Home Office vs. Executive Office Rental

Posted in Affordable Office Space, Executive Suite, Home Offices, Office Space Rental on December 4, 2014

There is a lot to be said about being an entrepreneur or telecommuter who works from a home office:

•   Extremely short commute (just walk down the hall).
•   Can dress in jeans and t-shirt. (If video Skype-ing with boss or client, just put on blazer).
•   No need to deal with office politics.
•   No need to buy colleague’s daughter’s high school fundraiser of Christmas wrapping paper.
•   No temptation to eat from the box of open donuts colleague brings in ever Friday.

But is working from a home office really the best thing to do for your business?

Read below for some reasons you may want to consider working in an executive office rental instead of in an office at home:

•   If you need to meet prospects or clients in person, inviting them into your home just doesn’t look as professional. No matter how professional your home office is – even if it has a separate entrance – it still doesn’t give you’re the professional panache that an executive office does.
•   You may decide that any in-person meetings you must have with a prospect or client will take place at his or her office. But if you’re always meeting at the client’s office, he or she has the home-team advantage. That is, you’re the “guest.” You’re coming into her domain. She has the power; as the guest, you’re….the guest.
•   So you decide that you’ll meet in a neutral place, such as a restaurant. This is better than a home office or the client’s/prospect’s office, but it still brings up its own problems.
o   There is no privacy.
o   You can’t show your prospect the great PowerPoint presentation you put together, or any real presentation for that matter.
o   Your prospect/client will be eating while you talk. The prospect/client will focus on his or her food. You’ll go hungry as you focus your efforts on wowing the prospect/client.
o   It’s very hard to ask for the sale when you’re surrounded by the sounds of the kitchen, busboys, waiters taking orders, other patrons talking, and so on.
•   Chances are your home’s business address looks like a home address: XYZ Corporation, 217 Hill Top Lane. An executive office provides you with a bona fide, professional mailing address.
•   It’s much harder to be distracted by the refrigerator, doing the laundry, walking the dog, watching afternoon television, surfing the Internet, etc. when you get dressed in professional (or semi-professional) clothes, drive to an executive office and start to work.

If your business is such that you never need to meet with clients, a home office may be perfect for you.

But if you ever need to meet with prospects or clients, or if you travel for your employer and you need a workspace to call your own that’s not a hotel room, consider renting an office at 90 State Street in Albany.