Home Offices: A Quick Guide for Small Business Owners

As a home-based business owner, it’s important to have a private workspace that can be used solely for your small business — whether it’s a spare bedroom, office addition, or a converted garage. But even if you don’t have space in your current home to accommodate your home-based business, other options are available to you. With help from the team at Bruce Lenzen Design/Build, you could build your dream home from the ground up or work with an experienced real estate agent to find an existing property that meets your wants and needs.

For some tips on designing the perfect office space for your home-based business, read on!
 

Redesigning a Room
If you have a spare bedroom, nook, alcove, wall, or corner that could be converted into an office space for your home-based business, this will be the quickest, cheapest, and easiest option. To create the perfect space for you and your business, however, you’ll need to start by:

● Choosing the right location, such as a private bedroom, attic, or basement.
● Investing in the right types of equipment, like a second telephone line for your business, seating for guests, and an ergonomic desk and office chair.
● Setting some ground rules for you and your household members to follow.
● Learning to minimize distractions while running a business from home.

If you’ll need some help designing your new home office, it may be worthwhile to hire an interior designer. The team at Decorilla offers some tips for finding the right interior designer for your project.

Renovating or Building an Addition
As another option, you could renovate an existing part of your home — like a basement, attic, or garage — or build an office addition. And while a lot of time, money, and patience goes into renovating or adding to a home, this may be your best option if you need more square footage, a second home entrance for guests, or wish to separate your workspace from the rest of the home.

Buying or Designing a New Home
As alternatives to renovating your home, building an office addition, or redesigning a room, you could build or purchase your dream house. To get the ball rolling, you’ll need to complete several essential steps:

1. Choose a location. Because some cities and counties restrict certain types of businesses from operating out of homes, it’s important to carefully choose a location for your new house.
2. Begin the home buying process. Whether you’ll be purchasing a house or building one, you’ll need to kickstart the process by setting a budget, getting a mortgage pre-approval letter from a lender, hiring an experienced real estate agent, and searching for available homes, land, or lots.
3. Hire a real estate agent. As mentioned above, an experienced real estate agent will be invaluable whether you’re buying or building a home. Rebecca Baldridge shares some tips for choosing the right real estate broker to assist you in buying your dream home or land.
4. Contact a designer/builder. If you’ll be designing and building a custom home, the team at Bruce Lenzen Design/Build will assess and evaluate locations for your new house and compile a list of your wants and needs.

Funding Options for Small Business Owners
As a small business owner in the age of COVID-19, you may not have the means to spend as much as you’d like on your new office space. However, several types of funding are available to small business owners during the pandemic, including private grants from the National Association of the Self-Employed (NASE), and government loans under the Small Business Administration (SBA). Through the SBA, you could apply for the Traditional Loan, Express Bridge Loan, or Main Street Business Lending Program.

The Bottom Line
Whether you’ll be building, renovating, buying, or designing an office space for your home-based business, a real estate agent will be an invaluable asset, especially if you’re on the fence about selling or remodeling your house. A real estate agent can help you to determine whether selling or renovating your home is the best option for you, saving you loads of time and money in the long run.

Are you ready to design the perfect home for you, your family, and your home-based business? Contact the award-winning team at Bruce Lenzen Design/Build, LLC to learn more about building the luxury home of your dreams! 715-808-8220