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Within
the next 10 years, 25% of the workforce is likely to be based at
home. Will that include you? There are many benefits in having a
home office but the lifestyle doesn't suit everyone.
As a small
business owner, you need to wear all the hats. You may be good at the
primary part of your business but if you lack management skills or entrepreneurial
drive, your business could fail. You'll need to take responsibility
for all aspects of running the business, including bookkeeping, marketing
and publicity and debt collection. The foremost home-based businesses
stick to doing what they do well, using the expertise of other professionals
to handle other matters.
Solicitors, accountants, ad agencies, PR and computer consultants,
bookkeepers, finance, insurance and business brokers are among those
who provide a level of expertise which is up-to-date and professional.
Without such expertise a home-based operation can't truly operate
as a business should.
"The
advantage of using a broker is that he or she would have accreditation
with a number of finance sources and is therefore able to offer clients
the best rates and conditions for their particular application," says
home-based finance broker Richard Nuttall. "It's up to small business
to support one another. Big business does it. We need to do it too."
Ken Leo, Abacus Bookkeeping, works from home and has many home-based
clients. "My advice to them," says Leo, "is to stick to their knitting
and let people like myself take care of specialist areas.
"My
business provides accounting, bookkeeping and payroll services to
small business. Small business operators can't afford to have an experienced,
qualified accountant on staff and therefore often neglect, or at best
mismanage this aspect of their business. Poor record-keeping is recognised
as the major cause of small business failure."
The Virtual Office
Equipping a home office with technology may be costly, but there is
no need to purchase everything at once. Add equipment as the work
dictates and share equipment with others if possible, says Chryssides.
Telecottages have been set up across the country to provide reasonably
priced access to equipment including computers, scanners, fax machines,
photocopiers and printers.
Franchise chain, Mail Boxes Etc, is a similar concept. The network
of logistics, business and communication centres provide office support
and services to SoHo customers. These include secretarial services,
graphic design, email addresses, and access to state-of-the-art equipment.
MBE managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Michael Larkins
says there's a myriad of communication and support tools required
in running a successful small business, which require a huge capital
investment.
Small businessman Krishnamoordhy Subramanian arrived in Sydney two
years ago to establish a South Pacific branch of his parents' Indian-based
agro-chemical business. Working from home, he used the services of
his local Mail Boxes Etc centre as his 'extended office'.
"I
have been using a variety of MBE's business services from the very
beginning including a mailbox for my business, photocopying, binding
and presentation services and courier services," he said. "I didn't
have the room at home or the staff that would make the purchase of
such equipment worthwhile."
Although Subramanian plans to move to a formal office space, he will
continue to use MBE rather than paying for the maintenance of his
own equipment.
On Your Own
The majority of home businesses operate as sole traders, so it's easy
for them to become professionally and socially isolated. "One needs
to make the effort to join professional bodies in one's line of business,
both to stay in touch socially and with your profession, and home-based
business organisations for support," says Chryssides.
"Sometimes
I feel a yearning to be around other people who do what I do," says
Makins. "I've got a couple of architect friends who I can bounce ideas
off. Sometimes it would be good to have a partner to work with but
then I'd lose my autonomy."
Avoid isolation by joining professional associations for your industry
and attend functions of your local Chamber of Commerce and networking
groups, like the Home Based Business Association.
Moving Out
Some home-based operators find it hard to be motivated when there's
laundry to be done or other people around. Journalist, Robert Davis,
prefers to lease office space, pay $100 per week rent, work relatively
normal business hours and dress for the occasion. Says Robert, "I've
found it better to discipline myself as if I was going to a job somewhere.
If I worked from home, I'd never be able to relax."
Kylie Makins doesn't find motivation a problem if she's busy and has
to work to a deadline. "When I'm not busy, I still try to spend all
day in my office and do things like gather trade literature and general
research. You work so much harder when you work for yourself. Other
people get the impression that I can take lots of breaks because I
work for myself."
