April 29th, 2010 
Maria Helm 
Many small businesses start in the owner’s home as a way to save money. There’s a lot of advantages for businesses to go virtual and work from home. Going virtual keeps your overhead costs low. But not all businesses are meant to operate from homes.
A friend of mine owns a gift basket business and wades through gift basket inventory in her home. Her living room floor is covered with inventory, from dog treats to sports jerseys to bags of cellophane wrapping and ribbons. Her closets are filled with the actual baskets in every shape, color and size. It’s a sign you need to move when you just move each pile from one side of the room to the other.
As the business grows in sales and/or numbers of employees, it becomes time to ditch the PJs or sweats and move away from the spare bedroom or dining room table and into bona fide office. When to know it’s time?
Working at home is fine if you have the right business and the right environment. If your business requires you to hold inventory or lots of supplies, then working from home really won’t work. If you’re starting out, you can get away with using your garage or an extra bedroom, but as soon as business picks up, it’s very time-consuming and inefficient to fulfill orders if you don’t have the space to have your products and goods organized. Also, make sure that your home is the right environment to run a business: no intrusive children who pick up the phone when they’re not supposed to or a dog that barks.
No matter how many distractions you face at home, make sure you have the profits and cash flow you need to support an outside office. Set aside money to pay for the items – chairs, coffee maker, copier, computers, desks, cabinets – you’ll have to duplicate when you move your business.
Finally, when your new off-site facility opens, establish office hours on both your voice mail and your Web site. That way clients accustomed to catching you at 9 PM and on weekends will get the message: PJ time is leisure time.
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