Work Out Of An Office?

erandal

As much as I’d like to have an office, it’s not in the budget. When our operation was smaller, it was no problem, the business at hand was always on site. Now we have multiple jobs going on and it would go smoother if we had a central location. I work from home and it's a pain. I’m curious how others manage without office space, especially if you have up to 4 jobs going on at once.

genecarp

create a nice home office, make it work, after 25 years, you should have about 300,000 dollars extra in savings.

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rbsremodeling

I have office space and a showroom is around the corner. I also have a basement office set up nicer than some other contractors offices

I have been too. Find a nice, low noise area in the house and make it an office.

I usually think basements are good for this purpose if you have one

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RPortinga

Check into an office suite... or smaller offices. Place I worked last, we had some commercial properties... retail on the main level with offices in the lower level that averaged about 12x15, some bigger... they rented out starting at $350 a month.

Where I'm at now, we have a four room office in a moderate sized office building that's mostly empty, off the main drag... and we're paying bout $600 a month.

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Rob Portinga - Bauer Bros. Construction, Inc.
Design/Build - General Contractor - Construction Management

GregS

I hate working at home. My wife bugs me. My cat bugs me. My house needs work. I want an office/showroom to separate everything from my home life. I'd get more done on each front.

spitnails

LOL Building!

For what it's worth: the one big operation I am subbed with has me on this phone system called Gotvmail. It connects my cellphone to everyone else through extensions. That way customers or other subs only need know one number, which is just like having an office.

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kirbymurphy

Ran into a guy that had an office/showroom in a small, local mall in Bellview(?), FL. It was indoors like a big regional mall, but the rent was way less. 10 years ago he said it was about $700 per month for about 15x15 with 10' in the back. It didn't have the JC Penneys or Sears class stores but had decent foot traffic and got several drop-ins during the day and about 6 jobs per month from them. Today, many malls are running at far less than capacity, so one might be able to dicker.

He didn't rely on the walk-ins, but since he needed space, it was worth the extra rent. Down side was that someone always had to be there since the mall required you to be open during their hours. Plus, he couldn't park and store equipment there, but he had a couple of acres not too far away.

Probably way too much for you right now, but for those considering a showroom, it's a thought.

dougchips

That's a really good idea! Staffing 12 or so hours a day might be an issue but the added foot traffic/leads should make up for it. I use to work for someone who traded services for a large office building, he got free office space in return......One week one the 1st floor and the next on the 12th, they moved him from unused space to unused space as they saw fit. He didn't care as he was getting office space for free.

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BigLou

We're usually running 3 to 4 jobs, and it is tough doing it in the home office. Lots of distractions with the family around, plus I'd like to have a place to meet with clients as well as a small showroom. I'm looking at renting space from my kitchen cabinet maker - he wants to move his shop, and I would build myself 2nd floor office space above his showroom. That would give me a kitchen/bath showroom (at no cost), and my own office and small showroom for other products on the 2nd floor.