Working from home, positive or negative?

[multilingual]

For those of you who work from home, do you find that it is better for your overall image to have a virtual office address in the city; thus giving the impression of being a 'proper' business, or do you find that stating your home address has no detrimental effect on people's opinion of you?

Just wondered as we will soon be moving to a bigger house with more outdoor space and are thinking about building some sort of studio/office on site.

Does this give an image of being small, small, small?

JB

[SanaerJewelleryCreations]

Hi there JB...

I will be working from home soon...I design and make contemporay jewellery esp.corporate business jewellery.

When I say working from home,I mean working from a garden shed...if I had to rent out a light industrial unit,it would probably cost at the very least £50 a week,I would need space the size of an average bedroom!!!!!

I'm just hoping I'am disciplined to stick to the working hours,instead of drifting in for a two hour T.V./lunch break.

You can have that extra hour in the morning of course,and your saving on travel fare,and London underground won't be missed...

Are you definately going ahead with it?

Adrian.

[MorethanWords]

I am working at home at the moment and we're hopefully moving soon too. I'll then have my own office at the end of the garden.

I don't think it will make much difference and the fact that you'd be able to be on site but in a separate building is good. It's perfect in my opinion! like Adrian says, no tube or commute at all, but still your own working space.

[JoyDivision]

I am working for home, at the moment as I am not trading its great, I am working 8 hours a day from about 10:30am till 1:00am at night so I have lots of breaks.

I am on the computer about 12 hours a day at the moment, 8 of them are work.

The big problem I have is keeping focused, once I start trading I will have to stick to office hours and when you have all the discrations at home it can be hard.

The other problem is the social aspect, although by doing part time courses I am hoping it will get me out a bit apart from the usual visiting of clients.

Once my profit reaches £300 a week (if it does) I intend to get a small office within walking distance from my house.

[coxadmin]

As a Virtual Assistant I work "virtually" and my location is not an issue to clients. What matters to clients is that the work I do for them is produced accurately, efficiently and on time. If I am able to check my emails, I can receive work no matter where in the world I might be.

For example, I was visiting my parents for several days and a client had an urgent project. I worked on that project and produced the work on time even though I was away from home. The client did not know my location and did not need to.

I discourage clients from coming to my home and organise meetings in a cafe or bistro.

[Rob Holmes]

Well I work from a custom build studio at the bottom of my garden. I do have clients round and all are impressed with the setup (I am proud of it myself) and they are usually jealous of the lifestyle too.

We do however have a London address for post but don't hide the fact that I am never there and I have occasionally been known to get escape and about meeting in London (I met Ozzy in the Newport Pagnel service station a while back too)

Rob

[fastfences]

Does this give an image of being small, small, small?

JB

Hi JB,
Perhaps we'll never know! It certainly is an 'impression' that we're small when a rep or consultant books an appointment with the manager/director of a LTD company and ends up in the lounge room of a 3 bed semi-detached in a small village.

I do believe, however, that that impression would be eroded during the meeting when our product and subject matter are discussed. For some businesses a 'real' office would be a major overhead. The convenience aspect is unbeatable though.

I feel we should all aspire to Joy Division's aim: to get an office within walking distance from home. May need a little more profit than £300 per week; but there's the dream :wink: .
Cheers, Nigel

[MinuWeb]

We have an office, although I work from home all the time.

When I first started out I rented an office with 5 other local people who all worked from home as well, this reduced the cost of the office dramatically and allowed us all to share it for meetings when we felt that an office was more appropriate than meeting at home.

[multilingual]

Not a definite go ahead yet, no.

But it is a consideration.

The initial investment is relatively small and the long term cost savings are obvious. There is an issue over capital gains tax (should we sell the property in the future) but we did the sums and the house would have to triple in value before it made much of a difference.

I want to keep it separate from the house to avoid the 'clients sitting on the settee' scenario. :)

My initial thought was to build something which, in the event of us selling, could be easily converted into a garage so as not to obstruct a potential sale.

I thought about it after going round Show Homes in the Lincoln area.
They often use a garage as the Show Home office, with a temporary glass front in place of the garage door.

Something to think about.

Thanks for the feedback.

JB

[JoyDivision]

Just make sure you can stay disaplined, its such a pitty I didn't have another area in the house I could use as my bedroom is not ideal long term.

I am conducting business in a place where I play. Also with regards to offices certainly in Manchester suburbs you can get them really quite cheap if you know where to look, but that still £250 a month inc taxes so I guess thats still profit down the drain.

Another thing to think about is a lot of places offer cheap rooms for hire in the event of a discussion with clients. I know Salford University offer this facilility free of charge, the problem is I am not so sure how professional it looks inviting clients to a university!

