Why Pay for Office Space?
As a provider of office space, I’m often asked “why would I want to pay for office space when I have a home office?” The first thing that comes to my mind is that I have a home office too and why don’t I just work at home. My home office is actually quite nice. It’s just off the front hall and has a great view of our front gardens and a little farther down a growth of pine trees along a ridge frequently visited by bald eagles in the area. My home also comes complete with a spouse, two kids and two dogs. This means my ADD addled mind can focus on work for no more than ten minutes at a time under the best of circumstances.
At my office at Meadow Creek Business Center, I have to go looking for distractions if I need a break. My office there is for work, home is where I am supposed to focus on family. Sure, I’ll use my home office on weekends, but even that is only because I didn’t intend to buy a business 30 some miles away when I bought that home. When I do come in on weekends, I see plenty of people that live five minutes away that have come to the office to work. Psychologists say that it’s important to have clear boundaries between work and your personal life in order to be effective.
This is kind of natural to me having grown up in the corporate world. You have an office and that’s where you work. People know where to find you, you’re available for collaboration and meetings and you’re not distracted by all of the day to day pains, problems and joys of your personal life.
There is a lot to say for the benefits of being in a collaborative environment, particularly if you are a solopreneur. Let’s say you’re working out of your home office and you walk to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. You might run into another person like a teenage daughter. You in all good conscience want to talk a little business with her on a subject you know she’s interested in and say “what do you think about using social media to promote my business?” The typical teen might say “I’m not going to make you my FaceBook friend dad” and walk out of the room.
Walk to the kitchen from your office at Meadow Creek Business Center and you will more than likely run into another solopreneur or small business owner that has similar interests, motivations and problems that you have and would welcome the opportunity to knock around some ideas. You might also participate in our mastermind sessions, socials and networking events. Working with other people is vital to your success. Not just suppliers and clients that you need to be guarded around, but people that you can discuss your business ideas with openly in a collegial atmosphere.
Successful entrepreneurs are gifted in surrounding themselves with people that are vital to the success of their business. That’s hard to do in your home office.
Having a real office is also a subliminal statement to yourself and to prospective clients, clients and suppliers. To you, your office is a statement that it’s time to go to work. You’re not only physically separated from home, but you have a business address, a business telephone number, a receptionist that is your face to world and knows how to make you productive. Your mail isn’t mixed up with your utility bills and magazine subscriptions, your phone calls aren’t always for your son and your face to world is not your dog barking.
Banks use to build giant stone structures that symbolized their permanence like king’s castles and pharaoh’s pyramids. The bank was here to stay and could be trusted and counted on to be around forever. Banks and other financial institutions like to build the tallest building in a city to illicit the same confidence.
Your office located in an actual office building and not your home says much of the same thing. You have turned the corner in your business, you have a real office and you too will be around forever and can be counted on. Doing business with you is not a risk. Doing business with you is not awkward. Business meetings don’t take place in your kitchen, but in a conference room that makes your client feel important instead of abused. You no longer have to wait for a free table at Starbucks to make a sales presentation. With an office, you’re for real and conducting business like the best of them.
Having an office is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Not everyone can afford a dedicated office their first month in business and that’s understandable. Each business will reach the point needing and being able to afford an office at a different point. The sooner, the better. The payback is in personal productivity, prospective client perceptions and the dynamic effect of working alongside like minded people.
Office space has not been this affordable in a long time. Come to Meadow Creek Business Center and let us put you on the pathway to success.
Richard Gabel
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