How many work out of offices?

**Steve** · 08-09-2003 05:58 AM

How many of you Entrepreneurs have your own office? I currently work from home, and like it that way. Sometimes I could see me getting more done from an office, because things often get in the way at home (phone calls, door bell, cleaning, etc.).

When is the right time to make the LEAP to an office?

**Bleys** · 08-09-2003 02:17 PM

I work from home. I don't think you really need an office if it's just you. If your business grows to the point that you hire help, or a secretary, it might be time to start thinking about an office, or at the very least, converting part of your home into a dedicated office. But until then, I don't think you'd need one. It's just overhead you can do without.

**abalij** · 08-09-2003 04:32 PM

I work in an office right now and I must say, I definetely get more work done there then at home. You are right Steve, way too many distractions at home. When to make the leap, I wouldn't know. My customer gave me a office in his building to work.

**mike** · 08-09-2003 06:58 PM

I have an office too. It has a few work spaces, bathroom, conference room, and other stuff. I do get a lot more work done that I do at home.

**jenb6723** · 08-11-2003 04:56 PM

I work in advertising and after working from home the business grew to where it seemed logical to find an office. Now, a little over a year later, all 4 team members are moving back home and we have gotten rid of the office. We have all found that our jobs are much more productive without the constent distration of sales people just stopping by to say hi and the wasted commute time. Now if I'm feeling creative at 11:00 at night I'll work then and sleep a little later in the morning. As long as the job can get done, working from home will countinue to be the best option for all of us.

**mike** · 08-11-2003 07:41 PM

I agree 100%. As long as you can get the work done, why not do it from home? I have a laptop I work off of mainly so I can bring it with me and when I have an idea I can just turn it on and the next day bring it to the office. I also have a more powerful desktop for more intense work.

**Steve** · 08-11-2003 08:19 PM

Originally posted by jenb6723
Now if I'm feeling creative at 11:00 at night I'll work then and sleep a little later in the morning.

That's one thing, working from home allows for ODD Hours. I work 30 hours straight and than sleep for 10, or take the day off and work all evening. I don't see this much flexibility with my own office, although I could stay there all night quite easily.

**DragonHawk** · 08-12-2003 08:33 AM

Work from home of course... a lot more convenient

But when you have a number of employees, I would think an office would be a better idea so you can keep track of who is doing what and when... (task coordination)

**mike** · 08-12-2003 09:01 AM

If you have a staff I think it's important to have an office, because when they are sitting in the office, they will get work done and meet the deadline (if there is one).

**dgerik** · 08-15-2003 12:35 PM

I have been working out of my home office for 3 yrs now and throughly enjoy it...

It was a bit difficult at first... but 6 months into it, I found it would be VERY difficult for me to go back to a "traditional" office setting...

I am able to stay in contact with clients and associates using a variety of conferencing tools, which makes it like I am "just down the hall"...

Home offices are the way to go... (if you have the discipline...)

**Zag842** · 08-15-2003 02:34 PM

I have personally jumped back and forth between a home office and a remote office. Home offices don't give you the versatility to bring potential clients to your office. I think overhead washes out after you figure how many lunches you buy compared to office rent. Home office is great for those 11:30pm ideas that you're really excited about and can't sleep over.

**ericesquire** · 08-15-2003 03:07 PM

Gary,

Fist off, welcome to the boards - secondly, I agree with you. I currently work out of an office. I think the biggest plus of working in an office is the pull that you get from your other "officemates" - without the pull and motivation of the people that I work with in the office, I may not be able to get as much accomplished.

Of course - as Gary said, the ideas that you have in the middle of the night that you just want to get up and start working on are really important. Sometimes you have great ideas at night and you get so excited about them that you dont' know what to do with yourself. But if you don't work on them right then and there and start building upon it and investing time - when morning comes, you're not as excited and more likely to just blow the whole thing off.

I think a home office is a good place to start, but definately needs to graduated into something larger - your own office! However on the flip side of things, a home office is important to have EVEN if you have your own office.

**Karen** · 09-09-2003 02:28 PM

I work out of my home office, for several reasons.

Firstly, my main focus is my web hosting company which means that my servers have to be housed in a datacenter. Having servers in any old office just won't work. Right now I have servers in 2 datacenters and I have remote server tech's. My sales department is scattered around the world, and they all work locally to their specific location.

Secondly, having an office does not really work in the web hosting industry. Studies show that someone who is looking for hosting is searching online, or will make a telephone call. Walkin traffic is not something that is really done in this business, not enough to justify the cost of an office. Not to mention, the majority of my clients were word of mouth referrals an office would not have helped.

Best wishes,

Karen

**Gummie92** · 09-11-2003 05:53 PM

I plan to get an office in the near future, because that'll signify that I'm doin good!!

But in the meantime, I plan to work from home. A lot of businesses in my industry require an office for clients to come in and blah blah blah, but I've found that customers really like it when I come to their offices and/or have lunch with them near their place. It's unprecedented, but it works. One of my focuses on customer service is convenience, so there we go. I understand that there's a lot of distractions, but having to pay extra rent is more distracting to my budget and profits than anything of that nature!! Hope this insight helps!!