I'm eager to do this as soon as I can afford it. My current client rents an office outside his home and loves the separation between work and personal life. For myself, I know it would really help me stay focused on business tasks during working time, and leave work aside for personal life when at home.

 

Its not just the $450, what about the additional costs in transportation and time lost in commuting? If you do not see clients, then why not stay at home? Some even buy fancified sheds for their backyard like those shown in www.studio-shed.com to help separate job from work yet continue the convenience of still being at home.

To answer your question I did not lose or gain productivity when my family moved the basement business to a real office. I did greatly miss being at home, though.

 

I suppose it’s personal preference and the type of business you run.

Does Elon Musk work from home?

 

It depends. Are you meeting with clients? It's important to me to have an outside office because I have a parade of tenants, workmen and others who need to see me. I'd rather it's at my office rather than having them come to my house. I used to meet people at my Laundromat. That sure wasn't a comfortable situation. It's a lot easier to have regular office hours and place to meet them.

My office hours are 8:30 AM to 2 PM, Tuesday through Saturday. If I have to leave, then I put up my "Be Back at _____."

If I didn't have to meet people face to face, I wouldn't bother. Having office hours is a pain in the &?@## -- but, it works for running the businesses.
www.wjkbusinessbuzz.com

 

If you're client facing, get an office. If not, choose what works better for you.

I have two offices in the city that I never go to. Work better from home. But it's up to you to decided what works better.

However, if you're client facing, get an office and make it impress.

 

Well he sleeps on a couch at his factory, so yes?

 

I’m kind of in a unique situation, because I would need Flex space. Eventually I’m going to outgrow using storage units for my warehousing.

So, it’ll make sense to get a warehouse with office condo.

However, I know I personally work much better away from home. I get easily distracted at home.

What about finding a coworking space that offers private desk or private office?

 

As for the business that I work in daily, I now have a work place about 3 miles from my house.... problem is.... I still work at my house. lol I'm a self-starter so I know what I have to do and what I need to get done. That does not change no matter if I were to work for someone else, work at home or some place other than my house. Personally, I get MUCH less done if I work any place other than my house yet I do know where the line of work and home is.

 

I haven't been through this myself just yet. But apart from what people said above regarding clients, it might be worth having a designated "work area" at home.

Just finished reading "Willpower Doesn't Work" and one of the main points the author makes is how important our environment is. If you have a designated "work area", it switches you to be more productive and work focused. Also helps you detach from work related tasks once you are not in that area.

What is making you consider getting an office though? What is your main motivator or reasoning behind it? What kind of problem are you potentially trying to solve by getting an office outside of your home?

 

Depends on your personality type but
I found myself to be more productive
at an office especially since mine was
really quiet and where I live not so much

 

If you took checks that would at least get you out to the bank once a day

 

I haven't been to a 'bank' in YEARS! We have a small local credit union. But, we still have to deposit all the cash in the credit union. The lil woman is taking $11,238 in the morning to deposit for weekend sales. But, it still doesn't get me out of the house because she does it on the way to the museum. lol

I stopped taking checks for my small businesses in 2011. In businesses that I'm a part of that are big businesses and deal in large numbers, they do take checks but that is their choice, not mine. I'd rather do some type of PayPal/Square/etc for the businesses that I'm not a direct part of the every day to day operations.

For any meetings you may have and need a space, there is a site to find places to hold meetings. Some are free and some have an hourly rental rate. I'll see if I have that site saved on my other computer.