True Costs of Working From Home
The benefits of using a serviced office become clear when you work out the true costs of working from home. Although finances may be tight and you want to avoid set up costs, working from home may slow your business growth. Its easy to overlook the hidden financial and personal costs of working from home. Working from home does not give that professional image you need. It doesn’t project the feeling that you yourself have confidence in your business.
Budget Considerations
We have a cost-effective alternative to working from home. Our serviced office space Perth provides a professional and comfortable location for individual entrepreneurs or representatives of larger companies who need to control costs yet work efficiently from one base.
Starting a business is definitely one of life’s major challenges. We know that many businesses fail in the first year of operation. Budgeting for the upfront costs in equipment, stock and office fit-out can be overwhelming. If we need staff, this adds to the pressure in a big way.
It’s not always easy to compare the costs of working from home with an outside office because with a home office the line between home and office expenses will very likely be blurred. It’s easy to forget that utilities, rates, strata fees and insurance should be apportioned between the two.
Not Working From Home
Working From Home
The basic reason for working from home is to save money or be able to look after children. If you furnish a spare room as a dedicated office and put in quality equipment, you’ll still need to spend money on fitting it out. You’ll save on rent. There’s no parking fee, no travelling to and from the office and it is easier to work at odd hours of the day or night, or cater for children’s needs.
However, if you happen to be using the guest room you’ll need to move your office out when visitors come to stay.
Interruptions or Isolation
There is the problem of isolation from the mainstream business environment when working from home. This was a major deterrent for me and I had to go to local cafes for social interaction, read the paper and stay in touch with business people in my area.
If you have children it may not be very easy to balance family obligations and the time needed to run the business effectively. Women entrepreneurs may find their home duties overshadowing their business activities on some days. Telephone discussions bring on children’s yelling, barking dogs or other neighbourhood noises. It’s the law.
Not a professional look
Having the best office environment I can afford is good for a positive psyche. A shared outside office or a serviced office rather than working from home will always be my preference.
Temporary Office Space
The fantastic growth in outsourcing and freelancing has also increased the need for a variety of different working space solutions. Subcontractors may work in your office, in their office, in your client’s office or will sometimes need temporary office space when they get larger projects lasting several months.
Setting aside a room at home to act as the official office may go a long way to give a contractor a professional look, but many prospective customers do not want to conduct business in someone’s home, or make telephone calls to their home answering machine.
There is also the perception that the business is not successful enough to afford its own office. Some clients expect to pay less when they believe you don’t have official overheads.
So much of business is looking successful. I learned this when I bought a red convertible. See the story under Virtual Office Perth. I discovered that when you look successful people want to do business with you, will wait for you to be available and will pay your fees.
Serviced Office Versus Working From Home
The main advantages of choosing a serviced office versus working from home are:
- saving initial outfitting costs
- being set up for immediate business commencement
- mentally separating home from work
- not being disturbed when visitors come to stay
- working in a business hub with others
- having a choice of short lease terms
- having the ability of easily up or down-sizing the office
- securing a central location
- sharing management services
- having meeting rooms available on an hourly basis
Having the choice of short-term tenancy agreements gives some breathing space to new business owners, who may just want to get through the first six months before they feel confident.
On the other hand, short term agreements work well for the successful business which soon needs to move to a larger space.
Choose a Successful Business Location
If the serviced office is located in a bustling and energetic business community area, the business owner can meet new customers just by virtue of being located in the area. Chance meetings lead to opportunities that would not arise if you are hidden away at home.
GFC Changed The Business Environment
As large companies down-size their business premises, reduce staff and manage risk, opportunities are developing for individuals to provide services as independent contractors and freelance service providers.
A Perth business centre option of a short-term lease for a serviced office inside an active and established business environment gives new entrepreneurs a significant starting advantage when compared to working from home.
Depending on the type of business, some clients keep their serviced offices for years as a permanent base because its convenient, there’s a supportive environment and costs are controlled.
Still Thinking of Working From Home?
Read this Ezine Article : Convenience of a Serviced Office
Our serviced offices Perth will help you stay updated with ways to improve your social media knowledge. Before you decide on working from home, check out the video below to take a look inside:
8 Responses to “Control Your Costs”
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Working in a business hub definitely would have it’s advantages as you could pick the brains, so to speak, of those around you.
Personally though, rather than setting up a home business, I prefer to buy an established one where I had past profit and loss figures to go buy, especially those that I though had great potential for growth.
Hello Sire,
Only received notification of your comment today – sorry for the long delay. The atmosphere in the business centre is energetic – the different business owners go out together for coffee, visit each others’ offices – it’s great for bouncing idea off each other. As for buying an established business – I tried to do that when I came to Australia. It can take a long time to find the right fit, but if you can trust the financial reports, the fit is right and you can see that you will add value [to take it over and above the multiple of earnings you are being asked], it’s a great way to start.
Thanks for your comment
It does take a lot of homework to make sure you make the right decision. As for financial reports, you can always put it in the contract that it becomes void if the figures do not live up to what was submitted.
Well here I am again Sire, one week later. Discovered today why I was not getting notified of your comment and fixed it today. I’ve seen a few company buy-outs become disasters because the financials were misleading. Even if such a clause is in the contract, actually recovering your investment requires civil action and lots of stress.I prefer having part of the purchase price being paid over a period of time and subject to certain profit parameters being reached each quarter.
That’s not a bad idea Julia, especially in this economic climate. They have nothing to lose as long as they’ve provided accurate information.
As the seller I would also stipulate that I remain until said time has expired. I’ve seen good business’s run into the ground because the new owner had no idea what they were doing.
You’ve reminded me of a Sydney friend with a sizeable company who sold it for a downpayment + monthly instalments. His huge mistake was to hand over power: the staff were dismissed, the business was run into the ground and the balance of the funds never came. He just did not tie up the ends because he trusted the buyers. The legal costs were horrible. He never recouped the balance. I’d forgotten the sad story until just now.
I can see we should set up a “How To Sell Your Business Well” domain.
It’s like my dad’s always said, to trust is good, not to trust is better.
Well with that caution your dad wouldn’t ever be disappointed. I trust until I get an otherwise signal but even with friends I like to have the deal in writing to make sure what we thought we agreed to is mutual.