Most entrepreneurs who open a home-based business do not have any clear plan of moving it out of the house and into an office of its own. Most of them do not have to, because they can run their business from home without impediments either to their family life, or to the growth of the business.
However, there is a moment when your business gives all the signals that it has outgrown your home. It is important to recognize this moment and act accordingly; otherwise two negative things will happen. For one, your family will grow unhappier with the way your business is taking over their daily lives. For another, your business will not reach its true potential, rewarding your efforts by financial and professional success.
But what are these signals? How can you identify them and when is it the right moment to act? There is no cut and dry answer to these questions, but we have sought and put together a few ideas, which other entrepreneurs like you have identified as signs that their business had outgrown their home. Here they are:
1. There Is a Constant Flow of Customers and Suppliers at Your Front Door
Has your spouse become a sort of usher for everyone who needs to see you for business purposes? Does your front door bell ring several times per day for supplies deliveries or customers picking up their orders? In this case your business has definitely outgrown your home.
One of the issues that should concern you is that so many strangers (yes, they are strangers, although they are clients or your suppliers’ delivery agents) know where you live and, possibly, all your family members. This is a potentially unsafe situation for you and your family, so you should explore setting up an office outside your home, or at least a private mailbox.
2. Your Home Looks More Like an Office
At the beginning your little home office was just enough to conduct your business. Now you have made some changes to the living room to make it look more businesslike for meetings with clients. The entry hallway starts resembling a reception desk. Your family sees your business taking over the house bit by bit, day by day. And they are not happy with it.
Once you need more than your home office for running your business, then your business has clearly outgrown your home. If you need to set up meetings with customers, but you are not yet financially ready for a permanent office, you could rent space in business incubator buildings. These are specially designed places, professional looking, where small business owners conduct their activities for a part of the day, in a designated place, and where they can also talk to each other, exchange ideas and help each other. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
3. You Bring Employees Into Your Home
If you have reached the level when you need to hire people to help you run your business, you have also reached the level when you need a separate office. There are many, many problems connected to bringing employees into your home: liability, insurance, as well as the safety and privacy of your family.
As a rule of the thumb, if your business is complex enough and produces enough revenue to warrant hiring an employee, it also warrants (and you can afford) a small office for it.
4. You Cannot Promote Your Business As You Wish
You want to make your business look more professional, no longer a fledgling start-up, but a mature business which can serve its customers at a high level of quality and expertise. However, the home address attached to your business acts like an impediment. How will people react when they start a location search for your business and notice it is situated in a residential area? They will most certainly distrust your claims of professionalism.
5. You Find It Harder to Work Alone
As your business has grown, and you started meeting customers and suppliers, those moments when you are all alone in your office are more and more unbearable. You would like to be able to discuss your business ideas, meet some other entrepreneurs and find more inspiration.
Once again, a business incubator building is the answer for your woes. This is the place where you can rent office space at an affordable price, yet be situated in an open space environment with many other business owners who are trying to grow their businesses just like you.