Info about Home Businesses
Advantages of Working from Home
Given the problems, complexity and costs of finding suitable business accommodation, it is sensible to begin by asking yourself: Do I really need business premises at all? In practice, many small firms start life in the lounge, spare-room, cellar or garage of their owner-manager's home. This is especially common among firms providing services which do not involve heavy equipment or materials. Businesses such as insurance brokers, child-minders, chimney sweeps, artists, typing agencies, accountants, architects, decorators and carpenters can readily operate from home.
• Advantages
In addition to avoiding the problems and frustrations of looking for premises, working from home offers the more important and lasting advantage of saving money. You pay for only one set of housing or accommodation expenses rather than two. These savings can be considerable because by the time you have paid the rent, rates, insurance, electricity and telephone charges and perhaps decoration and maintenance costs, even the smallest workshop or office is likely to cost well over £1,000 a year. This is money which could be invested directly in the business.
Working from home can save time as well as money. The hours spent each week in commuting to and from your business premises could be spent more profitably in managing and building up your business. You will also save on the other costs of commuting — petrol, wear and tear on the car and on yourself. You will start the day fresh and finish without the prospect of sitting in traffic jams on the way home. Avoiding commuting is especially advantageous for the individual who is still working for someone else during the day and for whom the thought of heading off from home again in the evening to a distant workshop or office is not at all inviting. In these circumstances time is particularly precious and commuting even more wasteful.
Having the job and the tools to hand without the need to travel is also especially beneficial for those in creative or artistic professions. When the mood is right and inspiration strikes, everything you need is immediately available.
One final advantage of working from home is the enhanced possibility of using your family to assist with running the business. A spouse who is prepared to deal with telephone enquiries when you are out or help with correspondence, typing and other secretarial tasks, can provide valuable (and unpaid!) assistance. The same level of support may not be feasible if you are operating away from home.
In itemising the benefits of home operation it is worth remembering that for many people there is no alternative: if they do not run their business from home, they do not run a business at all. For many disabled people, for example, home is the only place possible. More generally, family commitments can in effect tie people to the house. For those bringing up young families or looking after elderly or sick relatives, working at home may be the only practicable way of reconciling business ambitions with their family responsibilities.