There was a time when you had no choice but to rent office space when setting up a business, yet with the current level of digital technology, there’s no reason why you can’t effectively run your business from an office set up in your home.
Choosing a location within the house
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can set up a small table in the lounge; you will constantly be interrupted by family going on and you just won’t be able to concentrate. If you have a spare room upstairs, this is the perfect location for your home office; install a wireless router to give you freedom of movement when online, while 3 of these routers will give you wireless Internet connectivity throughout the house. For the best deals in office furniture, Danny’s Desks have the top brands at very affordable prices; all you need is a couple of ergonomic chairs, a decent desk and a table and you’re good to go. If you have a loft, why not convert it to be a home office? The cost of doing so is minimal and with a set of retractable stairs, you can get on with your work without disturbing other occupants.
Create a secure cloud network
This is an essential aspect of creating a home office; talk to a local IT support company about setting up a secure cloud network, which you can access from your home or any other location. The provider handles your cyber-security and should you ever have any issues, they are always available. If you had to visit a client and, on the way, you realised you forgot to bring the files you need; a simple solution is to login to your network and download what you need. You can access your data using any digital device, plus you can issue your accountant with a username and password, which allows them to keep your books up to date. Click here for information about business loans, which you might need to fit out your home office.
Tax deductible
Some of your home running costs can be offset when you have a home office; you can’t claim for 100% of your electricity and water bills, but you can claim a percentage. Talk to your accountant regarding the financial benefits of running your business from home and they can enlighten you.
Register the office location
If you are setting up a new business, you simply put your home address as the company address (you will have to erect a company sign at the front of your property), while if you are relocating your office to your home, replace the old office address with your home address.
Enjoy the many benefits
All that time you wasted driving to and from the office can now be applied to something productive and think of the fuel you are saving! Your car will be over the moon that it no longer has to endure the rush hour traffic and you can forget having to dress up in order to do your work.
