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Making the mover from home office to renting a space.

4K views 27 replies 16 participants last post by  rbsremodeling 
#1 ·
I feel like renting a store front would greatly seperate business from home. Especially with 2 kids running around the house and a crying baby.
How many of you guys have store space or a seperate office outside the home. What are the pros and cons? I could imagine the overhead is a con. The image and job adress certainly adds credability. I usally like having my address on as little as possible since its my home. I would think you could make some money off the signage on windows depending on the location.
 
#2 ·
My boss has an office/ warehouse in a new building near an expressway, one that he bought cheap before they expanded the expressway, it is worth twice what he paid for it now. I have an office there, I occasionally visit it to use the copy machine. We have no signage, but we gain the storage that would exceed both my bosses and my garages capacity, though we both have spillover in our garages anyway. My boss has a secretary to answer the phones, handle payroll, and track material deliveries, so the office makes sense for us.
 
#3 ·
I have a office about 5 minutes from my house.

PROS:
Business image- A real business has a business location, not a basement room or corner of the garage.

Meeting place- a place to meet vendors, interview subs....... I do not want these people at my home.

Quiet workplace- a place to work and conduct business without the "home' background noise. I have a 18 month old that loves to scream, she is not at my office.

Cons:

Monthly Rent

A separate internet connection

Not having a fax line at home anymore ( I still need to get internet fax)
 
#4 ·
If you only need a "office" then try and see if there are any virtual offices around basically its a large office space that rents out a office provides a deck phone and reception are as well boardrooms. We have them here in Bc and can be rented out for $250 a month. of course most are downtown in the core but thre are some outside the core in the burbs that are available It can give you a cheap place to hang your hat while doing paperwork.
 
#5 ·
I doubt I will ever be in need of outside office. BUT, one thing a contractor should consider - zoning.

Do you have lots of traffic into your home - either deliveries or workers? Do you have clientelle visiting you? Truck traffic? Keep heavy equipment at your home ? Store any hazardous materials? Are your business activities noticiable and in the least bit annoying to the neighborhood? If any of these issues are applicable, they would be good reasons to move to a business or industrial zoned area.

My brother is a single person finish carpenter/cabinet maker/furniture repairer. When he operated out of his home he would work in the evenings or even late at night. He finally realized for safety sake he needed to get the shop out of the house.

At some point a business becomes big enough to warrant and even necessitate a move to a dedicated location.

If you are at that point, do it and good luck.

It's also a good way to separate work from family, which is a must for most of us.
 
#7 ·
I signed a 1 year lease on a warehouse space last March. I thought it would be great to have a place to store my tools as well as a place to work on my project car. The original plan was that my dad was also going to get a project car and we would share the space and work on cars together. Sounded great. I leased the space ($1130/month) and my Dad suddenly lost interest in cars. So now I'm footing the bill alone for a space I COULD live without. It is nice to have a place to keep my tools and some supplies, but I will be moving out as soon as the lease is up. Of course a couple of months after I lease it, work comes to a screeching halt. So now It is pretty much eating all of the overhead money that I bid into jobs. I have raised my prices a bit, but I can' realistically recoupe all of the burden on the little jobs I am doing.

Long story short...(I know..too late) I would urge anyone to stay in the home office unless you know for certain that you can swing the bill or the shop will increase your business enough to pay for itself...even in slow times. I can't wait to get rid of that monthly expense.
 
#8 ·
Long story short...(I know..too late) I would urge anyone to stay in the home office unless you know for certain that you can swing the bill or the shop will increase your business enough to pay for itself...even in slow times. I can't wait to get rid of that monthly expense.
Words of wisdom.

Another thing to consider: if you spend all you time doing office/sales work, and if you have other guys working for you, then chances are your operation is large enough to support the added expense of an office/warehouse space.

If you're a one-man show (unless you build cabinets, awnings, etc), an office may be just an unnecessary added expense.
 
#10 ·
Have any of you guys heard or or maybe you have them in your area, these "condo" warehouses? Instead of renting you purchase and own the space? I'm dying to get one, but not positive about taking on such an expense yet. One of the bigger issues with them is I don't think conventional finacing is available for esentially a 'garage'. Seems like they will finace them but it's ony for 10 years so the payments are pretty high.

But they are heated, lighted, set up for phones, high speed internet, 14 " doors and such and as big as 1500 sq feet. The units sell out usually during the construction of each one of these places across the country. Seems like they would be a great investment instead of throwing away rent money each month.

 
#11 ·
I have owned my own office and storage yard for about 20 years now.

It is nice to be able to go home and leave work at the office.

Consider the possible ROI down the road too. My place cost $ 82,000.00 back in 1988 and is appraised at just under $ 300,000.00 currently.

When and if I ever retire, this and my apartment building will be an added income for the later years.

Taxes cost just under $ 5,000.00 per year and don't forget the utilities and the additional internet hook up and the city building inspections. Such as Fire Department conformance and back flow prevention inspections and always having guys in their spare time cleaning up the storage yard to not get cited by the building department.

Buy a farm and a large barn and remodel it, if you can afford it.

I love being able to get things done when there are no distractions around.

Ed
 
#16 ·
You need to think it over very carefully, sometimes a converted garage or new basement entry will facilitate....with no entry from the house. If you just open the door and walk into the bedroom from the office it is a little bit of a put off. Keep it proffesional looking. You can spend twenty grand and have an asset or spend twenty grand and have a deduction....
 
#19 ·
I posted a little while back something about "questions to ask when renting office space" do a search on this forum.

Overhead is minimal. I pay $680 a month for a store front with electric/heat/water included. For me that's one roof sold per month going to rent.

I am interestedi n buyign one of those condo warehouses that Mike spoke of above. There are a few in my area. However financially I can't yet afford it and I am on a 2 year lease (for controlled growth). I should be stable enough in 2 years to buy one. Hopefully anyways.
 
#23 ·
Build yourself a three car garage for a shop, thats what I have to store tools and such. I have scaled back on the materials I bring home with me. I am also eliminating extra tools, selling them on ebay. I had doubles of somthings. You could always rent from an office building for your office. I have thought about that but what I want is a show room or storefront.
 
#28 ·
I have always had an office as long as I have been in business. My next office I want to have a showroom. I had a building lined up and the deal fell through. I am looking again. I think a showroom is the way to go. I read an article that said like 70% of the remodelers that do 1mil plus a year had showrooms. I just think it would make selection process easier. Discounts from my suppliers for featuring/selling certain products and hopefully some decent walk in traffic. One of the biggest complaints from clients is the running around they have to do for the selection process. A showroom with storage place would be a plus.
 
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