successful home working
Posts tagged home offices
Expanding the home office into self storage
31 month ago
by Judy
in Home business
Part 2 of the guest post by Big Yellow Self Storage begun with Maximising space for home business:
The major benefit of business self storage is the flexibility. Take, for example, a freelance accountant who works from home. With the run up to the end of the financial year, they find themselves, as you’d expect, inundated with documents from their clients – all needing to be carefully organised, kept safe, and on hand for easy reference.
Our accountant initially rents a storage room for a few months to house the overflow of paperwork (the facility is a quick car ride down the road… the UK now has as many self storage facilities as it does McDonald’s restaurants – around 1,200), but finds the storage space much easier to work in because, as a blank canvass, it can be organised in any way they want.
Suddenly our accountant takes on a new huge client. Good news for the business, and no problem in terms of space either. Our accountant can remove the partition to the next storage room (as it’s available) and create one bigger space – with enough room for a chair and desk, this time too. When all the chaos of the tax returns is complete, the Accountant can either shut down the room completely until next year, or maintain a smaller space.
Of course, you’re probably thinking – how could you leave clients’ important documents “offsite”? But like we said earlier – security is taken very seriously and the perception of storage space as being a large galvanised shed in the middle of nowhere is also no longer true. At Big Yellow, customers are given their own unique PIN, which gives access to the lifts; sensors show when rooms are accessed and even if a room is occupied. 24 hour CCTV, parameter fencing and individually alarmed rooms, means that security is definitely not something you need to worry about. And you probably can’t say the same about your hallway…
Big Yellow Self Storage has more than 70 purpose-built self-storage sites across the UK. Our industrial units to let range from 10 sq ft for a locker up to 500 sq ft, with everything in between.
Maximising space for home business
91 month ago
by Judy
in Home business
Today’s guest post by Big Yellow Self Storage explains how home workers can make use of storage facilities for more efficient working and to help expand their business:
Anyone who’s worked from home knows that space comes at a premium. If you’re turning over stock or merchandise (if you’re an eBay seller or a small online retailer for example), it can seem like a good idea to use up any household storage space first – an attic, a garage or a hall cupboard, say.
The problems come when you need to scale up, or if you need an environment that’s not potentially damp, hard to access, or vying for space with a vacuum cleaner. For those of us that aren’t burdened with stock, there are the acres of paperwork, perhaps tools and other equipment to look after, and the challenge of how to carve out an office space when there’s just so much stuff around.
Many businesses that start in the home are now making the transition to using storage space as a flexible solution. Take Martin Shaw, who owns a specialist book storage company: “I started working from home and using my garage, but when we got bigger I needed to use storage space.”
Martin was surprised at the flexibility self storage afforded him: “I don’t have to just come here to pick books or store things; I can actually spend the day at the storage facility. You can really run it as a proper business.”
Using a self storage room as a distribution hub is only one way you can harness storage as a home worker. In July 2011, the Self Storage Association, reported a 5 per cent annual shift away from domestic customers towards business customers. Business self storage is becoming a solution for a new generation of smaller entrepreneurs, attracted by flexibility, affordable rents and the convenience of a no-ties agreement.
One of the biggest benefits is there are no business rates to pay (this can be a hurdle for small businesses that don’t have as much cash up front), and electricity is included in the overall room rental cost. Security, too, is folded in – and housing your expensive equipment at a storage facility may also help lower your insurance premiums because the facilities are seen as so secure.
To be continued
Staying warm in the winter home office
91 month ago
Much to my joy, the winter so far here in the SW of England has been wonderfully mild, and today is so warm, windy and dry I’ve just put some washing out. I’ve worked in a number of home offices over the years and picked up some tricks for staying warm while working from home:
Draughtproofing – last year we were living in a house with Victorian single-glazed windows and it was freezing. I kept some curtains closed all day, but this is too depressing for a room you spend a lot of time in. The house we’re in now has secondary glazing and it makes a noticeable difference.
If you can’t install secondary or double glazing, fill gaps between sashes and cracks in woodwork with draughtproofing foam. A home working friend tells me that the temporary secondary glazing kits you install yourself using tape and plastic film smoothed out with a hairdryer are also very effective.
Fill gaps around doors (not forgetting keyholes!), pipework and electrical fittings. Block up gaps in floorboards where cold air will come whistling through.
