Working from home, Do you ?

[BlueMouseDesigns]

Interested to see how many small start-up companys or indeed anyone else for that matter work from home. We have been doing it for the past 4 months and now and are thinking about renting out some office space. Serveral reasons for this including the place looking like a paper factory every night. We are looking at keeping our overheads to a minumim so I found a business center who offer desk rental (Including the internet and phoneline) We only need 3 desks so this is proberly our best bet.

So how do you manage working from home....Do you just call a cleaner in ?

Gavin

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Do you do the proof reading for the business?

 

[Virtually9-5]

mmmm it was alright when I was running my web/pa business but when I started the jewellery/golf what a nightmare...

Because I was at home friends and family assumed I was not working so would pop in - meant I worked then late at night....I ran my web business for 4 years at home....

I looked at the rent a desk but the costs where quite high. I am lucky now as one of my clients is a IFA and I rent from him a small office in his building which has helped.

I would look around in the papers and around the town... have a look at businesses who look to have a spare office i.e. my client only uses downstairs. you might get a lower rent from a private let..

 

[SparkMediaIndustries]

Interested to see how many small start-up companys or indeed anyone else for that matter work from home. We have been doing it for the past 4 months and now and are thinking about renting out some office space. Serveral reasons for this including the place looking like a paper factory every night. We are looking at keeping our overheads to a minumim so I found a business center who offer desk rental (Including the internet and phoneline) We only need 3 desks so this is proberly our best bet.

So how do you manage working from home....Do you just call a cleaner in ?

Gavin

Hi Gavan,

My names Phillip I own/run Spark Media Group and I do this from home. I have also had the idea of taking out Serviced Office Space in my local area.

My offer is similar to your's as I am needing 2 desks. mine included

2 Desks, Filing Cabinets, Phones, Internet, All business rates for £201 + VAT in a very good location.

My mother at the moment is a clearner as she wouldnt accept £50 i thought about just keeping her free. My brother also the data entry wizard so that paper factory I havent seen for a while.

 

[KateCB]

12 years ago I started a business from home - it took over the house and I ended up buying a 3000sqft building; within the next 3 months I am bringing it BACK home, as the building costs are killing us at the moment!

I didn't have a problem working from home and don't expect to this time; my garage stores stock/machines, my fourth bedroom is the office (3 desks in here) and because I am at home, I don't need a cleaner anymore

There are mnay., many people who work fro their garden shed - there are some very large and beautiful garden sheds that look very pretty with their hanging baskets on the outside, and are a little like the tardis, all hi tech on the inside - 6ft from the back door and there is the office, a lot less cost than renting office space, and a lot closer. I would think about adding to your space at home, even if it is a good garden shed to work in before spending on renting a desk..

 

[workingnomad]

Don't you need to pay business rates working from a shed in the garden?

 

[Loaded Studios]

Worked from home for a while, then had an office, now back at home...... A simple 0844 diverted to my mobile and a mailing address for £12 a month. Job done.

 

[Christine Hough]

I am looking to build a garden office as soon as I can afford.

The only thing though is if we want to use it for piano teaching it will need to be well soundproofed! Currently Hubby rents a room in a church hall but it is not ideal for piano teaching.

All paperwork is done at home though and yes, I long for a garden office!!!

 

[businessfunding]

I have worked from home in 2 phases, the first when I was married with kids, and now I am divorced and alone - The problems & benefits were very different. Married with kids, the key problem was that they saw me as at home & therefore available 'can you just....'. This was partly mitigated when I build an office/shed in the back garden - which also proved a HUGE advantage when selling the house (Note re planning - mine fell foul of the rules as it was in an area of outstanding natural beauty)

As a single, sociable chap the issue is one of human company. To mitigate this I go to the gym or the pub every night, which is OK but not ideal! Ultimately the business will involve lots of human contact, so this might not be an issue.

As documented elsewhere, this business is being started on a shoestring budget. I have been offered 'corners' in various offices at very good rates - an offer which I might take up in due course.

I would recommend shared offices as cost-effective and possible commercially beneficial to all parties.

