Home office vs Real Office

[TechPreneur]

Hello everyone, I need some advice on something.

I have an IT company that I have been running for about 5 years and it has been a home base business since. About 5 months ago one of my clients offered me to use one of the rooms in his office for trade. (Help him with IT and he gives me a space to use) Well I has been almost 4 months and I think I have used the office a max of one month. Here is my business structure...

I have an IT company that primarily services businesses with their IT support. Most of my calls are performed on-site or remotely. I have two other employees, one is my girlfriend who does my account and the other one is a tech that handles calls on-site or remotely as well. I never have customers bring anything to me. I have a dedicated room in my house for my business.

I feel I don't need an office but the guy that gave me the space says I do. His thoughts are I would work harder if I had an office. I wont have many distractions from "home" items. I can see his point but when I'm at home I don't get distracted by other "things" around the house. The only things that may distract me are something on the internet which happens at the office as well. If I'm not on a service call or working on marketing..I'm pretty much surfing the net.

I thought getting an "real" office would help my business, but I have not picked up any new clients because I had an office. Most of the clients I have were though referral or they found me online (which I was getting before I had an office). I also feel if I did not take the offer I would be making money off the client.

I'm really stumped on what to do, and would be thankful for your ideas and input.

[borisfowler]

I think the home office is where you should be. Even though you wouldn't have rent, it does save you money in the long run. The flexibility will be very valuable to you. If you are doing well where you are, then don't change.

Try this article though. It's about bootstrapping and how to save on all costs and be effective.

Eight Tips To Successfully Bootstrap Your Business | Hot Sauce!

[guidemesingapore]

While I think the "distractions" argument is a good one, it all depends on the type of person you are. Many individuals work well from home and never have a problem with getting distracted especially if you don't have kids. With you current requirements and the fact that you have made a dedicated space in your house, you can just continue from there. Note though as you go ahead and expand, you will require an office to give out a more professional feeling. Your new employees might want to work at a proper office rather than someone house. Of course this is when you expand and get new employees.

[evelynw11]

This is a toufy...but what I would do is not take the office...don't ever want to be beholding to someone. And that could cause a great lose in friendship is you don't offer a service in return...do you kinda know what I mean. You could create a website that offers your customers inside information on how to solve their own problems...just throwing that out there. I am in no wise a computer techie. But, I got some skills. I don't know if that helped at all but. Save money work from home as much as you can and with the other part that people can do own their own offer to send them to your website for self-help instructions. Offer them items to download and read and charge a small fee. It's worth your time and effort.

[BarbaraKParker]

You need an office if you are planning to expand, make your business big.

[JKansas]

I find that an office/warehouse does make me more creative and availble. That said, My home is not set up adequately for a home office. If you have a house and garage and can work out of it, do it. It is possible, however, that a well set up warehouse shop and office would make you more productive and open more oppurtunities. You ever work with a client who wants to implement new technology and has a bunch of old machines they need to get rid of? Do you have room for them at your house to store, refurb, and resell? You have room to build a server rack or laptop case or whatever out of? If so, then again, I think home is fine. If not, consider a shop/office. You can usually find cheap ones in warehouse districts. I really don't think that just a room in an existing office changes much, unless it's a pretty nice set up.

[JKansas]

Also, consider things like utilities. Is he going to continue to pay them? Would his receptionist work for you too? If so, fringe benefits like that might make it worth it. Just something else to consdier.

[michael_terry]

How much is your time worth? If you are putting more into helping him with IT than the rent is worth, then it's time to go. Focus on paying customers as they are the ones that ultimately run your business. If you can successfully run your business from home then do it. Don't most IT professionals work on-site when needed? I would imagine very few of your clients have needs to visit your office.

[jrod31]

Having a home office is good but at the same time it could be a distraction. I run my business from home but have been looking for office space for several reasons. Sometime clients wants to meet with you specially new clients. I know you could save money working from home by not having rent to pay. But for me sometime is hard to focus at home. I have kids now so it's even harder. Also i sometimes start to feel down or a little lazy... you could say..... When am in an office environment I feel different. I have notice that I get more things done when I had a shop. Try to even out the deal. See how much of support would he want to exchange for the space.

[katereber]

Well, I suggest to start at your home since you are starting your business. You have to consider the expenses, location and supplies for your office.. Then, if your company are growing, that's the time to change the location for your business.. I hope this can help.

[Gator]

you have not picked a client because you have an office because you actualy don't have an office (you work from home). You may pick some if you had that office. Plus it does not hurt to try and see if you really would work harder there. Finally it does not hurt to try just for the sake of finding out whats better by yourself

[katereber]

Great suggestions.. But as starting to business, is it important to have office immediately? Thanks..

[PennyBartlow]

Do you have a desire to expand your business? Would you like to add more employees? If so, an office space can be valuable as you may not want to hold staff meetings at your kitchen table. The other factor to consider is the type of clients you want. If you are servicing commercial clients it can sometimes add credibility to your business to have an office space. If residential is your target market, it may not be needed.

Penny Bartlow
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[713itsolutions]

I would prefer working at home when starting a business.. but the thing with working at home would be to discipline yourself.
Once your business is successful; it would be better to have an outside office that you can work from and meet with clients.

[edith1334]

I think it depends on your ability to self regulate yourself from distractions. I know many successful people with home offices.