Whether to Move Your Small Business from Your Home Office

 

 

If your home office is overflowing with boxes, electronics, fliers, and last year’s financial statements, you might want to consider finding an office space. Not only are you likely to be more organized this way, but you’ll probably end up having a less stressful work atmosphere.

 

Entrepreneurs are often fiercely independent, capable people, and sometimes they try to take on more than they can handle. You may have put off hiring employees for as long as possible. If you’re up to your eyeballs in procrastinated tasks, consider hiring an assistant or bookkeeper. This transition from being a one-man band to a multi-employee company can be made smoother by moving your office out of the home and into an office space.

 

Entrepreneurs who work from home often have many other responsibilities to attend to every day. Some folks can’t avoid the temptation of throwing in an extra load of laundry or some other household chore when valuable time is needed to run their business. Barking dogs during conference calls are unwanted interruptions that make the company look unprofessional. If working from home creates interruptions that cause you to miss deadlines, disappoint clients, and mess up tasks, relocating to an outside office is a smart move.

 

 

Money is always a factor to be considered. You’ll incur commuting costs and will likely to have to furnish the office with some basic chairs and tables, and perhaps a sofa. However, your revenues could also increase greatly because of this transition. Do the math and try to predict the short-term and long-term financial results of moving into an outside office.

 

It’ll take time to get your home office packed up and moved into a new office. If you’re thinking about relocating, try to do it during a time when you predict business to be a little slower.

 

Working at an office instead of at home means trading off being able to see your family all the time. If you want to take your company to a higher level, you likely will have to sacrifice the amount of time devoted to your spouse and children. If your family needs you more right now than your business does, staying at home may be the best option.