Mark

 

[bdw]

Do you do the proof reading for the business?

Yes, proberly. (Sorry I couldn't resist it)

I have worked from home for ten years now. I have two desks in a bedroom converted to an office and that does me. I was actually offered free office space by a client where I just needed to pay the cost of the services. I thought about it but it would inconvenience me as I often work strange hours so I am going to stick to going to work in my underwear.

.

 

[luckystar]

Yep, I work from home and the only thing I have had a problem with is the nosey neighbour "dropping by". "Acquired" a do not disturb sign from a hotel stay and now stick that on the front door during working hours.....seems to work for now! Beauty of working from home is that I get to see more of my young daughter and haven't missed any of her milestones and don't spend half my life commuting into town during rush hour or racing to get back to the childminder on time as she lives just one street down from me and I can walk there at my own slow pace.

All good for now!

 

[jhardy2008]

yes it is your best bet for today. Try to grow up your business asap.

 

[BustersDogs]

I'm working from home for office purposes and I look after dogs for a living. It is hard getting motivated to do the office work with the telly around, all my own stuff, it's not really comfortable because so much of the downstairs has been given over to dogs and dog stuff that I'm working on the sofa with the laptop on a coffee table. There's just no room for a desk.

I hadn't heard about these garden offices, is there anywhere I can find out more information? That might work - although I have thought of moving the office out of the house, I can't really spend a lot of time away from home for office work as I'm charging people to be at my home with their dogs! The dogs can be in the office with me, but there will be no telly, no teenacher distracting me, and I could have space to lay out papers and work in a bit more comfort! Plus the place won't look such a complete mess all the time!

 

[jhnmichle]

Home and business must be separated.

 

[Digger1]

Look for a Coworking space. They tend to be cheaper than serviced offices and you can usually rent hot desks on a casual basis.

 

[Christine Hough]

I hadn't heard about these garden offices, is there anywhere I can find out more information? That might work - although I have thought of moving the office out of the house,

Just google garden office, there are many providing these from log cabins akin to summer houses from in the region of £1500 to fully insulated with internal electrics up to £20,000

This one fully installed for £6000 looks very good value for money but is a one person office, not sure where the dogs would go ! http://www.horizon-garden-offices.co.uk/garden-office-64.html#style_one

 

[BustersDogs]

ooh, I like those, although my budget would probably be half that. In the summer the dogs can sprawl outside, in the winter I might not want to be out there myself!

I'll look into these, it's a great idea, thanks!

Do they 'add value' to the house? As I'd like to sell up and find a bigger property once my business finally gives me a sensible profit that's more like a wage and less like a slave-wage!

 

[Christine Hough]

If you are thinking of only using it in the summer months, then it is probably not necessary to have all the insulation and you will find cheaper in many places with thick wooded walls
have a look here
http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/garden-offices/log-cabin-office-range/

I have spent many happy hours looking! : )

I think the view is they add a lot of value to your house, but if not they are removable to your new one.

 

[BustersDogs]

My busiest time is from April to September (and December) so that's the main time I'd need to get out of the living room and crack on. Although the first winter it wasn't used it would probably fill up with dog beds, blankets, crates and carry boxes and that would be the end of that.

I'll spend some time looking over this weekend. :-D

 

[Poppy Design]

My business has been running 5 years now and I have always worked from home - it really suits me as I can work when I want - I have a seperate room and if I don't want to be disturbed the door is closed (not often!).

I know if I wanted to take my business to the next level I would probably need to expand, get staff and commercial premises but with that comes more stress, travel etc so for me I will remain working from home.

I do sometimes miss working with other people and having a laugh but on the other side I am pretty comfortable with my own company (and dog!) and don't miss the office politicsyou sometimes get!

 

[officespace]

We specialise in helping small business's Quite often before you are ready to rent an office you work from home. One of the the things we do is to run a networking event (with a difference) in a local pub, no fee's, all welcome with no real strict format, this way small business owners can talk to each other, makes working from home less isolated and gain free information, alot like this forum only face to face. Maybe it is worth looking at local business centres to see what they have to help home run business.

