Aaah! Working at home! Fuzzy bunny slippers. Quiet moments of contemplation. Free, unrestricted access to a fully-stocked refrigerator. Add the advantages of low overhead, income tax reductions, and not commuting, and you can understand why so many small business owners choose to operate out of home offices.
Being one of those fortunate people who gets to work at home most of the time, here’s my list of home office essentials and home office “nice-to-haves”.
Basic Home Office Equipment
Zoning regulations may determine whether or not you can even have a home office. Before you start a home-based business, it’s important to find out whether or not home-based businesses are allowed in your location; some cities/towns don’t allow businesses to be operated in residential areas.
A separate home office space. It’s important to have a designated space, preferably a room where can work in isolation, away from distractions. Having a designated home office space also makes it easier to calculate percentages of home business use expenses that you can deduct on your income tax. (See Calculating The Home-Based Business Tax Deduction.)
When you’re choosing the home office space in your home, remember to choose a location that has all the relevant wiring for the equipment you’re going to need, (such as telephone and cable jacks), and space for all of your chosen home office equipment, including things such as filing cabinets. Otherwise you’ll waste too much time wandering through your home looking for this or that. The Basics of Small or Home Office Design will show you how to plan your office design around the power, lighting and ventilation needs of your office space.
You may also need an attractive home office space if you’re going to consult with clients on the premises. This space needs to be kept “business-like” (uncluttered by things such as children’s toys), and private. When you’re choosing a room for your home office, consider the space the client will have to walk through to get to the meeting room. He or she won’t form a very good impression of your operation if he has to stroll through your laundry room or follow you through a labyrinth into a dark corner of your basement before she gets to talk business.
Filing cabinet(s) – and a good filing system. To deal with those once-yearly chores, such as income taxes, and whatever daily crises crop up, you have to have a filing system that allows you to lay your hands on exactly whatever piece of paper you need. See my Data Management Library for articles on how to set up and use a good filing system.
Basic home office furniture. Definitely you’ll need a desk for your home office (large enough to hold a computer and still leave enough room for a desktop work space), and an office chair. Whatever other home office furniture you need will depend on how much equipment you have and what kind of business you’re running. If you have a printer and or fax machine, for instance, you’ll need stands for them. See Office Design On The Cheap for tips on saving money on office furniture and equipment. If your business involves meeting with clients in your home office, you’ll need some attractive chairs and perhaps a coffee table.
Family support. Whether or not your family members are actively working in your business, they need to support you to the degree that they’ll give you the time and space to run a home-based business.
Nice to Have Home Office Essentials:
A really supportive family, that pitches in and helps out.
A really comfortable office chair. Because you’re going to spend a lot of time sitting in it, get the most comfortable office chair you can afford for your home office.
You have the basic furniture and equipment for your home office now. But what about those technological gadgets that will make it easier for you to work at home? Continue on to the next page...