Beyond SoHo
If your business can no longer cope with an increased workload, then
it may be worth employing contractors rather than bringing employees
into your home. Many home-based businesses don't employ anyone except
family, given the intimacy of the premises.
Family members aren't the only ones who object to sharing the kitchen
and bathroom. When you start taking on employees your local council
might also have a few objections. Toilet, parking facilities and noise
are three, among many other local council concerns.
But never mind the local council, for the sake of your family, it
may be time to move out when you need employees.
Well, I remember the founder of the Small Business Letter running
the newsletter business from home. One day I called around to quite
a sight. The dining room table was stacked with envelopes, all in
postcode order (for the Post Office discount) and his five employees
- one of whom was his mother - were sticking address labels onto envelopes
and panicking about the five o'clock mail. In an unsettled mood, his
wife and two children were in another room trying to watch television.
His home-based business had unexpectedly exploded into action and
he was trying to keep abreast of the expansion. Shortly after this
he moved to a suburban office, eventually rapidly taking over about
a quarter of the three-storey building.
Alternatively, you may not want to grow beyond the convenience your
home-base provides. "The emphasis on expansion is too great," says
Peter Gifford, who wants to keep his graphic design business, Universal
Head, small enough to give his clients his personal attention. "There's
no reason why you can't stay as one person working from home successfully.
Once you're paying wages and have a big minimum monthly turnover to
keep going, it starts to get complicated."
1. Richard Nuttall, finance broker
When Richard Nuttall started working from home in 1974 he was way
ahead of his time. "At that time there was a small resistance because
home-based business appeared to be lacking in prestige, but that's
changed now. Nowadays it's standard practice for service-type business.
I could make that choice being in an industry where I go to clients."
So because he wanted a better lifestyle, to own his own business,
and, his wife Noeline to be involved in the business, Nuttall started
his own home-based business utilising a spare room (fourth bedroom)
as his home office. For 12 years Noeline was involved in the business,
doing many duties including visiting clients, which she enjoyed.
The business worked well,until they took on two employees. So they
became a husband-and-wife team again and business got back on track.
Nuttall Lease & Finance: phone (02) 9975 2883
2. Ken Leo, Abacus Bookkeeping
"I
am fortunate in that I have a large home office that allows me to
work without disrupting the rest of the family. Working from home
does require a special form of discipline. However, so long as I get
the priorities right the flexibility allows me to do things both for
and with the family that I couldn't do when I was in conventional
employment."
3. Narelle Crothers, PR, Melbourne
Public relations consultant, Narelle Crothers, Mount Albert, Victoria,
juggles the demands of a busy home-based business with two pre-school
children. But she doesn't mind because the children are the very reason
her business is home-based. One of the main aims of establishing the
business was the ability to work more flexible hours once Crothers
and her husband Peter, started a family.
She established her public relations consultancy five years ago. "Prior
to starting my own business I had a corporate position.
The job required considerable interstate travel which was quite inflexible
in relation to work places and times. By starting my own business
I have been able to dictate, to a much larger degree, my own work
schedule," Crothers said. In order to effectively combine the care
of two small sons, Jacob, 3, and Hugh, 7 months, with the demands
of the business Narelle relies heavily on a range of paid assistance
around the home.
"In
order to keep the show on the road I utilise the services of small
businesses like myself: a cleaner, gardener, nappy wash service and
baby sitting agency, all on a regular basis. These are a necessity
in order to give me time for both my clients and my children."
Narelle Crothers Corporate Communications: (03) 9898 4085.
4. Barbara Isaacs, Creative Promotions,
St Ives NSW.
"Unless
I started from home, I really couldn't have started the business until
my youngest daughter Cara was 11, the age she is now. Even so, with
a family, I can't work very far from home, which is why my second
home-base is only a couple of streets away."
Creative Promotions, St Ives: (02) 9449 2920
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