 

[Beautyandfm]

I work from home doing F M Cosmetics building teams up from all around the world. Its fantastic l get to smell divine every day carnt be bad.

 

[joffyw]

Established three years ago and straight away compared renting office space vs garden office, no brainer....

Managed to find a company in Liverpool (we're in Hampshire) who will provide whatever shell/design shape you need. I then set about fitting it out and now have a 13x8 foot office for year round use all for £1500, that's about 6 months office rent in this neck of the woods.

As time's gone on, anyone who joins or works with us, i offer to pay the costs for them to do the same. It helps that we are in telecoms so the infrastructure is there where it feels as though we're all working next to each other anyway but there's no wasted travelling time, no fuel costs and flexible working........

 

[Christine Hough]

What was the company. What was it made of? and how did you insulate it?

 

[estwig]

I don't get these threads, we've seen a lot of 'em on here, people saying how they converted a shed, or bought a 'garden building' and insulated it, all for less then £2k!!

You can't convert a shed into a room, it will be too hot in the summer, cold in the winter and the damp will creep in, to say nothing of drafts and lack of ventilation. Garden buildings are just posh sheds.

I can only imagine people who do this either give up on the idea fairly quickly, when they realise how uncomfortable a shed is to be in for any amount of time, or they just suffer poor working conditions to make money.

Puzzles me??????

 

[Christine Hough]

That sort of confirms what I am thinking.
There are 'garden offices' which purport to have water tightness and good insulation, but they do not come in at £2000. (all approaching or above £10,000 really )

This http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/garden-offices/modern-office-range/ being one of the best apparent value-for-money ones which does approach £10000 by the time you've added on installation and foundations.

But I still have a niggling desire to build a straw bale office in the garden!

 

[estwig]

That sort of confirms what I am thinking.
There are 'garden offices' which purport to have water tightness and good insulation, but they do not come in at £2000. (all approaching or above £10,000 really )

This http://dunsterhouse.co.uk/garden-offices/modern-office-range/ being one of the best apparent value-for-money ones which does approach £10000 by the time you've added on installation and foundations.

But I still have a niggling desire to build a straw bale office in the garden!

Exactly, mine cost over £7k, 3m x 5m floor area, built myself so it was done cheap when I had a construction company, it's very heavily insulated and will last literally for ever, with a little basic maintenance.

You don't really see change of £10k for something like this, all these poor sods in their sheds, I feel for them!!

 

[joffyw]

It can be done but then like everything, i guess it's down to the individual.

Mine is insulated with a damp poof membrane then 50mm poly sheeting then boarded out with 9mm mdf boarding for floor, walls & ceiling, underlay then carpet. I have a small heater which during the winter is on for an hour before i start to take the chill off, no more than a rad would in an office.

During the summer, i'm sheltered by trees but have windows on the sides which allow for a through draft keeping everything cool.

It's all about your initial start-up train of thought. If you have a huge start up budget then yeah, go for the manufactured approach, very nice, but if you want to concentrate your funds growing the actual business then providing you have somewhere that is, dry, warm and away from the house.....it can be done.

The company i used was eazysheds, not the best of websites but then you're not buying that.

PM me, more than happy to chat.

 

[webbiz]

I don't get these threads, we've seen a lot of 'em on here, people saying how they converted a shed, or bought a 'garden building' and insulated it, all for less then £2k!!

You can't convert a shed into a room, it will be too hot in the summer, cold in the winter and the damp will creep in, to say nothing of drafts and lack of ventilation. Garden buildings are just posh sheds.

I can only imagine people who do this either give up on the idea fairly quickly, when they realise how uncomfortable a shed is to be in for any amount of time, or they just suffer poor working conditions to make money.

Puzzles me??????

Sheds also attract garden spiders. Big big ones.

I remember seeing a BBC doc about City traders who had set up by themselves and now worked from home. One was the archetypal East End boy made good, with a big detached house out in Essex, swimming pool, manicured lawn etc.

