Chair economy

How can anyone justify buying a $750 chair when you can get one for $100? Style and prestige may play into it but neither are a reason your accountant will approve so let's look at the return on investment. The $100 chair will likely last for 2-3 years before it's worn out or broken. The $750 chair comes with a 12 year warranty and will likely last 15 years or more. As a result, the cheap chair costs $33-50 per year and the top of the line chair costs about $50 per year. Is it worth a couple extra dollars a year to sit on the best?

To a software developer, a chair is the 2nd most important tool for their job. The most important, a computer (with software) will cost a company at least $500/year, ten times the cost of the chair. Put another way, the best chair will only cost 3 cents an hour. All of a sudden it sounds like a deal.

The numbers show a great chair is not much more expensive, in the long run, then a cheap chair but what are the benefits for the company buying expensive chairs?

1) Improved Morale - Having a nice work environment makes everyone feel better about their job
2) Better Health - An ergonomic chair can make all the difference for anyone with back problems
3) Less hassle - A cheap chair will need to be replaced 5 times for each top quality chair
4) Recruitment Edge - A great work environment will help attract the cream of the crop
5) Increased Productivity - In a "scientific study" Steelcase found a top quality chair will improve productivity by 17.8% due to more focus and less fidgeting. Even if you only see a 10% improvement the chair would pay for itself in no time.

Now you can go back through my chair reviews and pick out the one that's just right for you.

How successful is your business?

When considering if a software business is successful, I start with revenue per employee. Revenue per employee tells you the capacity of the company and shows how much "headroom" they have to motivate employees, grow the business, or innovate the product.
Tracking profit per employee might seem to make more sense, however, profit is only what's left over after expenses and I want to know how much the company can spend on expenses.

If a company makes $10M per year and has 100 employees its revenue per employee is $100k. That may seem pretty good until you realize that there is overhead to keeping the business going - operating costs, employee benefits, cost of goods, etc. With only 100 employees perhaps your overhead rate is only 50% of the labor cost. This means $33k of the $100k is overhead, leaving $67k as the average salary.

That's a pretty sustainable business in the software world, but doesn't allow much room to get creative. You may not be able to hire the best, or kick off a new product development effort, or buy lunch for everyone every day in order to build a tight team.

A better goal for a software company is $200k/employee. With revenue approaching $200k per employee there are many more options open to you. Lunch everyday is a no brainer. Hiring the best is within reach. There is room to try something new and fail. You also have the ability to build up cash reserves in case the economy or your market takes a bad turn.

Minitab, maker of statisics software, brings in $196k per employee and as a result has built a 35 person movie theater, real putting green, gym, and pool for employees to enjoy. They have a top notch facility and have been rated one of the best places to work. They can hire for specialized positions like build engineer and installation tester. With those resources, quality can dramatically improve, driving a great reputation and customer loyalty, all of which feeds back into revenue.

Overhead expenses can vary widely between industries, so comparisons should be within a particular industry. As companies grow their overhead per employee tends to go up and so their revenue per employee must be higher. This provides an advantage to a smaller company that can sell at a lower cost than "the big boys" and still pay it's employees well.

I stumbled across an interesting statistic today on Hoovers: "The packaged software industry is capital-intensive and highly automated, with average annual revenue per worker surpassing $400,000. The custom programming industry is labor-intensive: with average annual revenue per worker of about $115,000."

Give me a product company over a services company any day.

What's your revenue per employee?

Review: Exercise Ball

Exercise Ball

Price: $25 (street)

Pros: Cheap, unique, versatile, promotes movement, available in several colors

Cons: No back support, does not encourage proper posture, can burst with proper application of scissors

Notes: I used the ball for several days and initially it loosens up the back, but I found if I used it for more than an hour or 2 my back hurt later in the day. Exercise may be its best use. Several people at work use them as chairs, one popped (ouch) and another lady fell off hers today.

Review: Humanscale Liberty Chair

Humanscale Liberty

Website
Price: $910 (list) $750 (street)

Pros: Minimal simple controls, sturdy construction, understated style

Cons: If you are not average build you may need more controls to get comfortable, does not look like an expensive chair

Notes: This was a very comfortable chair. The clean and simple design would go with any decor. Constructed mostly of metal makes it look solid. I needed something with a little more adjustability so I reluctantly left this one in the store.

Review: Humanscale Freedom Chair

Humanscale Freedom

Website

Price: $1180 (list) $950 (street)

Pros: Great looking, solid construction, weight controlled recline, nice headrest and moves

Cons: Weight controlled recline tension was not firm enough, hissing sound every time you sit, seat back a little narrow, looks like a dentist chair

Notes: I had high hopes for this one due to the good looks and great reviews. However, I did not even need to take it back to the office for a test. The back was a little narrow and the weight adjusted tilt was noisy. It seemed to be implemented with an air or gas chamber so that every time you sat on it the chair would hiss, releasing gas, for 30 seconds or more. It was very annoying. It did not "learn" and went through it's hissing routine with each use. However, it still did not have enough recline tension. Perhaps this chair is best suited for a smaller person.

