When staring a new business, would you prefer to work from home, or is it advisable to rent office space? Do you think you can get complacent if you decide to work from home?
I think one of the major drawbacks from working from home is that you never can escape work and as a result can overwork yourself quite easily. At least that is what happened to me several years ago. At the same time, working from home reduces costs and makes it easier when you actually do need to work for extended periods of time.
I've worked from a home office, then i got a real office and honestly, I prefer having my own office outside of my home. The worst part about working from home, is that it takes away the feeling of somewhere to relax and be comfortable. When you stop working, you are still at work. Like somebody else mentioned, you wind up working WAY too much... or way too little if you don't have the discipline.
I work from home. It saves money and when I do get those random late night inspirations, the computer is just a room away. on the other end, I also run a small print broker/ web design business so in times when i need to meet a client I rent the executive offices for a hour or two. I prefer to work from home.
It really depends on so many variables it is hard to say. Journey to work? at home with distractions? want to meet new people? I find it good to grab a big piece of A4 then scribble down what you want from life. After 5 mins you can answer all sort of question that pop into your mind
After 3 years of being an independent consultant and working from home/coffee shops I'm currently on a contract that requires me to be in the office from 9-5 M-F. After 4 months I'm going completely insane. I cannot wait until this contract is over. I can't do office work any more.
you know whats funny? I was watching tv the other day (not very often) and i saw a business news segment with people working in cubicles. I honestly said out loud. "People still do that?!!" I really felt bad for them. my mom works for a health insurance company and that's' how her job is, even though she is a network manager with killer pay. I can never work like a slave (clone) like that ever again, nor will I.
Ha! The contract I'm on is for an Insurance company. So not only is it a cubicle farm it's WAY old school. I'm in the process of developing the website for a new product and I mentioned having RSS feeds on our info site and people looked at me like I was on crack. Working in an office is bad enough, but being in a cube farm is killing me. It's been over 7 years since I worked in a cube. Luckily I have an office with a door here, but still, having to get DRESSED to go to work is killing me. I do much better working at 2 am in my PJs.
the main reason i started my own business was so i could go to work in my underwear... and that would be kind of weird in an office.
I think it is all to do with cash flow. Of course it is better to have your own office, so you can meet with clients and get away from the many distractions at home (which there are plenty of if you have a family). On the other hand a home office is cheep cheep cheep. Why can't you have the best of both worlds though? set up your away office and home office - then if for some reason you can't sleep or have middle of the night ideas your computer is still only a room away (or in my case my laptop is normally by my bed) but if you need to get away (or set regular hours) you have your away office. Some people don't like meeting clients at their home either.
I agree - I do my best work late at night when I can't sleep. I think it is when your mind is at it's most creative
that's the way to do it. Save gas. Brian123 - I would say is best to work from home and rent a space as you need. Hourly, weekly, etc, thats just my opinion. Anyone agree?
OP, to add to what I wrote earlier, as a new business owner I would not tie myself into a lease on office space. They can get really expensive really quickly. A growing trend in the US is shared office spaces. You can rent an office/cube/meeting room by the hour/day/week/month/whatever so if you do better working from an office you can do that. It keeps overhead down because included in your rent is all of the office equipment/supplies/etc. They're also good networking opportunities. I have two near me and both are quite nice and have some great activities going on. I don't rent space from them (though I've considered it when I was organizing a seminar) but I would. One even has a great breakroom with drinks and snacks that are included in the price. It might be something to look into. As much as I loathe working in an office I do admit that working from home has some drawbacks. I miss working as part of a team and having co-workers to bitch with when things are getting frustrated. I am also prone to burn-out because I work much longer hours. At one point, for about a 60 day period literally all I did was sleep and work with occasional trips to the store for food. I burned out and avoided doing anything even remotely associated with website development for quite a while. It doesn't help that I live alone in a city where I know few people. It would probably be different for people who have roommates/SOs or who have an active social life where they live. Before you make the decision sit down and figure out the pros and cons.
Depends on the office! I will say, two things I miss about the consulting company I used to work for is the bottomless wine cellar and the expense account.
I have worked from home for many years and it was the best move ever,i have a dedicated office attached to the home and can work as much or as little as i like.I dont have problems of meeting customers as i dont have any as such the only people i have to meet are accountant and business manager from the bank and you can do that over a meal anyway.
It is expensive to rent an office in big city in my place. I prefer to work at home at the beginning.
Thanks for all your fine answers guys. I think for me, it would be best to try and rent some office space. Trying to get a new business off the ground from home is becoming a difficult task. I AM getting too complacent, and I am finding myself getting lazy also. I really need this business to work, it is a new idea, and I think it WILL work, but if I carry on the way I am doing I will fail. I need to start getting up early in the mornings again, and start "getting back into it!" I left my normal job earlier this year, so I need to work at this, and make it work!