some information. If appropriate, you can also think about using both sides of your business card.

Make it Memorable

A business card is typically your first impression and there are a number of creative tactics you can use to make yours stand out. Designing a business card with a unique shape, interesting material or bold color can help your card stick out in a stack.

The perfect business cards should be easy to read, well designed, and reflective of your business. If you need you need to print your newly designed business cards or reprint the ones you currently have (you don’t want to run out!) contact Keeney’s and our team with get you networking ready!

Spring is a time to reawaken and refresh, making this the perfect time of year to clean and organize. Whether your goal is to be more relaxed or to increase your productivity, getting reorganized and de-cluttering your desk at work can help make your desk a much better place to work. Here are some tips and tricks to get organized this spring and stay organized:

Clean Your Desk Surface

You’ll need a clean slate to begin your desk spring-cleaning so start by removing everything from your desk’s surface. When cleared, give your desk a scrub down to create the best surface for you to work. You’ll be amazed at the dust that’s been lingering behind your phone and the coffee mug rings you never really noticed before.

Throw Away Anything you Don’t Need

Now that everything is off your desk, separate the items into a keep and garbage pile. Recycle any old paperwork you don’t need any more and throw away any thing that is cluttering your work area. If you’re not sure about whether you’ll need a document in the future, scan it to your computer to easily reference if needed.

Prioritize Your Supplies

Take a look at everything you have left in and on your desk and prioritize what you need more often to decide where to store it. For example, the planner you use every day should stay on top of your desk but the catalogs you reference once a month can go into a drawer. This step in organization will help you locate important items easily.

Once you’ve finished your desk spring-cleaning, don’t forget to periodically do a check on your organization. Ensuring that you’re cleaning and throwing away unnecessary papers, and other supplies throughout the year will not only keep you in the right frame of mind and also make your job next spring that much easier. Check out the selection of organizers at Keeney’s to keep your desk tidy all year long!