Making Home Office Life Easier - Shared Office Spaces
by Larry Slusser on April 9th, 2008
Working from home is a great option for many different professionals in many different lines of work. Some companies are even encouraging workers to become virtual workers when possible, saving on commuting cost and the cost of office space.
While staying home and having a home office may seem ideal to you, believe it or not there can be some issues when working from your home. Distractions are more prevalent at home although the argument can be made that there are plenty of distractions when working on-site as well. Losing your internet can be a real drag and also the fact that you lose social interaction in the workplace is an important factor.
What if your job requires you to meet with a client? You can’t always meet at a coffee shop, particularly if you want to be seen as a seasoned professional in your field. Where do you have the meeting? And when you work at home do you use your personal address as your business address? That works fine until the junk mail starts to pile up or you go to sell your home and the underwriter doesn’t like the fact that there was a business there previously.
When you get a little stir crazy at home you can just run out to the coffee shop right? Most have wireless internet and you can get a good cup of espresso as well. But what if the chairs aren’t all that comfortable or they turn the music up too loud? You just find a new coffee shop right? Easier said than done and there is a new alternative for people who freelance or work from home.
Shared Office Space
Shared office space is a business concept that rents office space to a host of individuals. Although offerings vary depending on your market most all of them offer a place to put your desk, several conference rooms which you can schedule for meetings, internet access, the potential for a phone line, and a business address you can use for your business.
There are different levels of membership from monthly renters that cost several hundred dollars a month to daily users who pay as much as $20 per day to use a community desk and link to the internet. You can get discounts for quarterly or annual memberships and some shared office spaces offer referral bonuses for friends and colleagues you are able to sign up.
While you can run into the same distractions you would in a regular office one advantage is you might find you are able to network with other freelance or home based businesses. You also don’t have to go into the office; you can use your home office or go in to your shared office space. Having a business address separate from your home address is a bonus and depending on the type of business you have access to a private conference room is an excellent idea.
If your city’s shared office space offers a daily rate it is recommended you try it for at least 2 months on a pay as you go arrangement and see how many days you go to “your new office”. This will allow you to evaluate if the move will be cost effective in the long run.