1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,410
So another big decision beyond do I hire someone is do I need an office 

2
00:00:05,410 --> 00:00:08,100
and this is probably more of an urgent question  

3
00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:10,940
 if you're setting up as free lancer for the first time.

4
00:00:10,940 --> 00:00:14,640
My advice, don't rush in to getting an office.

5
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,980
You need to spend a moment thinking what an office actually offers you

6
00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:21,410
before you rush into getting one.

7
00:00:22,410 --> 00:00:24,200
It can be a great place for bringing clients 

8
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,260
and that certainly is a huge benefit of having an office.

9
00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:31,370
It is also good to have a working environment somewhere separate from 

10
00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:34,180
your home life where you can concentrate on work.

11
00:00:34,770 --> 00:00:37,620
You're looking for somewhere that's free from distractions

12
00:00:37,620 --> 00:00:39,100
that you have in home life.

13
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,330
You don't want to be worrying about whether 

14
00:00:41,330 --> 00:00:43,940
you put the laundry on in the middle of the day.

15
00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:49,400
So there needs to be clear distinction between work and home.

16
00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:55,100
Lot of the reasons for having an office can also be done at home.

17
00:00:55,100 --> 00:01:00,980
So there is a real option here to work from home atleast initially in your business.

18
00:01:00,980 --> 00:01:05,480
For example, although an office is great for bringing clients to

19
00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,290
that's not your only option.

20
00:01:07,290 --> 00:01:10,790
A lot of clients actually prefer if you make the effort to go to them. 

21
00:01:10,790 --> 00:01:15,510
So having an office isn't necessary as beneficial as it first sounds.

22
00:01:15,510 --> 00:01:19,540
Secondly, you can save a lot of money from working at home.

23
00:01:19,540 --> 00:01:23,250
A lot of money that would've been spent on rent and other bills 

24
00:01:23,250 --> 00:01:26,660
and you can spend that money on creating a nice working environment 

25
00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:31,700
with a great office chair and a good desk and a nice monitor. 

26
00:01:31,700 --> 00:01:33,740
In lot of ways, those things are more important 

27
00:01:33,740 --> 00:01:35,920
than the physical room that you're sitting in.

28
00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:41,290
However, if you do have a home office, you need to make sure there is 

29
00:01:41,290 --> 00:01:46,690
good isolation between home and work, a good separation.

30
00:01:46,690 --> 00:01:51,850
And that could be something as obvious as a big solid door

31
00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:55,100
 between your office and the rest of the house.

32
00:01:55,100 --> 00:01:59,270
You want to keep things quiet. You want a nice quiet working environment.

33
00:01:59,270 --> 00:02:02,270
And if your home doesn't enable that for whatever reason, 

34
00:02:02,270 --> 00:02:06,000
then by all means go and rent yourself an office elsewhere.

35
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,720
If you are going to have an office at home, you need a good routine 

36
00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,870
that separates your work and home life.

37
00:02:13,870 --> 00:02:16,330
I've seen all kinds of different ways of doing this. 

38
00:02:16,330 --> 00:02:19,250
For example, I know people that at the end of their working day

39
00:02:19,250 --> 00:02:23,620
will walk out their office and they will lock the door so that they're not tempted

40
00:02:23,620 --> 00:02:27,030
 to go back in later in the night and start working again.

41
00:02:27,030 --> 00:02:31,870
I know of other people that make it clear to their family that they're going

42
00:02:31,870 --> 00:02:36,860
 to the office by actually putting on a pair of shoes, leaving the house, 

43
00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:41,850
going for a walk, coming back in, going to their office, and working all day.

44
00:02:41,850 --> 00:02:43,910
And in the end of the day, they repeat that process,

45
00:02:43,910 --> 00:02:46,870
 taking off their work shoes and putting on their slippers.

46
00:02:48,870 --> 00:02:53,690
However, offices are good in certain situations. 

47
00:02:53,690 --> 00:02:57,650
If you don't have a dedicated place to work from at home,  

48
00:02:57,650 --> 00:02:59,610
that's separate from the families.

49
00:02:59,610 --> 00:03:02,340
as I say get yourself an office.

50
00:03:02,340 --> 00:03:05,400
Also, if you're working in a team, you're going to need an office,  

51
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,960
a place where you can come together and work 

52
00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:13,800
but if you do get yourself an office, there are two things to consider.

53
00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,600
First of all, please, please avoid a long term commitment. 

54
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:22,240
A lot of people sign up to an office for an extended contract 

55
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,840
and then their circumstances changed.

56
00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,130
Maybe they hire more people, maybe they don't need an office anymore. 

57
00:03:29,130 --> 00:03:34,000
So don't sign a long term contract at least not in the early days of your business.

58
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,820
There are certainly enough places which allow a month's rolling release  

59
00:03:38,820 --> 00:03:43,320
on a contract that there is no need to sign a longer term arrangement.

60
00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,900
Also, consider the hidden costs. 

61
00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:50,040
With the office that you hire, there maybe all kinds of 

62
00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,510
additional cost that you need to consider.

63
00:03:52,510 --> 00:03:58,210
For example, there might be rent or rates that you weren't initially aware of. 

64
00:03:58,210 --> 00:04:03,090
You might have to pay utility bills for things like Internet access,  

65
00:04:03,340 --> 00:04:06,100
telecommunications and in some situations, you even  

66
00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:09,640
need to pay money to access a separate meeting room.

67
00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,260
So, what's the summary here?

68
00:04:13,260 --> 00:04:17,560
The summary is having a home office is a good place to start

69
00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,339
but as you grow as a business as you take more  members of staff,

70
00:04:21,339 --> 00:04:27,140
you may want to eventually consider getting yourself a permanent office.