[Jayne]

Hi,

I like the idea of doing business with people working at home, i've found they add that extra little personal touch and i've had better service than big companies have given me.

For example..Jing! I used to get my ink for Viking (big company), but after buying my ink off Jing, I wouldn't go back. Half of the time, big companies get your orders wrong and it's a right hassel sorting it out. I had no problem using Jing, plus he's was very friendly, helpful and has a fast delivery.

I now prefer doing business with home workers and small companies, i'm sure many others feel the same. (Better class of businesses from home :D )

Jayne

[Asteeleleith]

I personally prefer it.

The only thing i am iffy about is giving away my home address to anyone, but you have to by law.
But look on the bright side, no traffic jams to delay you, you know where the tea and coffe is.
I have chatted to others on this as well, and i agree its a def plus for keeping overheads down to.

Though in the long run i like a business that can be run from anywhere:-)
Esp for reasons stated in a previous thread :-)

Al

[SanaerJewelleryCreations]

Has everyone looked in to the business rates side of things???

Adrian.

[Jayne]

Hi,

Say your business was in your shed, you should only be charged business rates for that area. Worked out on the rateable value of the area. If you ring the valuation office up they can tell you in detail :D

Jayne

[JoyDivision]

Their are some expceptions to the business rates thing aren't they? For example my parents have a desk in thed dining room but becuase the room is also used as a for living in they don't pay rates on it. If the room was used exclusively for business then they would have to pay rates.

Personaly I always prefer doing business with smaller companies, it gives me a real feeling that I am helping people, this is why I try my best to avoid the supermarket. I buy my meat, cheese, milk, bread and veg from localy owned shops. Amazingly its better quality stuff and its cheaper as well :).

[Joyous]

The Inland Revenue's view on whether council tax or business rates apply when a business is being run from home can be found here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/BIM46840.htm

In summary the room that is used for business contributes to the value of the home and therefore such a home is likely to only attract a council tax charge.

I personally work from home from an office built in my garden. It's never put any of my clients off, in fact some have commented that they're quite impressed with my setup. If you have a place that you can keep totally separate from the rest of the house then I'd definately recommend it.

Regards

Joy

[Russ]

If you offer a proffessional service to your clients there should be no problem. It will enable you to keep your costs down and if you are disciplined enough it will improve your worklife balance.

The post office will provide you with a PO Box address for about £50 per year with a small one off set up fee or you can use someone like mail boxes etc. I think that there is a member of UKBF that has just set up a business drop in in London that provides central london mailing address and virtual receptionists are only £30/£50 per month for small call volumes.

The main difficulty will be when you need to hire staff (should you expand) at which time you will need to either open your home to your employees or rent/buy suitable accomodation.

Most business meetings can easily be conducted at your clients premises or you can arange to meet them for a coffee somewhere.

Be lucky

Russ

[Magsite]

Well my setup at the minute is a computer desk in the 2nd bedroom along side my work computer and a bed. No way I'll be inviting clients! I work at home with my full time employment and more as a hobbie I promote other peoples businesses simply as an affiliate.

I'm making a profit of at least £400-£800 a month but I'm reinvesting that in another new website and advertising to try and build a bigger income.

I've recently registered with the Inland Revenue and opened a business account.

I'm lucky in the fact I'm earning from affiliate schemes as I know not every one is successsful but it gives me satisfaction knowing that most of the people that join my major income (the e-lottery) through my recommendation are happy with the Player Membership and don't expect a massive income by simply upgrading to affiliate.

The future for me? I think I'll be to scared to quit my full time job!

[multilingual]

Having the discipline and motivation is not going to be a problem. We started out from home anyway and it was not an issue then.

I am aware of the staff issues, but cant say any more at this stage.

I agree that the service is more important than the location, but I don't want to have to work hard to overcome a bad first impression every time a new client comes along.

I would not want to go back to having the office in the house. Better to have it away from the residence so as clients feel that we are serious.

Some sort of purpose built outdoor studio/ofice seems like the logical way to do it.

Thanks for the PO Box idea, we have thought about that, but again, does it put people off? I know that I am always sceptical of a company working from a PO Box number. Anyone else share that view?

So on reflection I think we should use our own address, but have a proper office set-up away from the house and then just concentrate on delivering our language products in a professional manner and let the service speak for itself.

Warming to the idea

JB

[Jayne]

All the big firms use PO Box numbers...British Gas, Elec, Yorkshire water etc. etc. etc. so no I don't think it would put anyone off, plus when I got to trust customers, i'd tell them my home address anyway.

The PO thing is just to stop axe murderers and stalkers :lol:

Jayne

[Cornish Steve]

With six children, I could never work in the house itself. We decided to sacrifice half the garage and have an office built there. For me, it's the best of both worlds: no commute and it's quiet.