Review: Herman Miller Aeron Chair

Herman Miller Aeron

Website

Price: $1277 (list) $750 (street)

Pros: Sturdy construction, good looks, super adjustable, 3 different sizes match to different builds, 12 year warranty

Cons: Only colors choices are shades of gray, hard lip on the sides of the seat, cable driven controls can be unreliable, basic lumbar did not work well

Notes: This is the one that started it all. It's still very popular and seen in TV shows and offices everywhere. I fit best in a size C, which is a big chair. Adjustments are nice and I was able to dial in just what I liked. The basic lumbar adjustment was pretty easy, but the foam block you move up and down or flip tended to move throughout the day as I moved, and almost fell out. The demo chair I had seemed to have much more wear on the lumbar foam then the rest of the chair. The PosterFit support might be the best option although I only tried it for 5 minutes in the store. The recline tension adjustment is too fine and literally took me 100 turns to tighten it enough. The deal breaker however was the hard lip in the sides of the seat. I found I sat to the side or with my legs spread enough that after a day of use my thighs had bruises. I really noticed it the next day when I sat down and my thighs hit the edge again. A coworker who sits with his leg pulled up under himself cracked his ankle on the lip. I really like this chair and would have excused all issues except the hard raised lip on the seat.

Review: Herman Miller Mirra Chair

Herman Miller Mirra

Website

Price: $1020 (list) $510 (street)

Pros: No hard edges, many color options, good price, easier adjustments than the Areon, nice lumbar support adjustments.

Cons: Only suitable for average to lighter weight people

Notes: Seat mesh sagged far enough that I could feel the hard frame underneath. A lighter weight person would not have that problem. If the seat had not bottomed out I may have bought this chair. The optional fabric cover is a nice addition as it adds a minimal padding and softness to the plastic back.

Review: Kimball Skye Chair

Kimball Skye

Website
Price: $850 (street)

Pros: Headrest option

Cons: Looks like a dentist chair, plastic headrest feels cheap, price is a little high

Notes: The gas piston leaked due to lever not quite returning to position which made it hard to judge properly. Tilt mechanism was unique but not quite right for me. One person preferred this chair over the others

Review: Allsteel Acuity Chair

Allsteel Acuity

Website

Price: $1250 (list) $750 (street)

Pros: Great design, simple controls, solid construction, many fabrics and finish options, a favorite among those of small to average build

Cons: Back is a little narrow for bigger than average builds, not quite enough resistance on back tilt even set at maximum, price of leather is outrageous, but beautiful.

Notes: This chair has a super design. The controls are very easy to use and are located on the sides of the seat. It gives a very clean look and is the easiest to use that I have ever seen. No need to twist a tension knob 400 times to tighten the back, just slide a simple lever. Allsteel is very proud of their fully loaded white leather model and it is a stunning chair. They feature pictures of it from every angle on their website and the paper brochure opens up like a centerfold to reveal an extra large image. However the white leather and polished aluminum adds $2300 to the price, for a total over $3000. The ironic thing is the leather defeats several ergonomic features of the chair, namely back and seat ventilation and the slippery leather does not hold you in place as you recline.

Review: Allsteel #19 Chair

AllSteel #19

Website

Price: $1800 (list) $900 (street)

Pros: Great looks, solid construction, great casters, simple design, lifetime warranty on everything

Cons: Weight controlled tilt resistance was not enough for me, not quite as comfortable as some others

Notes: Weight controlled tilt resistance works by lifting the seat as the back reclines, effectively goosing you each time you lean back.
I really like the looks of this chair. Aesthetically it is my favorite. The exoskeleton looks and feels great. The metal frame and controls are all silky smooth and work flawlessly. I really wanted to buy this chair but in the end it was not as comfortable for me partly due to the back tilting too easily. I assume the chair was designed for someone shorter or lighter. However, the chair was rock solid and could probably support a 400lb person.

Review: Steelcase Think Chair

Steelcase Think

Website
Price: $1038 (list) $600 (street)

Pros: Solid chair - more metal, simple controls, 100+ fabric choices will blend into any decor, good warranty

Cons: Not as comfortable as others, not enough adjust-ability

Notes: My foot went to sleep in a 90 minute meeting. Preferred by smaller people. Warranty is 5 years on fabric, 10 years on gas cylinder, lifetime on the rest.

Review: Steelcase Leap Chair

Steelcase Leap

Website
Price: $1315 (list) $750 (street)

Pros: No hard edges, arms - solid and very adjustable, 100+ fabric choices will blend into any decor, good warranty, most comfortable - moves with you

Cons: Too much plastic for the price, does not look like an $800 chair

Notes: Comfortable cushioning with a flexible plastic seat and back to give even more comfort. Adjustable tilt resistance.
A couple bad comments on amazon.com for v2 of the Leap gave me pause.
First day on the chair my back felt significantly better. The second day, the following week, I did not notice the same improvement, but it was no worse. Warranty is 5 years on fabric, 10 years on gas cylinder, lifetime on the rest.