Business growth: A home office or commercial office space?

When you experience business growth, is it better to stay in a home office, or move out? Late last year I moved my business out of home and into commercial office space. It's time to update you on what this has meant for me and for the business.

At the time I wrote about five reasons to grow my business beyond a solo operation. I had made the decision to move my small business out of my home office and in to commercial office space.

So some six months on, how’s life, how’s business, what have I learnt and was it a good decision?

The personal transition

Travel

The drive to work and having to negotiate the traffic was, I admit, the only negative for me and the one thing I didn’t enjoy. The new commercial office space is only a 20 minute drive from home but takes 30 minutes plus at peak hour. So I have taken to leaving home about 7:00am to avoid the peak hour traffic!

Space

My husband and I have been able to claim back the two spare bedrooms in the house. One is now our personal study and the other is intentionally very empty at the moment as we are making room for the family we plan to start!

Exercise

The extra hour spent travelling each day has made it harder to get to gym three times a week after work and get home at a reasonable hour. It is just around the corner from my house so previously it was easy to head to the gym before or after work. So I have had to rearrange my schedule to make time for exercise. I have also started looking for alternatives to gym while preparing for pregnancy.

The Computer

When the business first moved out, all my computers went to the office. There was a period where I had no computer or Internet connection at home. Shock horror – must have been the end of the world - right!? But now I have a portable laptop which I take between home and the office and can log in remotely when needed to check up on things at the office or check my email and stay connected.

The business transition

Location! Location! Location!

The spot we picked is just off one of the main freeways in Melbourne. We did not need a retail shop front but are right on a corner with plenty of parking. Our central, easy to find location has meant a lot more clients travelling to us. So I am spending less time on the road during the day.

Credibility

Like it or not, many businesses still frown upon home offices and believe they are “backyard operations” and cannot provide the same levels of service and security as a business not based at home. We have found that since moving we have been able to attract and win a number of larger contracts.

Growth

We have been very busy since moving. This is partly because of the move and extra advertising at this time, but it's also due to taking on a part time Marketing Assistant last February. Our planned and regular marketing along with our new physical presence has broadened our reach and increased turnover.

We have taken on yet another full time staff member since moving and are currently advertising for our fifth team member.

Challenges

Utilities

The hardest things have been dealing with Telephone and Energy providers to get the services we need.

Dealing with the rapid growth

Managing the workload, cash flow and deciding when to increase our staff numbers and infrastructure.

Overall I feel our decision to move to commercial office space has been a good one and we have not looked back. Our choice of location has been great and allowed us to use our time more effectively when meeting with new clients. Going forward my biggest challenge is staffing and keeping a good team of people to handle the load at the same time as reducing my time in the business to enable me to start my family. I will report back and let you know how it goes.

Melissa Norfolk is an Internet expert who speaks to business, school and community groups about online marketing, email newsletters, effective use of the Internet, finding what you need online and Internet safety.

10 comments | Add your own 1 2 | Next» View all»

I made the decision to move out of my home a few years ago. For me, the main reason was an inability to switch off when I had the office at home. The office I got is only 2 blocks down the road so I don't have the negatives of travel and my home is a home again! Kate, Tribe Research from Sydney
Very tempting, but in my 7th year of soloism, I still love the fact that I can work or not work as I like, so I'm staying home. A 2nd reason? Sydney traffic is dreadful and getting worse! Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
At 50 years young and 20 years solo, I have considered moving out many times, but then I realise that I am happiest solo in my home office (where I can shut the door if I choose) and just get on with it. Traffic really gets to me - a trip to Sydney is a big event and takes a whole day to attend a lunch networking event. I definitely don't miss the traffic.
Melissa - as long as you can incorporate a creche/children's area with activity desks for older children into your out-of-home office, I think that could work out for you. Otherwise the long hours could just frustrate you with kids. Although our kids are grown up, the children used to love having their own desks and 'pretending to be working' like mummy/aunty. Even now, the odd day when my grandchildren are here whilst I'm working, they just love doing drawing activities at the same time as I am working.
And yes, it is hard to combat the perception of home businesses being backyard. But I strive to do my best regardless. Karen from Springwood NSW
Hi Melissa,
I can understand the credibility thing with home based offices. When we moved from Sydney to Armidale I was a little bit cunning with this. Faulkner Street is the main financial/ legal etc street in the town. So we bought a house up the road in the residential part. It almost looks as though our " office" is in the business part of town.
Loved your article and ideas presented.
geoff. Geoff Bishop from Armidale NSW Australia
Thanks everyone for your comments. Obviously everyones situation is slightly different but so far I feel my decision to grow to a small team with an office external to home is right for my situation. As I want to be able to generate an income even when I have time off to have children. I also want to have a small team so that we can all have good life balance and have time off while still having someone to back us up. This also allows us to provide great and uninterrupted customer service to our clients. Melissa Norfolk from Melbourne | Read my articles
Having only recently started my first business. (wholesale and importation) I had never intended on remaining working from a home office for any great length of time. Both I and my partner have a difficult time extracting ourselves from work at the end of each day. (this isn't an issue for me, as I relish it) Especially as we constantly deal with multiple countries and timezones. It is far too easy to check what is happening o/s at 11pm when the office should be closed. I do understand peoples hesitation in wanting to deal with Sydney traffic (I am the same) and like Geoff from Armidale, we are fortunate in that the area we live in looks great on our business cards for the type of business we are in.
However I feel that to grow as a business we have to leave home and get an office, as long as we take our dogs in with us each day. Damien from Alexandria

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