[sonya]

Hi guy's, I would like to ask everyone what there opinion is on working from a home based office or working from a shop front office or serviced office. What happens when you have to interview for staff? Thanks guy's and gals
 Sonya..  

[blacksheep]

hi sonya, i was just asking my hairdresser her opoin on this the other day, her thoughts were, if you work from home i will look like a one man band ,if i have a shop front in one of the villages, even if its on the high st it will look like a small set up and may put off contracts from a bigger firm ,so she said get office space with an address like cardiff,its all about image but i will have to settle for my front room for now.not sure about this one myself

[Jan K]

Hi!

I work from home, but as I am purely domestic cleaning, office space isn't required or needed! Every single one of my customers likes the idea of my set up being small and fairly exclusive.

Depends on the market you are aiming at!

Jan

[George-Reid]

Guys
When conducting interviews you can book a room at the job centre at no charge.
You can also arrange open days where you spend all day in the job centre waiting for people to turn up.

Regarding interviews for commercial work we often interviewed on site i.e. for a restaurant arrange for the cleanere to arrive at the site interview them while explaining the actual job.

Cheers
George

[mxg]

We recently went through a similar exercise ourselves.

Everybody's circumstances are different so ultimately it will be up to you to make the final decision for you and your business.

After 10 years of working 200 miles from home, Monday to Friday, the thoughts of working from home initially seemed like a dream come true. However given the location of where my desk/office was located and three very lively kids, there were often some very frustrating times - just take a call from a hot prospect and they decide to knock lumps out of each other - even worse during school holidays.
My productivity dipped in direct proportion to the increase in my stress levels.

So decided to look at getting an "off site" office that could also a) be used to store equipment & supplies b) be a base for all vehicles. Also given that we were going to be paying for it we wanted it to be in a location that could with good signage also act as a marketing/ brand awareness aid.

So we decided on the following criteria to score prospective premises

Location - not down an alley where nobody would ever see us
Facilities - adequate desk space, storage etc
Parking - Enough room for 3-6 vehicles
Cost - self explanantory

So we looked at a few properties and none of them got a tick in all the boxes. But after looking at the "most likely" to date we decided to change our minds again. We decided that the costs far exceeded the benefits because on top of the rent you have business rates, insurances, a whole new set of utility bills.

Collectively these are known as overheads and are best avoided - it would take a lot of cleaning every month (after paying staff) to cover the overheads. All it would take is a couple of cancelled contracts etc to push you over the edge.

Somebody once told me a very apposite saying about overheads but I can't for the life of me remember it now.

The good news is that we have reorganised things at home (yesterday) and I will soon have something approaching a similar office (and the kids can still be kids!). The down side is that I will probably spend the bank holiday weekend sorting out my new office.

Mick

[Jan K]

My 'office' is in the conservatory at home, and if I need some quiet time to speak to a Client I usually disappear into the garage!

[sonya]

Thankyou everyone for your imput! Im glad Im on the same wave lenght as everyone. My opinion is why shell out rent, biz rates and utillities for a fairly small set up (speaking for myself). The staff issue was really troubling me but George has cracked it! I would have never of belived that the job centre can arrange open days and help with interviews, I am shocked but then just goes to show no matter how much I research and think i know about this industry there is still a long way to go.... Mick I no exactly where your comming from when it comes to screaming kids. I am thinking about putting up a concervatory like J.K to get away from mine..lol! Thankyou also Blk sheep.
Sonya

[dustycorner]

Hi,

Interesting that everyone looked at the fiscal apsects of having a office. So glad that we no longer have staff turning up on the doorstep for whatever reason ( once had a cleaner turn up on doorstep at 10.20pm to discuss a supposed mistake in her pay all of £5 and no she wasn't right ). Also you have to look at the impact on your family if you run the business from home, i have 2 children 8 and 4 years old and it very important that i give them my time and attention without the distraction of the business.

We recently moved into a office suitable for 4 people all for the grand sum of £99 per month including water. electric and rates. Shop around most areas have a development agency which will rent inexpensive office space.

Cheers Mark.