How to Create a Space for Home-Based Business Success

Home-Based Business Space Guide
Many small business owners consider working from home to be the ideal work environment. You can just roll out of bed, throw on a decent shirt, and be at your desk before the coffee finishes brewing. However, a home office can have its drawbacks too, especially when you feel like the walls are closing in around you. Perhaps a few of these scenarios sound all-too-familiar:

• You have a hard time focusing because of the mess
• You’re using “the pile system” to organize important papers and materials
• Things that should belong in your office are beginning to spill out into other areas of the house
• You’re starting to work from other rooms because you don’t want to be in your office

If you’re nodding your head right now, don’t despair — you have options!

Need to remodel your home to accommodate your business? The pros at Singular Home Improvement can handle all your needs! Call 678-257-7007

Prioritize and Reorganize

Start by emptying the room. You need some kind of work surface that is large enough to get work done but not so large that there’s room to pile your stuff on it; Worksite Ergonomics suggests laminate in wood-grain or solid colors. An ergonomic, comfortable chair is also necessary if you spend hours at your desk, and your room should have good lighting. Begin with those three elements. From there, you need to decide what else is a priority to have in your office.

As you sort, be realistic but ruthless — don’t keep anything you don’t really use. Once you have sorted it all out, it’s time to go shopping for storage and organizational tools that will ensure everything has a place and you can find it when you need it. If all of that seems overwhelming to you, a professional organizer can help you design a system and choose the storage that will work best for you.

Evacuate and Renovate

Consider the possibility of annexing a room next to your office and opening up the wall between them to create more space. Or, if you have a finished basement or attic, you could wall-in an office within one of those areas if you aren’t using the entire space.

Another possibility is to bump out a section of your home to build a brand new office with all the space you need. Though it obviously would be costlier than reorganizing, renovating with a reliable and experienced company like Singular Home Improvement could save you money (and headaches) down the road if you can create a workspace you won’t outgrow.

Mobilize and Make the Move

If reorganizing or remodeling aren’t viable options for you, it may be time to bite the bullet and begin your search for a new home that offers what you need. This could even be the time to relocate to a whole new area and go for everything you’ve wanted in a house, whether it’s in a bustling metro area of a big city or a small town. Sometimes, something as simple as outgrowing your space can be the impetus you need to make a decision that will change your life for the better.

Safety and Security

It’s easy to become a bit casual about certain protocols when you’re running a business from home, but just like a brick and mortar in downtown, certain best practices are in order. With that in mind, make sure you follow basic data safety measures. As American Express recommends, it’s important to keep your systems updated and use strong authentication. You should also avoid using your business computer for personal tasks.

Along those same lines, although you’re running your business from home, it’s important to keep your business and your home separate in other ways, too. To that end, consider forming an LLC if you haven’t done so already. It provides legal protection for your personal assets if your business ever goes under or you get sued. An LLC also ensures you aren’t taxed twice and it doesn’t require much paperwork, either.

Keep in mind that if you form an LLC in Georgia, you’ll need to appoint a registered agent to receive important business documents. A registered agent is required to be available during business hours, so if you’re out of the office a lot and would prefer not to act and your own registered agent, you can hire a service to take on this role.

Having an office space that is organized and spacious not only affects how you feel when you come to work every day but also your overall productivity. It will be worth the initial investment, whether you decide to redecorate, renovate, or relocate.

By Megan Cooper – Real Life Home