Finding support for your At Home Business in Sacramento
Being a Sole Proprietor and creating an At home business has a lot of perks. You save money on rent, you can work in your pj’s, you have easy access to food, you’re in a comfortable setting, you can set your hours, and you don’t have to worry about moving files from office to home. And now with today’s mobile technology it allows business people to work even more efficiently from home. The benefits of working at home are wonderful. But isn’t there still the lingering feeling of something missing?
The goal of this article is not to analyze At Home Businesses but more so to discover the symbiotic relationship that an At Home Office and a Coworking Space in Sacramento can do for someone that is currently working from home or is thinking about starting a business in this down economy.
I think the balance of working at home and a shared office space in Sacramento is found through:
1.) Finding the right boundaries for your work schedule
2.) Being aware of the non-tangible costs of having all of your work at your home
3.) Finding a community that understands what it means to run a business
4.) Leveraging the business concierge from a network of people that you trust
- Finding the right Boundaries
- When I’m at home in the evenings, if I have access to a Laptop or my iPhone I’m checking email or getting documents filed. I realized that having too easy of access to my work enabled me to work, but I found I wasn’t enjoying my surroundings at home. Staycations just weren’t the same. The physical boundary was critical in establishing the line between what I would do at home and what I would do for professional work. The door to the den just wasn’t cutting it as a boundary. So by creating a physical boundary of not bringing work home I was able to clear my head in the evenings and feel better about my business quality of life.
- Awareness of Non-Tangible Costs of working at home
- I think there are some costs that we don’t consider when we start our At Home Businesses, some of which include: cost of isolation, cost of distractions, cost of a non professional place to meet
- The cost of isolation can sometimes lead to inspiration blocks or solution blocks. As businesses our whole end goal is to be solution oriented with our services and products, so a block means no business.
- The cost of distractions is mainly a cost on your time. For every distraction in a day it takes 15 to 20 minutes to refocus. If you work an 8 hour day with at least 6 distractions, and a couple breaks, your day can be spent trying to refocus rather than actually accomplishing anything.
- The cost of a meeting space can be crucial depending on who you’re meeting with. Casual acquaintance meetings can work with a coffee shop or even the dining table, but for a professional meeting for a big contract it’s best to have another option.
- Finding a supportive community
- There was one quote from a friend of ours that said as she was leaving Capsity Offices one day, “You’re lucky that you have a business partner for you to bounce ideas and work with you through the day.” I immediately thought to myself that’s one of the main purposes of the Coworking space: to provide a community for sole proprietors and micro business owners in which they can share ideas and best practices. Business partners can be established without a contract. I think most of us as micro business owners understand that we rely on more than just ourselves to grow our companies. I cherish the fact that I can chat with an attorney, web designer, and a holistic behavioral therapist at different times of the day to get feedback and ideas on different parts of my business. The diversity that comes with a Coworking space in Sacramento is great for getting multiple perspectives.
- Leverage the business network around you
- Coworking in Sacramento leverages social networking to its fullest by having a community that simply likes working together. In what other space could a video production company knock on another person’s door and ask them if they want to be in a commercial or where the spouse of a business owner can come in and get help with the fax machine? Or to simply get the word out for a charitable event.
Coworking in Sacramento has given me a flexible place to which I can use as an extension of my Home Office or sometimes I see it as my main “Home” office. I could go to a coffee shop but I think there’s a general rule that you don’t inquire with people at a coffee shop what they do for their business. I’m thankful that we have the opportunity to work in an office setting such as Capsity Offices. It’s the people here that make this shared office space possible and make me appreciate the meaning of Home.
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