The strangest thing we come across in our business is the small business owner who says "I don't need a network in my office." When asked why, they reply that it is an unnecessary expense, a security risk or just too much work.

A recent example was a client on Sydney's northern beaches. The office had a dozen architects and office staff. Each of the office staff had an inkjet printer on their desk, the architects each shared a plotter between two which they used for printing both drawings and documents.

Many small offices make the mistake of having an inkjet for each computer. The cost of consumables for the inkjet will over time dwarf the purchase price difference between an inkjet and laser printer. In an office with five computers a networked laser printer will on its own be cheaper than five inkjets, this is before considering the cheaper running cost of the laser.

In the architect's office the six architects shared three plotters through switch boxes. These plotters were used for printing both drawings and documents, with each page having to be hand fed through the plotter. In three months the time savings on printing letters alone would have saved the cost installing a network.

Setting up the network correctly does cost, but a properly set up network saves a typical small business thousands over several years.