by Entrepreneurship Expert Roger Pierce, BizLaunch.ca, October 2007
Setting up shop in a spare bedroom, basement or garage is how most small businesses get their start. Working from home is an appealing idea to new entrepreneurs who want to save money, eliminate the commute or be accessible to family. Others choose to work from home to achieve their ideal work-life balance.
Over half of all small businesses in North America operate from home. Proving size really doesn't matter, many home-based companies generate millions of dollars in revenue. Some employ people who actually work in the home office. Others simply house the owner/operator.
Whether you choose to run your business from home for the short or long term, it's important to get the balance right between your personal and professional life, otherwise, the benefits of working from home could turn into huge negatives that impact your small business growth.
Consider these suggestions to set up and run an effective home-based operation:
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Investigate local laws. With more home businesses opening up, some municipal governments have passed bylaws restricting the type of enterprise you can operate. Concerns can include attracting commercial traffic to residential neighbourhoods, manufacturing a product, or pitching a business sign on your lawn. Check with City Hall to ensure your home office complies with any such requirements.
Physically separate work from home. It's tough for "Homepreneurs" to mentally leave the office when it's just down the hall. That's why it may be important to establish some physical distance between your business and living spaces.
Consider building a wall, commandeering a spare bedroom, clearing out the garage, building an addition, hanging a curtain, or otherwise distinguishing your work from your personal space as best you can.
Turn it on and off. An entrepreneur may physically leave their workspace, but it's more difficult to stop thinking about their business. In fact, thinking too much about the business after hours can lead to mental burnout and exhaustion.
If you're working and living under one roof, you may want to explore some triggers to help you "get into business mode" each day. Some Homepreneurs go to their neighbourhood coffee shop at 8 a.m., then return home to start their workday. Others put on a tie or jacket to mentally shift into work mode. The same routines in reverse can work well at the end of your business day.
Plan for paper. Space can be an issue for many home-based businesses. Without room for those bulky filing cabinets, you'll want to create a storage system that works for your particular set up. Forget the idea of a "paperless" office - most small business owners generate mounds of paper. Without the proper storage provisions, those files quickly stack up on the kitchen table, spare bed or staircase.
Consider hiring the services of a professional organizer to help you design an efficient workspace. There may be ways you can eliminate unnecessary paper build-up. Equip your home office with sufficient bookshelves, filing cabinets, and boxes to house the stuff you must keep.
Set some hours. If you want to work from 10 to 5, make it your policy and stick to it. During those hours, household tasks such as mowing the lawn, doing the laundry, or cleaning are strictly forbidden. Otherwise, you'll be stealing time away from your business and it won't develop as quickly as you want.
- Set some rules. Similar to your rule about office hours, you need to set some rules with visitors, children, and spouse.
Well-meaning friends and family are more likely to think it's alright to drop by unannounced because you're working from home. Consider communicating your office hours and rules to loved ones, asking them to support your need to work undistracted in your business.
Be sure to limit other distractions such as watching television, lengthy lunch hours or personal phone calls during your work day.
Outsource. Successful small business owners don't try to do it all themselves. Look for non-essential and routine tasks you can assign to suppliers, contractors, or part-time help working from outside locations.
Some of the more common outsourced functions include bookkeeping, filing, lead generation, direct mail campaigns, database management, graphic design, and website management. You may even elect to outsource personal errands such as walking the dog or cleaning the house. Worried about the cost of outsourcing? Think like a CEO and commit to spending your time developing business relationships, planning, promoting, selling, and leading your team. Offload any task that distracts you from those responsibilities.
Get legal counsel. Depending on the nature of your business, you may want to obtain some legal advice if you're operating from your home. For instance, a lawyer may recommend setting up a corporation and obtaining a P.O. box to help separate your business and domestic operations. If you receive clients or deliveries at your home office, you may want to consider purchasing commercial insurance to protect you from "slip and fall" lawsuits. Or, legal agreements may be advisable to distinguish your business assets from marital ones - a blurry line when everything is under one roof.
Find a second space. No matter how much you love running a home-based business, you'll want to get out of the house from time to time. A second space is somewhere you can go to get away from your business, perhaps hold meetings or to do some big-picture thinking. Consider joining a fitness club, a business centre (to access boardrooms and conference rooms), or just camp out in your favourite coffee shop.
Some of the world's largest corporations started as home-based operations. Other wealthy entrepreneurs plan to keep their ventures home-based, even though they can well afford a swanky downtown office. Whether you intend to work from home temporarily or permanently, try to set some ground rules to keep you - and your family - happy under one roof.
Source - //smallbusiness411.org/cgi-bin/library/jump.cgi?ID=12858
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