With more than 22 million self-employed workers and 543,000 new businesses opening each month, office locations have begun to shift from traditional building settings to individual homes exponentially in recent years. In fact, 52% of small businesses are now solely based from home! If you are one of these budding entrepreneurs, you should know that a properly equipped and strategically structured office can make all the difference when it comes to productivity. With just a few easy tips, your at-home office will have you feeling constructive and creative in no time.
How Your Small Business Can Succeed
Across the board, small businesses bend over backward to try and become profitable from their inception. However, this struggle can eventually lead to a business’s demise if proper financial and business concept planning aren’t considered. But by following these tips, especially in your business’s infancy, you’ll be well on your way to ensuring stability and longevity for your small business.
Budding entrepreneurs run the risk of having blinders on to the pitfalls of their idea simply by being so excited about getting started that they fail to thoroughly critique it. A great way to avoid this potential misstep is by applying for grants. If your business idea is genuinely worthy of being turned into a reality, then someone else will be willing to help fund your dream! Sites like Small Business Innovation Research and the U.S. Small Business Administration allow you to search for and apply to hundreds of grants online, making it easy to access extra startup capital.
Every business owner will tell you to expect the unexpected when running your business because even when you think you have thought through every last detail, something will pop up that surprises you. By keeping your overhead low and your business wants/needs realistic, you are guaranteed to decrease the stressful demands you place on your new enterprise—not to mention yourself!
Obviously, if you don’t have a product that is able to be delivered on time and in the specified condition, then your business is going to be crippled. However, don’t let the “Make. Sell. Deliver.” mantra be the only tune in your head! Be sure to dedicate time and energy on marketing strategies, financial planning, and your vision for the future of your business, too. By doing so, you keep your dream growing and expanding, rather than getting stuck in the rut of day-to-day tasks.
Planning Your At-Home Office
Countless studies tell us that people’s work output is affected by their surroundings—it’s something our friends at Modernize are passionate about. So set-up an at-home office for your small business that will keep your creative juices flowing and your productivity at its peak.
Nothing is more important when it comes to your home office than location. For obvious reasons, choosing to station your desk in the middle of the busiest part of the house will lead to plenty of distractions. If your home has the space, then a room tucked away from the general craziness of the house will be ideal. But if this isn’t the case for you, don’t despair! Even in the tiniest of homes, a well-situated corner or nook will serve your perfect home office needs perfectly.
This is key to ensuring optimal productivity. Bookshelves and filing cabinets are certainly great choices, but there are other options out there, too, if you are willing to get a little creative. Check your local antique or secondhand store for old card catalogues or blueprint catalogues to add a touch of style to storage solutions.
One of the main perks of not being in an office is that you get to pick the aesthetic. Make choices that speak to you when it comes to rugs, fabrics, and wall colors. Don’t forget to personalize your space with family pictures or motivational quotes to help you push through any stressful obstacles. Finally, add in a few plants to help purify the air and give you an added boost of productivity!
Follow these simple tips and you’ll have the at-home business and office of your dreams in no time!
Stephanie
Stephanie is the Marketing Director at Talkroute and has been featured in Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur as a leading authority on business and telecommunications.
Stephanie is also the chief editor and contributing author for the Talkroute blog helping more than 100k entrepreneurs to start, run, and grow their businesses.