
Working from home has many advantages. In many cases, you can dictate your working hours, breaks and how productive you do in a day. You can work flexibly, and you’ll save money on travel and food, and you can even decide what work clothes to wear.
Other benefits include being able to run freelance projects from the same home office, or being able to juggle childcare with work. This way, you’ll be able to spend quality time with your kids without having to sacrifice earnings.
Working from home usually means being more productive; away from the noises and distractions of an office, you may find that your concentration and output increases.
But it is a decision that needs careful consideration. You need to be realistic about whether your home is suitable for the nature of your business and, even if it is, it can be extremely hard to separate your work from your home life.
You may also find the lack of contact lonely or claustrophobic, or come to treat your house primarily as a work zone – at your desk for long hours without recreation, relaxation or feeling able to unwind.
You’ll need to identify the skill set you have and decide whether you can solely conduct the work you do or whether you’ll need to outsource some of it. Be prepared to work long hours (especially if you’re running your own business) and partition off your area of work to keep it separate from domestic life. If you don’t have the luxury of a home office, try using screens or even changing the d?cor around the area in which you work.
Make sure you always have your office stocked with the essential home office supplies, such as copier paper, envelopes and any such stationery that you frequently use.
You should look to speak to your council to see if you have to pay business rates, and also check if there are any restrictions on your mortgage or insurance. Once all the formalities are out of the way, you can concentrate on building up your business or projects.
Be prepared to try out your new settings. Before you’ve covered the initial planning phase, it’s good to have a trial run as not all business ideas can be carried out from your home. If successful, then you can start to design your work area, pick out office furniture and office supplies.
If the business you’re conducting from home is your own, you’ll need to work out a business plan to secure financial backing and also to measure success. Plot out forecasts and plan how you’ll make profit. Many scour the market to find the going rate for the service they provide and base their rate card around that. In the beginning, you may find that you have to offer competitive rates to attract new business but, once you’ve found you’re niche and have established a trusted brand, don’t be afraid to bump up your prices – charge what you think you deserve.
Finally, to work from home, remember: you’ll need lots of determination, drive and motivation. And, if you’re prepared to put in the work, you could well find yourself wondering why you didn’t take the plunge long ago!
This article is supplied by euroffice.co.uk, the UK’s largest online office supply company. New customers get a 20% discount!.