Setup your home office , tips for home based offices
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Working from a home office offers tons of advantages over renting or buying office property. In many cases it simply is economical to do so, both in terms of money but also time that would otherwise be spent commuting. You must be careful however, as there are many pitfalls to working from home as well.
Professionalism
One of the first things people often worry about is how professional they look if they are working out of a home office. Yes, working from home can seem less “legit” than if you were working out of a large office with a ton of staff. However that doesn’t have to be an issue.
Get some very professional business cards, and refer to your address as Suite 442 rather than Apt. or Unit. 442. Live in a home? Assign it a suite name! That way it will only come up when necessary.
You can also use it to your advantage. Figure out an elevator pitch (30 second speech) which outlines the benefits of working from home from your clients perspective. They are not paying for overhead, you are accessible hours above and beyond 9 - 5, you will always come out to their office for meetings, etc…
Investment / Cost
If you are serious about your business and serious about your home office than you will have to expect to spend some money on your home office. A proper desk, chair for working long hours, organizational tools (file cabinets, shelves, etc), computer equipment, etc… I would expect to spend between $2,000 and $4,000 if you are starting with nothing. However you should write down everything you need to really do business and not be hindered and develop a budget. Keep in mind if you are starting from square one you will still have to spend money on marketing.
Tax Considerations
If you are using your home office to conduct business then you could potentially be able to deduct some expenses from your taxes. In order for you to deduct utilities, rent/mortgage, etc the office must be completely dedicated to business and not just an extra room with a desk and a cordless phone. In some locations you must have meetings at your home office to qualify, make sure you check with a qualified tax accountant before you make any deductions.
Be Disciplined
It is easy to get distracted at home. The laundry needs to be done, someone has to cook, you can run out at any time for that errand. Before you know it you are getting half the work you would get done if you were to work at an office. It is important to dedicate work time for work, it is a slippery slope.
Don’t be too work focused
The other side of the coin is to be too focused on work, get isolated from normal life, and work well beyond normal hours. Pick one day a week to work from a coffee shop, or make plans for lunch/dinner/etc. Make sure to make it out to networking events where you can get outside of the house, and interact with people.
Take the office seriously
If you don’t feel that your home office is really an office, it will be harder to concentrate on your work because it won’t really feel like work. If you are a freelancer, small business owner, etc, your success will be based on how hard, and smart you are able to work and run the company. Failing to establish a serious location to do work is the failing to create the building blocks of your success.
