If you’re a small business owner currently working at home and wondering if now is the right time to get your first office, this article is for you. We look at the advantages and disadvantages of running your business from home, and how you can use new ways of working to ensure that you still reap the benefits of both.
First, the advantages of running your business from home:
- You can wake up when you want (although if you’re in the process of trying to make a new business work, realistically you’ll probably find yourself awake at 7am and doing 90 hour weeks).
- There’s no life-sucking commute to work so you feel better when you start work and you spend less on petrol.
- The reduced travelling time means there’s more time to actually work.
- You can work without distractions, sort of (we’ll come back to this later).
- You save money by not having to go out to buy lunch – and the bread bin/fridge isn’t far away.
- You can work the hours that suit you and fit work around your other commitments. This means you can pop to the bank/post office at random times during the day rather than having to face the queues at lunchtime.
- Homeworkers often cite having more family time as one of their top benefits.
- You can work in your pajamas in bed if you like, and even if you’d rather work at a desk, there’s no pressure to look good in your home office!
- Working from home costs you nothing! No office rental fees or associated costs – and you can even write off a proportion of your household expenses for tax purposes.
- It’s a fact that homeworkers are less stressed and therefore less sick. You’ll also avoid the bouts of cold and flu that sweep around every office at least once a year.
- It’s environmentally friendly since there’s less commuting.
- You normally don’t have to put up with air con which is drying, spreads disease, can cause allergies and is associated with a good number of health conditions such as chronic rhinitis.
Generally, running your business from home is less stressful, less expensive and highly flexible.
However, working from home also has its detriments:
- It’s quiet and sometimes lonely. There’s no office banter or lunch with colleagues, no Christmas party and no work socials. In a recent survey, 31% of respondents named their colleagues as the best thing about their job.
- There’s no work-life separation. Your kids and partner get confused about when you’re working and when you’re not. You may feel like you’re always at work.
- You have to self-motivate which means working even when you really don’t feel like it. Some people feel more motivated getting up, getting ready and going to a place of work where they have to work set hours.
- In reality there are plenty of things to get in the way. Distractions don’t disappear, they just change – from being interrupted by and enduring noise from your colleagues, to being interrupted by your kids/your partner/the postman/the phone and anything that looks more appealing than work.
- Not having a set schedule can be a huge detriment in that you may often find yourself struggling to get work in between other commitments, that otherwise would have just had to wait had you been at the office.
- Your home address doesn’t look very professional, and it’s not great having to reveal it to the world (disgruntled customers, anyone?)
- If you employ others (who also work from home) it is difficult to monitor, motivate and train them. Your staff may feel detached from the business and it has been shown in some cases, this can lead to a loss of loyalty.
- You have to buy and maintain your own equipment and services, such as telecoms and internet services.
- There’s nobody to bounce ideas off, no shared creativity or discussion.
- It’s very easy to work too much – you find yourself losing track of time and before you know it, you’ve done a 12 hour day. It’s also tempting to jump on your computer and start working at the weekend. This isn’t healthy (and not good for your family if you have one, either).
- A little bit of stress like that which you experience in a healthy office environment is actually good for you (it’s called ‘eustress’).
If you’re starting to feel that the cons outweigh the pros, it is time to consider getting some sort of office space. Whilst this used to be a huge commitment, nowadays there are plenty of office space options that won’t break the bank and getting somewhere official to work is much easier than ever before. There are different options available to suit every budget – for example, a shared office addresses many of the cons of working at home without the huge price tag.
Shared offices and hot desking are great for networking
A shared office or hot desking gives you the interaction you’ve been craving for. It’s the perfect step up from working at home since the cost is low but it addresses many of the cons of homeworking. With a shared solution, you rent desks at a serviced office location of your choice. Hot desking is similar, except you don’t get a specific desk – you just pick the nearest one when you need it. Shared offices and hot desking are great for networking because they both put you in the company of other people in the same room, many of which will be in a similar situation to you. You get the office banter you’ve craved for, without the huge price tag of the traditional property lease which typically ties you in for 3-5 years. Your office is fully kit out and maintained, and the price is all inclusive – so you don’t have to worry about buying a phone system or internet services, for example. And with hot desking, you don’t have to pay for an office every day – so you can even work some days at home, some days in the office, and enjoy the benefits of both.
If shared offices or hot desking don’t seem quite right for you, a serviced office could be a better option. With serviced offices, there’s no lengthy lease or long term commitment and you can usually move in the day you sign your agreement. You usually find yourself sharing the building with other companies, but you will have rooms or a suite for your company. There are a whole host of benefits that come with serviced offices, such as a manned reception, daily office cleaning and day-to-day office management. Everything is included as part of one fixed fee – business rates and utilities as well – so you always know how much to budget for. Like shared offices, serviced offices are fully kitted out with everything you’d expect in a high specification office, so you don’t have to worry about the cost of setting up the office – even desks are normally provided. As well as this, you’ll usually find business equipment on the site that you can use, such as photocopiers and printers, with tech support if required. All is maintained as part of your fee, so there’s no hidden extras to worry about. Serviced offices sometimes have a lounge, bar or restaurant attached too, so not only do you have somewhere to entertain clients, but you also get the networking benefits of meeting other like-minded people.