When you’re starting out in business, you may have big dreams of contemporary office suites and hundreds of staff, the reality is, however, that every business had to start somewhere and even Google was started in a garage.
This business looks at ways you can effectively start and manage a small business from your home.
Benefits of Starting Your Business From Home
Clearly, the biggest benefit of running your business from home is that you are going to save a lot of money compared to if you go in for premises from day one.
Luckily, there are now a lot of businesses that can be managed from home remotely, and so this gives you so many more options.
In fact, aside from businesses that require big machinery, or a service-based business where you have to see clients in person such as a hair salon, dentist, or dog groomer, most businesses can work remotely nowadays.
Since Covid, even more provisions have been made to improve online business services, and it’s now easier than ever to make your business remote. It’s going to save you money in the early days and will also give you more time and flexibility to spend with your loved ones.
Setting Up Your Home Office
A home office can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. Essentially, you’re going to need a desk, a comfortable working chair, and a computer.
Desktops for small business doesn’t have to be anything hugely powerful, to begin with. (Unless you are a games designer or video editor, for example). Most businesses can get away with a general PC that covers browsing, email, and video conferencing, which means you have plenty of choices within a wide range of budgets.
Choose a quieter space in your home to set up your office, to avoid interruptions.
Online Working Facilities
Once you have your office set up, you need to consider the online facilities you may need.
Online video conferencing is going to be vital to stay in touch with clients, staff, or freelancers. The great news is Google Hangouts offer this service free of charge, or you can opt for a paid service like Zoom.
Google Hangouts is slightly more limited than Zoom in terms of security and the numbers of attendees (allowing up to 25 compared to Zoom’s 100). However, for most small businesses, this is going to be plenty, so it really comes down to preference.
If you have a product-based business, you may also want to consider a fulfilment house. This is going to give you so much more free time and flexibility, as they will store your stock and ship it to your customers on your behalf. Even if you have the facility to store and send from home, why would you when you could simply be emailing your fulfilment house your orders from the beach!
Starting a business from home has a lot of great benefits, but more than anything it’s going to save you money and offer you the flexibility to spend your days as you please, which is a huge positive!