In many ways, it is one of those dream scenarios, that opportunity to work from home where we can do our own thing, in our own time. But, the effort that is necessary to create a big business, can this be done effectively from the home environment? We’ve all heard about entrepreneurs starting out from their garage or their bedroom, but is this the ideal setting to make a big business splash?
The Customer Service
While your home is a convenient setup, if you need to deal with customers on a regular basis, your home has to be representing the business appropriately. This means operating with a sense of slickness, not relaxation. As your company increases in stature, you will need to improve your professionalism. At the very beginning, you may be forgiven for being a bit slow, but as you get more customers, every little component needs to work efficiently. There are companies like Total Merchant Services which provide various points of sale equipment that you can set up in your home, so you are able to provide that quick and efficient turnaround that pleases the customer, but also that up close and personal approach that means you are developing your relationship with them. Customer service is always important, irrespective of the environment.
Can You Be Motivated At Home?
It’s a viable question, because if you don’t have an appropriate setup that’s conducive to a proper working day, are you going to be motivated at all? Many people set up businesses from home because it’s easier and it’s cheaper, but for those people, they may begin it as a side hustle, or they may even do it for fun. But if your goal is to set up a business that conquers the world, but right now you’ve got to start from your home, are you going to be motivated enough to keep it going? Those difficult first 6 to 12 months will be a very testing time period, and if you work at home, but you also have work colleagues that are constantly asking what you’re doing, crawling around your feet, not to mention throwing up, are you going to be focused on the task at hand? Working at home means working with your kids a lot of the time! And if you have to devote your attention to them as well as the business, something may have to give. In which case, structuring your day could provide some respite, but it also may save your sanity.
Starting a big business from home is, for many of us, the only option. Financially speaking it’s easier for us to start with a laptop and a dream, but when the reality of the situation dawns on us, we can find ourselves trapped by our surroundings. This is why it’s important to ensure that you’ve got the acumen, but also, if you are planning on having customers approach the property, you need to provide that air of professionalism. This is something we can forget when we’re working from home because we’re so used to it being a relaxing environment.