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.