Starting a small business used to be complicated and quite expensive as you had many things to put in place. The most taunting expense used to be setting up a physical location for a new business. But in recent years, so many other options are now available, making these spending and processes unnecessary. One excellent choice worth exploring is starting and running a business without an office Get a Virtual Mailing Address.
The benefits of running a business from outside an office are endless. You avoid pricey overhead costs arising from renting a space. You may also have access to juicy deductions from the IRS.
Also, there is freedom from spending quality time on commutes to and from work, giving you enough space to commit to the business. However, you should know that this is not going to be effortless.
Here, we discuss vital tips to help you avoid pitfalls and expedite your success when running a business without an office.
4 Tips on Running a Business Without an Office in 2022
The strategies discussed here can make running a business outside an office hassle-free, gratifying and rewarding:
1. Adopt a Virtual Business Model
A virtual business model can make running a company outside the office more viable. The virtual business model here refers to avoiding doing business and serving customers physically.
For instance, meetings with clients and other partners can be done online via video conferencing services. This achieves a lot. First, whenever you schedule appointments with clients, you don’t have to explain that you run a business from home since you are meeting online.
Secondly, you limit other expenses that arise from commuting, booking a meeting venue, and maintaining an office space. Then, doing things virtually opens you up to a broader geographical reach.
In addition, the virtual model can be applied to almost all types of businesses. If you run a home restaurant, you can prioritize booking and home delivery to customers. The same goes for several professional services businesses.
2. Get a Workspace
The common alternative for an entrepreneur who doesn’t run a business from an office is doing business from home. However, this can lead to some pitfalls, especially since it is challenging to separate work from life. The results of this include reduced productivity and poor performance in both life and work.
Apportioning a section of your home specifically to work will go a long way to create this separation between everyday household living and your business. Then, this distinction can help you get tax deductions in rent and mortgage interests, thereby saving you costs.
Alternatively, you can sign up to a shared workspace, where you get access to a dedicated area for work and a community of like-minded persons, some of whom are entrepreneurs.
3. Outsource Work
Running a business from anywhere can be overwhelming, but it becomes more stressful if a sole proprietor operates your business from home. One way to induce burnout is to attempt to handle all business processes by yourself. It is more prudent to outsource those repetitive and non-creative tasks to free yourself to engage in more important work.
You can outsource such tasks as building and maintaining the company website, filling the site with content, handling customer service, invoicing and payments, and others to other professionals. It is cheaper to hire content creators and virtual assistants on freelance platforms such as Upwork and Toptal.
In a post-pandemic world, you don’t necessarily need to meet these people to work seamlessly with them.
4. Create a Work-life Balance
A trap into which many work-from-home entrepreneurs freely fall is not creating a distinction between work and living. Frequently, founders work several hours without making time for household affairs.
On the other hand, we find some entrepreneurs who treat their work as a hobby and only give it minimal attention. Both approaches are suboptimal, and it is essential to strike a balance between doing business and being human.
Tools You Need to Run a Business Without an Office in 2022
To efficiently conduct business without an office in 2022, you need access to some resources, most of which are outlined here:
● Virtual Address
This is by far the most important resource businesses need to operate outside an office. A key reason business owners have to rent an office space from which to conduct business affairs is its official address.
With the official address, they appear professional to clients and other partners, a feature that you don’t get when you work from home.
Also, giving out your home address for the business is not very safe.
However, there are post-mail services that fix all these issues. They offer entrepreneurs a virtual business address with which they can do business. The virtual office address also serves as a virtual mailing or post office box to which you can receive and send correspondence. You can always change mailing addresses and oversee everything that has to do with the address from a mobile application.
● Business Bank Account
Just as you separate your home and business space, you should also detach your personal from business finances. One of the key benefits of having your finances distinct from the business is managing your business better.
You have a clearer idea of your income, expenses, and other key financial indicators of the business. You can utilize the information to make informed business decisions. It also expedites the process of seeking outside capital.
Then, when the time for filing taxes arrives, the procedure goes smoothly.
One of the best ways to affect this distinction is to get a business banking account. To get this, you don’t have to walk into the banking hall to submit complex documentation. With a mobile app on your smartphone, you can get a bank account for your business up and running in a few minutes.
Popular online business banking providers include;
- Novo,
- Chime,
- Brex,
- Mercury,
- BlueVine and more.
Most of these online banks offer beneficial services such as invoicing, automated bill payments for regular expenses, automated balancing of your books, and others.
● Business Insurance
While running your business from home, you still have to put the necessary safeguards that a standard business requires, one of which is an insurance policy. Your home insurance often lacks coverage for business tools and activities conducted at home, which indicates that you need to expand the policy.
● Compliance with the Law
Your home business, no matter how small, is still an official business. This simply implys that you need to comply with the required rules governing such business. For instance, some states have laws regulating home restaurants.
Thus, ensure compliance by getting the mandatory licenses.
Final Thoughts
Because you run a business from home or outside an office does not make it less of a business. Therefore, you need to manage it with the same professional attitude as if you had an office space. The above tips and resources will help you achieve this and put your outside-the-office business on the right course.