Follow the sun – copy the cat, the ultimate comfort-loving animal, and make sure you’re always working in a patch of sunlight. In our current house, my home office faces north and gets no sun at all, whereas A’s is on the opposite side of the house and on clear days is bathed in sun all morning. I sometimes take my laptop in there when he’s out. Not only is it warmer but working in sunshine provides such a psychological lift.
Thanks to wifi I’ve also been working in the sitting room window to take advantage, not only of the sun, but also the woodburner, which we both love. I find that working away from my usual spot also helps productivity, which gives me a warm internal glow!
Localised heating – home workers are often reluctant to keep the heating on all day when the rest of the family is out, and these days the cost is often prohibitive anyway. Once your home office is draught-free, bring in a space heater to keep you warm all day without busting the budget. Oil-filled radiators are highly recommended by a home working friend and apparently cost only pennies a day to run.
I’m hoping this winter will stay mild, but many home workers are guaranteed months of snow and ice – how do you heat your home office as economically and greenly as possible to stay warm over the winter?
The garden office in winter
51 month ago
by Judy
in Home business
I’ve often wondered what it’s like to work out in a garden office in winter, and today Charlie Dalton gives us the lowdown:
When the weather turns nasty like today a “proper” garden office really shows its true value – believe me – this is the time of year to really relish escaping out into the garden to work. Firstly, you should forego thoughts of a cold, damp and draughty shed and thinking that you’ll be shivering whilst a Tilly lamp gently splutters in the corner.
Today, a modern, “designed for purpose” garden office offers a comfortable, warm and bright environment that simply shrugs away the wintery weather. Once inside your garden office you’ll be safe and snug ignoring the snow, wind and gales outside.
I recommend that you choose a dedicated manufacturer whose buildings are specified from scratch (for example you can see my range at www.smartgardenoffices.co.uk). There’s now a bewildering choice of suppliers but I suggest you do beware as a converted summerhouse, shed or log cabin just won’t cut the mustard….especially at this time of year.
Importantly, a purpose built garden office is fully insulated, double glazed, carpeted, cabled and should be professionally installed. Don’t worry, heating a (suitably specified) garden office will cost between £50-100 on your annual electricity bill.
You’ll gain all the advantages of space and separation to complete your work – free of distractions, interruptions and household chore guilt. And then at the end of the working day you get up from your desk, walk out, close the door and return home, leaving it all behind. Your journey may not be long – but the different “head space” is immeasurable.
However, it’s during the depth of the winter or height of the summer that a built for purpose garden office comes into its own. Your office will maintain a comfortable, ambient temperature with minimal electrical consumption. Here at Smart one of our mantras is “the only difference between a Smart office in the garden and an office in your home is … the view.”
Home offices – the reality
182 months ago
Last week Paul Graves sent me this photo of his home office desk in response to the tidy ones he sees on my home office pages, and wrote this about his attitude to home working:
‘I love seeing all the home office pictures on workfromhomewisdom.com. There are some lovely, inspiring places that people work. But I don’t get too depressed about them as I’m convinced they have been ‘photoshopped’. I can tell this, not because I’m a computer graphics expert, but if you look carefully none of the pictures have random bits of lego or old envelopes lying around!
‘I’ve been an IT homeworker for about 18 months. Within about 3 days of setting up a simple office in the spare room my desk had become covered in clutter. As I look at it now almost all of it doesn’t need to be here (particularly not the swimming goggle?!) But as long as I can get to the keyboard and see the screens the junk doesn’t bother me. I do a clear out when I reach project milestones and certain paperwork isn’t needed anymore. There are a few glorious days when the desk is clear. Then the surfaces are quickly filled, with generous help from the children.
‘I like having everything neat and tidy. But I love working from home more. I get flexibility in my hours, and I see my family far more that I did before, so I’ll cope with the mess. And I’ll tell myself all the wonderful pictures of other people’s home office must be just too good to be true!’
I think Paul brilliantly sums up the reality of working from home. I have no children to help me accumulate clutter, but even so it’s not long after a major clearout that there’s stuff all over the place again. I prefer to think of it as evidence that my life is a busy and productive one, full of connections to interesting people and happenings. I’m sure yours is too, but I hope you’ll also enjoy the beautiful spaces I pin to my Pinterest board. And please keep on sending those home office pictures, photoshopped or not!
