If you’re considering moving your business out of your home and into a commercial office space or shop, then you need to weigh up your options carefully. Working at home has its benefits for start-ups and freelancers, but if you’re growing, or your aims are to grow, then moving out of your home is beneficial on several levels. Read on to find out about the pros and the cons and the factors to consider when you move from your home office.
What are your reasons for moving out?
While working at home is great, it does have its downfalls. There are a number of reasons why you might move out, including:
- Interruptions and distractions – working at home often means that your family and friends assume that you’re free during the day, and will call you or drop in on you uninvited
- Interactions – you may not be able to bring clients to your home as it just doesn’t look good, plus you may not want them to know where you live!
- Limited revenue – if you’re selling items, you may need more space to stock more items, which means that you are limited by the space in your home
- Enhanced image – a home based business doesn’t look as good as one that has their own offices
- Hiring employees – if you need to hire employees to help your business grow, it may not be professional or feasible to have them working from your home – in fact it may put potential employees off
However, there are cons to working in an office too, which you must take into consideration. There is a massive financial change to take into account, because you will now be paying for rent, utilities and furniture. You will also have to get used to commuting and spending less time at home.
Steps to moving out
If you decide to move out of your home office, then there are a few things that you need to think about to get the right office space for you.
- The right location – the cost of rent will be higher in a more central location as opposed to one that is on the outskirts of your town or city. However, if location isn’t too important to your customer base, or you’re not planning on having clients visit, then consider a business park or industrial estate for your office. If the commute is a concern, look for office spaces near your home.
- The right size – you’ll need enough space to accommodate your equipment and employees, and any potential clients too. If you’re planning on expanding, you need to make sure that you have enough space to do this too.
- The right price – make sure that you know how much it’ll cost you, including heating, electricity and any other utilities that you might need to pay for, to ensure that you’ll be able to make a profit.
Safestore offers office space as a cheaper alternative to serviced offices, making it a perfect place to grow from a home office. We also offer business support services to help make your business a success. Head to our business office page for information.
