Many people get excited about working from home due to the prospect of having control over everything. In fact, some people run multi thousand dollar organizations out of the privacy and security of their own bedrooms, kitchens, or living rooms. Of course, while that all sounds great hypothetically, there’s some things you may want to ask yourself first.
How Secure and/or Permanent is your Workplace?
For starters, is your home sustainable as a place for your work? How long will you live there, and should you have to move, how badly will it slow down your business? Should you keep your products and inventory at home, do you have the room for that? And make sure you have the room for proper organization! Your place needs to be big enough to benefit your work rather than ruin it. Furthermore, it should be safe from threats to your business. If your work isn’t secure where you live – as in, the location stops it from being feasible for whatever reason – then working from home might be a bad idea. Always be prepared to leave.
How many people are working on your project?
Maybe you need people working with you in person. That’s great and there’s nothing wrong with that, but please ask yourself: will they fit in your house? If not, find a new space. You do not want your staff to work so closely together they get sick of each other, and homes are an easy place for that to happen. Keep in mind, it is completely possible for a team to have unity and solidarity from remote locations. There is not a reason to overcrowd your space if you don’t have to.
Do you have the time at home with no distractions?
Many of us, at the age we start building our own businesses, start to have kids as well. The truth is that if you’re going to work from home, you need time to do so. And I don’t find it insensitive to point out that kids, of course, occupy a lot of time. If your family is distracting you find ways occupy young kids. Pro-tip: consider making your ‘work’ time their ‘learning’ time by sneaking in math or reading based games. If that’s still not working for you though you might want to evaluate if working from home is the best option for you.
What’s your Long Term Goal?
A little advice: before any big or rash decisions about where to place your workspace, decide what your ultimate long term goals are and then make a list of how to accomplish them. If you want to expand to work outside of your own house and this is a waste of time, maybe you should move. If your goals are big, do what you need to accomplish them. In fact, going back to family, maybe the distractions of home are too much. Maybe cutting costs isn’t worth less productivity in those cases. Ultimately, while I believe in saving as much money as possible, I also know that spending more in the short run can save more in the long run. So set those goals and use your wisdom to make them happen!
What’s your experience working from home? Let me know on Twitter @robolitious!