Is a Home Based Office Right For You ?

There are many things to consider when creating a business. One of the big things to consider of course is whether to run a business from home, or from an office/store location. Some advantages for the home based business include cost, scalability and more freedom with time. With a home based business your costs are typically less with more scalability, and more freedom of time. The disadvantages include increased isolation, less then ideal for high profile meetings, and makes boundaries within personal relationships tougher. All of these things have to be considered when deciding whether to work from home or work out of a business.
For many start-up companies, the biggest issue is cost. Most start-ups do not have much money and as a result need to save wherever possible. This is a major advantage for a home based business. An office that is rented or leased elsewhere can cost big money. The most obvious advantages for cost savings on a home office is the rent/lease of an office elsewhere. A small, basic office in the suburbs can easily cost minimum $600, and usually cost much, much more then that. When doing work from home, your only rent/lease is the mortgage payment you were already paying. You also end up saving on gas, wear and tear on the car and the stress of commuting. You can also never forget to pack a lunch at home, because the kitchen is just steps away. This results in a much lower food bill for many people.

Another big advantage of a home office is scalability. You can hire/fire employees as needed without much worry of having too much or too little work space. If you run into a down time and don't need as much space, or employees. Or on the flip side you're experience growth and need more space/employees, you've got a whole house you can use as work space for whomever may work with you. This gives you a lot of flexibility to scale up or down without having to worry about still being on the hook for a lease payment for somewhere that may be way too big or small. Not being locked into these payments allow you to be as nimble as possible with how you operate your business, and as a result can save you a lot of money.



One of the biggest reasons people even want to start their own business is to have more flexibility with their time. Running your own business definitely does give you that, within reason of course. When you own a home based business, one of the biggest advantages is that you don't have to drive into an office. If you are like me, and like to set a start time of say 8am, from home you could oversleep, wake up at 7:30 and still be answering emails and working by 8am. If you do the same thinking and need to work from an office, you could easily be 30-40 minutes late. It also means if you need a quick mental break from work to quickly refresh your mind, you can do that. It helps keep you more productive and enthusiastic about your work. This is something that's relatively hard to do working in an office, because you usually don't have much to do in terms of breaking. This is a pretty clear advantage for working at home.

There can however be some disadvantage to working from home. One of the big ones is an increase in isolation. If you rent an office, or rent space in a "community" office, you are often surrounded by other people. Often they may be of different professions, but you can generally still chat with them and get some social interaction within the work day. Doing these things is much harder working from home, because unless you've got family that stays home through the day, there generally is not anyone there to talk too. Some people may not necessarily care about this, but many do become affected, and it can do so negatively.

There can also be a negative effect on the professionalism of meetings when working from home. If you are meeting a client, especially a bigger client, what gives you a more professional look? Waling into an office, or walking into someones home? Usually the case is the office space. A nice house can be fine, but there is something about an office that tells clients you are more serious about the business that you are running. The extra degree of professionalism that comes with renting an office can definitely be worth the extra cost of renting or leasing an office space.

There is also the issue of boundaries within personal relationships. If you run a business from home, people may forget that you have to work and that what you are doing takes time. This can have a negative effect on the business and the relationships. Having an office can help create separation, because you now have a designated work space which tells the people in your life, that if you are there it is too work, and not to be doing their errands/chores. This can help you become more productive and cause less strain on relationships, making it well worth the investment.

Office space can be rented for relatively inexpensive, depending on what your needs are. It however can be much cheaper to run your business from home. If you're just starting out and can afford to rent an office, it can be an extremely good option. However, if you can combat the negatives of being at home for work, then it can be a very cost effective and more relaxed place to get your work done. Just watch out, it can be tempting to slack off! Make sure you know where you will do your best work, and where suites your business needs best. This will help create a higher chance of your business succeeding.