When you first start out in business it can be tempting to work from home. Not only does it keep your expenses low but you also have the flexibility of being able to work any hours you choose. However, there comes a time when you need to expand and one of the best ways to do this is to draw a clear line between your home and business life and to step into your own office.
Let’s look at different ways to start your expansion.
A Virtual Office
If you aren’t quite ready to take the leap into a permanent office space, and yet you are getting crowded out of your home because of all the business related documents you need to store, then why not opt for a virtual office. This gives you the benefit of a professional address, and even offers a telephone answering service, while still keeping your expenses minimal.
A solution for all your documentation, which might not be safe in your home particularly if it relates to clients’ personal and financial information, is to place it in the hands of a secure document management company. This allows you to easily access it, but it gives you peace of mind knowing it is safe and frees up some of your precious living space.
A Co-working Space
If you want to take advantage of all the benefits of moving your office out of your home the next best step can be to move to a serviced office or co-working space. Serviced offices are often based in prestigious locations, they are great for networking and they offer all the perks of an office with none of the upkeep. They can be an interim step, maybe if you aren’t ready for a long term lease yet or you want to try out working from a certain town or city.
Your Own Address
Once you have decided on the best place to be based; your company is financially viable; and you have your own employees, then it’s probably time to commit to your own office space. This can act as a great boost to your morale and is one of those times in your business life when you truly feel like you have arrived. So, if you’re doing business in Australia, you may want to consider looking for Australian Serviced Offices.
The Benefits
Whilst working from home can be low cost and comforting, there are many benefits to expansion.
- More space gives you the ability to ramp up production or to offer additional services. When you are surrounded by the buzz of an office environment, particularly in a co-working space, you will also find you are motivated to achieve a great deal more every day.
- A serviced office or co-working space is also a great way to network, to find new clients and to get involved in joint ventures.
- A professional address can give you a great deal more confidence in the ability of your business to succeed and it can also engender trust in your potential clients. If you hold face to face meetings customers will feel more at ease when they can see you in your working environment.
- Working away from home can also allow you to create a divide between your professional and personal life and this can ease your stress. How much more relaxing is it to come home at the end of a long day and not have your house filled with work related equipment and paperwork. It’s definitely a better way to achieve work-life balance.
Some of us, when we establish our businesses, relish the thought of working from home. However, the reality can prove very different to how we imagined it to be. Working round the clock and with no escape from our business life can leave us drained and at odds with other members of the family who might not understand our need to be work late into the night.
If that’s the case for you, the signs are there that you are more than ready for expansion. If your business is thriving and your client list is growing it’s time to stop working from home. Be assured that once you step into your own office for the first time you will never look back.
