When Should You Move Out of Your Home Office?

Have you outgrown your home office? Here are five signs that you might need to move your business out of your house and into its own space.

Working at home can be quite rewarding for new business startups looking for a way to save money on business expenses. After all, if you work out of a home office, you don’t have to commute, which means you’ll save money on fuel expenses, vehicle maintenance costs, office space rent, utilities expenses, personnel expenses to help you run the office, office furniture and equipment, office supplies, and perhaps some miscellaneous expenses that pop up from time to time when you run a business.

Nevertheless, you can’t run every type of business from your home, and some businesses you can run from home could grow to a point that you eventually need to rent office space. How do you determine when is the right time to move?

5 Reasons to Move Your Business Out of Your Home

Here are five reasons why you might want to consider moving the business out of the house:

You need to hire employees – Some businesses find it possible to hire employees who work remotely. But if you need the employees to work at your location, you may not want them entering your residence every day to work. This is particularly true if you have children or other family members at home, you have valuables you worry about getting broken or stolen, or if you need employees to work in the office while you spend time out of the office. If your business has grown to this point, then it’s time to think about moving the business out of your home.

You can boost your productivity – Working at home can be distracting. If you have small children or you are prone to watching TV while you work, then moving might curb the distractions. Before deciding to move, try moving your work area away from distractions, setting regular work hours, and possibly “dressing up” as if you are going to an office job. If that doesn’t boost your productivity and you aren’t disciplined enough to cut the distractions, then consider moving.

You can make more money – If you are running a type of business where customers typically visit a business before making a buying a decision, then rented office space might make your business look more professional. If you estimate an increase in sales greater than your expense of renting office space, then you should move out of the home office and pursue more revenue for the business.

You want to interact with others – Working at home can be lonely. Sometimes you just need to interact with other people. Consider a co-working option or working out of a public space with wi-fi accessibility. You could find an ideal work situation where you can save on rent or work for free and still get the interaction you need. Otherwise, if you don’t need a lot of space for equipment and inventory, then consider renting a desk rather than a whole office.

You’ve outgrown the space – As businesses grow, they tend to accumulate technology or inventory. If that is the case and you are running out of space in your home, then it may be time to consider another option. You might get by with renting space for storing product inventory if that is your only issue, but if you have to upgrade equipment that is larger than the space you have available in your home (for instance, industrial printers), then you should consider moving out of the home into a space that is adequate for your equipment needs. Be sure you have the profits to allow for the extra expenses you’ll incur renting space before you make the move.

Working from home has its benefits, but sometimes you outgrow those benefits or your business changes, requiring a different work environment. Get in the habit of routinely evaluating your business environment and make a change if you need to.