by Jeffrey A. Landers

A home office is great if you are working remotely for your company. But if you are an entrepreneur, working out of a home office can stifle your growth and actually cost you lots of money in lost opportunities.

Reason One: A home office is not conducive to hiring employees who will help you substantially increase your income

This is basic. To grow your business and your income, you need to hire employees who can handle your lower-value work so that you can concentrate on the bigger picture and the bigger deals. If your time is worth $500/hr, you shouldn’t be doing work that you can pay someone $20/hr to do.

A home office also prevents you from hiring employees who can fulfill income-generating functions that you can’t do, don’t want to do or don’t have the time to do. These might include marketing, finance or negotiating joint ventures and partnerships.

Now maybe you’re thinking that you’ll just have those employees work out of your house. But there are problems with that idea. First, it might be illegal under the zoning laws in your community. Second, how many people really want to work out of your spare bedroom or your dark and dank basement?

Reason Two: A home office creates an unprofessional atmosphere

It’s hard to convince potential clients that you’re the best in the business and should be handling their business while you’re sitting in an unpainted sheet-rocked room that used to be your garage. They’ll be looking at your company and thinking, “If they’re as good as they say they are, how come they can’t afford an office?”

By having a real office and conference room to meet clients in, you will inspire trust and confidence that will help you close more and larger deals with bigger and better clients. Most importantly, having a real office will stop you from losing deals and clients that you should have won if not for the fact that they were turned-off and unimpressed by having to meet you in your living room or at Starbucks!

So what are your alternatives?

Of course you can sign a long-term lease with personal guarantees and move into a traditional office space. But with all the up-front costs for construction, office furniture, telephone and high- speed Internet systems, etc., that can easily break the bank. Here are some alternatives to consider:

• An Executive Suite. For one all-inclusive monthly fee, you can get an office when you need it, plus a conference room for meetings, administrative services on an as-needed basis, a receptionist presiding over a comfortable waiting room and many of the other features that put you on a much stronger footing than a home office ever could.
• Virtual office space. This is an absolute must if you are not quite ready to move out of your home office. For a reasonable monthly fee, you get a prestigious mailing address (including mail forwarding to your home office), a dedicated phone number in an area code of your choice, plus part-time use of an office and/or conference room for client meetings.

Sure, some famous entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs of Apple got started in garages and basements. But you won’t find him there any more. Isn’t it time for you to move on too?

Jeff Landers is a serial entrepreneur who has worked in commercial real estate for the last 32 years. His company, Offices2share.com, helps small businesses nationwide make the leap from home office to “real” office with simple and cost-efficient alternatives. His advice has helped thousands of small businesses reach the next level of their development. You can reach him at Landers@offices2share.com.