Some home-based entrepreneurs are contented to start and grow their
businesses from their homes. Others, however, consider the home office only
as the first step in the business ladder. How do you know if it is time for
your business to go downtown?
By Lyve Alexis Pleshette
Staff Writer
Some home-based entrepreneurs are contented to start and grow their
businesses from their homes. Others, however, consider the home office only
as the first step in the business ladder.
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Once the business moves on to the next stage, often within 15 months of
starting the business, a number of entrepreneurs feel compelled to move the
business out of the house and into its own office.
How do you know if it is time for your business to go downtown? We listed
five indicators to help you decide whether your business stays in your home
or go.
1. A home office is not working for you.
Try as you might, you simply are not cut to work at home. You can t tolerate
the seeming isolation, the lack of contact with another person outside your
family circle, and the business appearance of a corporate office. Make the
move to a downtown office if the additional profits you can generate from
improved productivity far outweigh the savings you generate from working at
a home office. Consider the expense and carefully check if your business can
afford the price of an office.
2. Distractions hamper your productivity
.
There are too many distractions at home for you. As a result, you end up
doing nothing. The day passes by without you accomplishing anything. This is
a far cry from the days when you work in a real office where you are able to
check off a long list of completed tasks for the day.
Working at home, there are just so many things that keep your attention
and focus: television, eating and sleeping, and yes, even your kids. You can
t concentrate on work while staring at your basement wall. To be able to
work, you need the look and feel of a real office , the opportunity to see
and talk with other people, or the impetus to really dress up for work.
3. Your business is growing!
This is the best excuse to moving out of your home. The business has grown
to the extent that it needs its very own space. It has graduated from what
outsiders may refer as recreation business into a full-fledged serious
business.
One indication that your business has grown is when you have more
inventory you re your house can handle. Perhaps your business now requires
more inventories than you have room for it (this assumes that your inventory
is growing because you are able to move them fast, and not because you keep
on buying items that do not sell). Previously placed in your daughter s room
(whom you begged to simply share a room with her sibling), your stocks are
now starting to overtake your living areas including the den. You simply
have to move your business out of the house, or your family moves into
another house.
The increased demand for your products or services may also result in
your needing additional space for equipment that your present home office
cannot provide.
4. You need to hire employees.
From a one-person business, you now need additional hand in your business.
More bodies mean more space. Whereas before you can simply set up your
kitchen table as your working table, you need to provide space and work
facilities to your employee/s. Plus, you need to consider your family s
opinion on having another person in your house five times a week.
It is also important to consider zoning regulations when you start hiring
employees. One person coming to your house and working for you may be
inconspicuous, but better check with your area s zoning board to make sure
that you are not violating any regulations. Some communities prohibit
non-residents to work in someone else s home office. Then there s the
parking issue if your employees bring their car to your house and they park
on the streets. If your employees encroach on another resident s parking
area, or there appears to be too many cars parked along your property
everyday, you may incur the ire of your neighbors who in turn can complain
to the zoning board.
5. You want to present a more professional face
to your clients.
Having an office downtown may be good for enhancing your image and
generating more business. You can accept customer visits, without worrying
whether your customer will trip on your son s toys or your neighbors getting
irritated with the comings-and-goings of too many people in your house.
In addition, clients will also be more relaxed to deal with you in an
office environment, rather than in your house where they may feel like they
are intruding on your privacy. Some clients may not appreciate doing
business with you while your toddler is clinging at your feet screaming and
demanding for your attention.
