If you have a business you may be tempted to rent out an office because it will make you seem or feel professional. You probably don’t need it. The digital age has made it possible to run a huge and successful business from the comfort of your own home. Or from anywhere you like. Running a business remotely in today’s world is becoming the norm.

Here are just five reasons why you don’t need to shell out your hard earned money on office space because you can run your business remotely.

You Can Hire Employees Virtually

If your business relies on having employees, consider what it is that these employees will be doing. If most of your work is computer or phone based, it’s likely that you can hire employees virtually – which means giving them the freedom to work from home. Studies have shown that employees feel generally happier working from home rather than having to commute to an office. There may be a lot of distractions at home, but often an office can be just as distracting if not more so. You can communicate with employees online or via phone and information can be shared on the cloud.

G Suite could well be the answer to any challenges you have if you have a few people working on one project. It is Google’s own work based platform. It has a huge amount of different cloud based applications that you can use to connect, create, manage and access everything in one place. It is definitely worth taking a look to see how it could help you to run your business remotely.

You may not need employees on a full time basis but you may need help from time to time. Finding people to help you out with things you can’t do or don’t have the time for is really easy. I use Fiverr when I need to outsource work. You will be surprised how many people have a side hustle or even a full time self employed business doing things for other people. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune either.

You Can Conduct Meetings With Clients virtually Or In A Coffee Bar

If you think that you need an office just so that you have a space to meet clients , please think again. Most companies are now conducting meetings via videoconferencing. This allows you to still have face-to-face interaction but neither of you has to travel. Most people will be happy communicating this way, however if they’d prefer to get out of the office and talk in person, you have always got the option to meet up at a convenient coffee bar. These have become popular meeting spots. They are friendly, comfortable and social environments that are perfect for business talk.

In a previous life as a training consultant, I often met prospective clients over lunch at a convenient hotel restaurant. Okay it cost me the price of lunch but I rarely didn’t get them as a new client!

I am also a big fan of using Skype.

You Can Outsource Storage

As for storing files and documents, you really don’t need an office to do this. If there isn’t enough space in your home, you can always find a company that offers local document storage. Such companies can store physical documents in a secure warehouse for you, whilst some even own cloud servers for storing your digital documents too.

No clutter around the house… heaven. We are obliged by law to keep documents and receipts for at least six years even though we personally won’t need them again. This can all add up to a huge amount of paperwork.

You Can Outsource Your Company Address

If you work from home but don’t want to give out your personal address to clients, you may have considered renting out an office simply so that you have somewhere to direct business mail. However, did you know that you can also outsource your mailing address? There are companies that can give you a virtual address to direct your mail to. This mail can then be redirected to you without clients having to know your home address. This could allow you to work from home without having to give out your personal details to clients.

For me this is an ideal solution as we should all be security conscious.

You Will Save Time And Money For You And Your Employees

By far the biggest reason for not getting an office is the time and money you will save, not just for you but for everyone involved in your business. You firstly won’t have the overheads of renting an office such as rent and bills and extra equipment. Secondly, you and your employees won’t have to spend time and money commuting every morning. All in all, it could be much more practical for your and your staff.

Final Thoughts

The world has changed. We no longer really need to commute to work every day. The resources that are available online for us to use seem to be limitless. We no longer have to work only with people in our community. We can work alongside anyone, anywhere in the world.

Of course working from home can throw up some challenges. Being disciplined to build and work on building your business   remotely, does not always come so easily. But it can be done, it is just a case of changing your mindset.

I hope you have found this post useful.If you have please give it a share on your favourite social media platform.

As ever if you have any questions or just want to share your thoughts, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

With Grace and Gratitude

Karen