Assessing Your Needs
The key to determining your needs is to know your chosen business as well as you can before setting up shop. Are you a retail business? Will customers or clients be visiting often? Will more than one customer or client be coming at once? What kind of storage will you need? How frequently will you need access to that storage?
One of the most effective ways to approach this is to imagine yourself spending a typical working day in your home-based business. “Walk” through every task or process, jotting down the office space and all its contents that you'll need to get the tasks done. You'll then have a reasonably comprehensive basis on which to build.
If you're setting up your desk and computer in a corner of the family room, be sure to enlist the opinions and advice of other family members who will be using the space. If they're involved in setting it up, they'll be less likely to complain about your use of the space later.
The Office-Based Business
Many home-based businesses require an entire office — bookkeeping, accounting, freelance writing, editorial services, graphic design, and legal services are examples of businesses that all center on an office space. Ideally, you'll have an extra room in your house — with a door that closes — that you can transform into a space that's dedicated solely to your business. This is particularly important if your clients will be visiting your office: You need a place where they'll feel comfortable discussing their needs with you.
If you don't have a separate room, you'll need to get a little more creative. Look for an area in the house that's as private as possible and could be converted to office space. Basements often hide useable space, if they have a proper concrete floor and wall. You'll need to be mindful of dampness and flooding problems, of course, but you may be able to turn it into an office with some damp-proofing paint on the walls, a little basic carpentry to create a partition, and a couple of hundred dollars in professional electrical work.
If you're looking at any kind of renovations, research and comply with all local fire and building codes, and obtain any needed building permits before you start. Basements, attics, and garages may all present fire exit issues, so be sure to put your safety first.
Similarly, walk-up attics can offer potential office space, but they often face a problem with heat, which can be very hard on computer equipment (and you). Perhaps this can be cured with a whole-house fan or a window air conditioner. Or perhaps there's one end of your garage that, with some simple renovations, could become an office?
Assess your office space honestly — from the perspective of your clients. If it's not appropriate, you might have to plan on meeting clients at their offices instead, at least until you can work out a different solution to office space. You can always set aside funds as you go forward to create a more workable office space, especially if your business will grow with any speed. The most successful business owners decide how much they can make do with for the time being, and plan for changes at certain stages of financial success.
The Non-Office-Based Business
Of course, if your business deals with a retail, manufacturing, or repair operation, you have less flexibility in dealing with space issues. You need a considerable amount of space, and you very likely need to accommodate your customers, too.
Sometimes, an outbuilding is the only real solution to a space issue — businesses such as auto repair would fall into this category, for example. The administration needs of this kind of business can be met with a desk and computer that are set up in a reception area within the main space.
You may need to look at major changes to the house itself. Can you reasonably turn a rarely used formal living room into a retail shop, for example? It might work if you can effectively close it off from the rest of the house, to preserve your family's privacy. If you have a walk-in basement or a fully enclosed porch or sunroom area that might work, too, as could a garage, especially if you turned the large door into a wall with an entry door and a window.
Client Concerns
If your place of business needs to accommodate client visits, there are other considerations. First, check that local zoning regulations allow customers to visit your home-based business (some don't). Is there adequate parking on the street or in the driveway or will your customers be blocking other family members' vehicles?
For a retail or repair business, it's ideal to have a separate entrance to your home that leads directly into your business space. Make sure that it's clearly marked, inviting, and well lit: Show your customers that you're expecting them and that you care about initial impressions. Flowering shrubs or container gardens can be an inexpensive way to make that impression.
Have a friend conduct a “trial run” before you welcome your first customer to assess anything that's inappropriate or unsafe — from dog toys on the lawn to a loose railing on the steps up to the front door. Is your house number clear, are there adequate places to park, and is there somewhere for customers to hang their coats?
You also want to avoid having your customers walk through or even see the private areas of your home. It's absolutely essential to keep your pets confined, as well. Not only can they be a huge liability issue, but some people are allergic to pets such as dogs and cats. A sneezing client will be an unhappy client.
