Home based VS Commercial Space

**myfayt** · 01-24-2010 03:08 PM

There is pros and cons of both, and it depends on your business which is better. However I believe there is more pros to Commercial space.

I find it much more appealing and professional to rent an office or building to do business in, rather than being at home.

At home, you have to get a permit for customers to come to your house. It's sketchy and looks unprofessional. If your using your home number, that is really poor business. "Hello you have reached the John Doe family". Not so good.

My father says I need to run my business (which consists of meeting customers, selling and trading items "having inventory", lots of phone calls, and monthly meetings) from my house. If I did that, I'd have at least 20 people a day stopping by at all hours of the day from 8am to 9pm. I could be in my pajamas, have a friend over, be sick, etc and they wouldn't stop coming.

But not only do I live out in the woods, it's not practical to have people drive 5 miles out in the woods to do business in someones home. I find having a store front a much more professional concept, having walk in traffic, a space for selling and meetings, an actual location, no permit needed (for non-commercial property), an actual business address and phone, and also they can't see you when your closed.

Now granted you must pay rent, where at home you don't. However can you operate a grocery store, bank, restaurant, or auto parts store in your home? No you can't. Most small businesses relay on walk in traffic, because having a store front, people are like... Oh look, just what I was looking for! instead of having a business card on a bulletin board and hoping someone might see it.

One more thing. He says I need to advertise the business in the newspaper and on the radio. How great is it tell about a new business and it directs the 50,000 people who saw or heard it directly to your home? Sounds like a big turn off to me. Sounds like a scam or something.

**Mega B** · 01-24-2010 03:31 PM

As i have no need to meet any customer it is all done online i can run my business from home i have 2 dedicated telephone lines and cable internet which are seperate from the home No and the only person i have to see is my accountant which i always see over a business lunch anyway so it works well for me,my wife runs her business from home also she has a private clinic and waiting room and that has been run from home for 26 years.

So we have a very small outlay like electrics and heating and not alot else.

**myfayt** · 01-24-2010 03:41 PM

Right and your business has no need for commercial space. However to have 20+ customers a day, exchanging money, etc. I believe Commercial is the way to go.

**Mega B** · 01-24-2010 03:53 PM

In your case i would totally agree with you,if you meet people face to face you have no option.Do you rent or have you bought your office ???

**myfayt** · 01-24-2010 05:43 PM

Not yet, fighting a battle right now with my father. He thinks I will go broke if I rent a place. But you have to spend money to make money. Most companies are in the RED for the first year.

**leggomygreggo** · 01-24-2010 08:09 PM

I would hold off getting a commercial space until it is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Try to find a way to get around this roadblock. Until you have enough money to really afford a commercial space i would stick with your house

**myfayt** · 01-24-2010 08:56 PM

Well I plan to pay for 4 months up front. That will give me enough time to build it up and not have to worry about rent.

**jjreview** · 03-10-2010 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by leggomygreggo

I would hold off getting a commercial space until it is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Try to find a way to get around this roadblock. Until you have enough money to really afford a commercial space i would stick with your house

Or option 3 ... what I did was get a virtual office. The customers seem to like it better than dealing with my home address. Which I was reluctant to use anyways.

It's cheap, no contract (nothing like office space anyway), and I agree with leggomygreggo that you shouldn't get office space until you need it.

I use CES Virtual Offices. Check em out, and if they're not in your area, check out some others.

**Carlos™** · 03-10-2010 03:25 PM

I am facing a huge dilemma regarding this.

I find it frustrating having to use my home address for the time being - I run a media corporation that delivers content to gamers.

I would love to have a commercial office, but my area doesn't have a good office that looks attractive enough to writers. Or let alone, gamers.

Its a gaming website at the moment, but the company's objective is to become a entertainment conglomerate - providing content to all types of entertainment individuals. It plans to do episodic videos, and content.

In the back of my head, Its necessary to have a commercial office, but constraints prevents me from doing so.