The programme showed him walking out of the kitchen door and into a wooden shed which was where he now had his home office with all his online computer trading equipment. It struck me as very odd how someone would spend the money on a big comfortable house to live in but would put their home office in a garden shed!

 

[CabinLIving]

Interesting comments about sheds. We build garden offices typically in 44mm double tongue and groove timber, with 50mm celotex or Kinspan insulation in the floor and ceiling. With base, installation, electrics, underfloor heating, laminate floors, double glazing and insulation you get a 3m x 4m cabin for around £6500. If you just want the cabin and are prepared to DIY insulation etc you will be looking at £2000 plus.

I would post a link but the clues in my name. Check out the blog to see the installation process.

 

[cjd]

We run our business entirely from home - 16 people now scattered around the UK with a half dozen in Europe and Russia. It's not for everyone, some people find it hard to discipline themselves and some people need the buzz of a office. But for a lot of people it's liberating (no more commuting) and flexible (more time for the family and hobbies).

The business benefits are obvious - no office costs and no waste. Communication technologies make it easy and very cheap to do these days.

 

[internetspaceships]

I work from both the office and home. The office when I need to be there to oversee a project or deal with staff or a new stock delivery.

Home when I need to work in peace and quiet. I've converted a bedroom. That way I don't need to work from a "shed."

 

[jhardy2008]

I'm working after my office hours. Actually i have a website for which i do part time work. For this I make work schedule for each and every day.

 

[bdw]

I am sitting in my bedroom office right now working in my dressing gown. Perhaps not an attractive image but it tells it's own story regarding convenience.

But then again, I suppose with a garden office I could sneak out there in my dressing gown hoping the neighbours did not see me.

.

 

[Bri]

My coffee jar empties quicker when I work from home, is there a correaltion there?

 

[Alicatt]

I started my first business from home, graduated to premises, staff etc and finally realised I was trapped in the commuting/office lifestyle I wanted to get out of in the first place!

Have now sold my ecommerce businesses and am going back to working from home. I try to get dressed and out of pyjamas by 9am, but it doesn't always happen.

 

[CabinLIving]

Well this http://cabin-living.blogspot.com/2011/06/south-west-london-garden-office.html is not what I would call a shed and there is no sign of any big spiders. The best bit is you don't associate your bedroom or dining room with work and can switch off at the end of the day.

I enjoy working from home though it is nice to get out and see new places and people too. Working from home isnt everyones cup of tea, but it works for me.

 

[Geoff T]

To make everyone feel better when working at home, try remembering the phrase "house clothes"...

Forego "undies", "dressing gown", etc...

Will make us ALL feel and seem SO much better (even if we still look as bedraggled as before!)

 

[JohnnyCash]

We run our business entirely from home - 16 people now scattered around the UK with a half dozen in Europe and Russia. It's not for everyone, some people find it hard to discipline themselves and some people need the buzz of a office. But for a lot of people it's liberating (no more commuting) and flexible (more time for the family and hobbies).

The business benefits are obvious - no office costs and no waste. Communication technologies make it easy and very cheap to do these days.

We're about the same size and similar setup... running an affiliate business generation millions of £ a month in sales. My business partner lives in England, I'm in Czech Rep and everyone else is scattered around, with the bulk of them (around 10 people) in Philippines.

From a lifestyle point of view I like this setup... I can go where I want and do what I want and the business is unaffected. Going to head down to Portugal for a month soon and all I need to do is throw my dog and laptop in the car and I'm off

Anybody I need to speak to is only a couple of clicks away on Skype or Messenger. Imo, having big offices and more expensive staff has directly contributed to how easy it was to catch a lot of my competitors within 18 months, as I could spend money growing, not on business rates and expensive desks.

 

[internetspaceships]

Yeah I agree with that post. It's incredible that you can be in Spain or Portugal faster than you can drive to the South Coast in the UK, and very often for less money too!

As you also said correctly, for many of us there is no need to be tied to a desk in the UK all the time.

You've put a very interesting thought in ma likkle head there mate