[SanaerJewelleryCreations]

Thanks Jayne....

I must get on to that this week!!!!!!

It is the council I shoud be ringing,isn't it!!!!!

Adrian.

[fastfences]

With six children, I could never work in the house itself.

And if you did choose to work in the house you'd end up with nine children :wink: :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

[Cornish Steve]

With six children, I could never work in the house itself.

And if you did choose to work in the house you'd end up with nine children :wink: :wink:
Cheers, Nigel

Is it a coincidence that my office was built a few months after our youngest was born?

[emubill]

I love working from home - but you really do need to be disciplined and ensure that family know when you are working.
You can create an image of being larger than you are with emails, web sites, 0800 numbers etc.
If you need to meet clients, reps etc then would it be worth hiring a room at your local enterprise centre, hotel etc for these occasions rather than renting all the time.
I agree with other people - it's the quality of your work that is most important.


Nigel

[wheelie2]

I've had the experience of working from home and in an office within a business estate. The office was costing me £250 a month, which is quite cheap, but a lot of money for a small business to find every month and goes a long way to paying the mortgage. Plus there's business rates, 2 lots of internet and phone bills...

I now work from home and save myself a fortune.

To answer your question, I've had the same people dealing with me in both locations, and nothing was said apart from, "we don't blame you." I Use a PO Box number as I don't fancy advertising my home address on the internet, although I find people a bit iffy about PO Box addresses, so it's down to personal choice on that one. You can also get a service from the post office where you can print our own envelopes like a franking machine - this goes a long way to making the business look bigger than it is.

Also, your website is where most people will judge your business, it creates a level playing field so you can make the most of this.

Until I start to employ people, or get any more equipment so it's not practical anymore, I'm staying put thank you very much. :-)

[cjd]

My partners and I decided that an office was an unecessary overhead but when we set up at home we found we spent almost as much on the phone!

So we came up with a way of calling each other for free and our new business was born!

[StoneLink]

JB,
Bottom line is that people buy you, so it doesn't matter where you work from.

Best of luck...

Nicholas

[Shelley]

i live above my premises and find it a nightmare, esp when phone still ringing after hours. Its a constant reminder when you work from home .even at weekends you cant escape your work as you walk past paperwork and other things. But such is life. As for business rates what do you get in return for what you pay!!

[Jayne]

i live above my premises and find it a nightmare, esp when phone still ringing after hours. Its a constant reminder when you work from home .even at weekends you cant escape your work as you walk past paperwork and other things. But such is life. As for business rates what do you get in return for what you pay!!

You get naff all for the money you pay for business rates, you don't even get your rubbish removed...Business rates stink!

Feel better now :D

Jayne

[Shelley]

very true jayne, thats one thing im talking about!!! Rip off

[Jayne]

It's one of those things that makes me really angry is business rates. Our council does nothing at all for business people, unless you rent a council property. We didn't even get christmas lights up this year and all this is paid for, by us business people, so we should get the benefit for our customers.

I HATE BUSINESS RATES!

Jayne :lol:

[Shelley]

I totally agree, but its one of those things that we all put up for some reason.

By the way where is everyone??? not much activity????

[Jayne]

They're all probably counting their millions :lol:

It's been quite all day!

Jayne

[multilingual]

:wink:

[Chris Martin]

Here's a good tool for those that work from home and are tied to the phone all day!

www.switchboardfree.co.uk

Free service that manages your calls, take voicemails and emails them to you, put callers on hold while your engaged and you can set you phone lines working hours so business calls that ring after hours can leave a voice mail for you.

Have a look!

[luozhuhong]

Hi,
It's so nice to see all you are wroking from home.I really get more experiences from you.I'm planing to join your team and start my trading business after the holiday.I'm doing the sourcing and trading business at the moment in China.

Michael Luo

[multilingual]

I'm planing to join your team and start my trading business after the holiday.I'm doing the sourcing and trading business at the moment in China.


Let us know how you get on :)

JB

[bizguy]

Like with all choices, there are positives and negatives in working from home.

Of course the biggest positive, especially for me is that you won't ever have to commute again! Like with all choices, there are positives and negatives in working from home.

Of course one of the biggest positives, especially for me is that you won't ever have to commute to work again! I’ve been working at home for the past three years and let me tell you, I will never ever miss having to brave rush hour traffic every single day of my life. Another positive is that, cost-wise, you get to save more (no more additional petrol costs, lunch, even clothes). I also think it is a good setup for people who want to be more in touch with their families.

The negative is that it takes more willpower to bring yourself to work. Working from home also means having to face constant temptation and you will need a strong will to resist every single one of them everyday. Another negative is that for most work-at-home arrangements you are not given benefits that are given to workers who work at an office.