Home Office, Coffice or Co-working?

Working from home is usually the easiest and cheapest option for beginning business owners because they usually can’t afford to rent their own office space. But what to do when you get lonely or sick and tired of being stuck inside of your home? In those cases, you can visit a cafe or specialized office spaces designed for business owners, so-called co-working. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of these options?

Home Office

Working from home isn’t anything unusual these days, even when it comes to in-house employees of certain businesses. Top managers know that in order to do certain tasks correctly, employees need more comfort and quiet. Working from home is ideal for that. If you’re a business owner who is just starting out, a home office is usually a great alternative.

Advantages:

• You can customize your workspace in any way you want. You can also choose to work from any room in your home.
• You’re very flexible and you can work at any time you prefer, early in the morning or late at night.
• You can wear comfortable clothes.
• You’ll save time and money by not traveling to work, eating out, paying for parking, and other things that you’d normally have to pay for.

Disadvantages:

• At home, you’re easily distracted and more prone to procrastination. Working from home requires a great deal of discipline because you’ll need to ignore distractions such as children (if you’re a working mom), pets, unexpected visitors, etc.
• People who work from home often stop caring about their appearance because they don’t have to ‘dress up to meet other people’. Before you turn on the computer, always try to dress nicely or, if you’re a woman, put on a bit of makeup.
• Complete quiet might seem like an advantage, but that’s not true. A slight noise, such as the radio or quiet music, has been shown to increase productivity. There are many applications that can help you set an ideal background noise, such as Noisli 2.0, fm, Noizio or Coffitivity.
• Many people work more at home. They constantly feel the need to check their computer and so the lines between work and free time become blurred.
• Isolation from other people and the loss of contact may have a negative effect. The person begins to feel alone and disconnected from others.
• The business owner doesn’t have the necessary professional and representative background which is important when communicating with business partners. They have to resort to meetings in restaurants or other similar places.

Coffice

It’s a sort of middle ground between working from home and a professional co-working environment. This ‘coffee shop business’ in bistros or cafes is usually viewed as a temporary solution.

Advantages:

• It’s one of the options to escape the lonely environment of your home office and meet other people.
• You can use it for meetings with clients.
• Many cafes in large towns began thinking of digital nomads and adjust their offer of services.

Disadvantages:

• Not all cafes are designed to fit the needs of working digital nomads – they can have unsuitable seating, irritating music or too many noisy guests.
• You can come across slow or non-working Wi-Fi and you definitely shouldn’t underestimate the dangers of an unprotected network.
• In a cafe, it may be impossible to find an electrical socket.
• There are some unwritten rules on how to behave in a cafe that you should always follow. Don’t visit cafes to work during the busiest hours of the day, order something at least every hour or two, leave a tip, not take up too much space with your things or handling your phone calls discretely so you don’t disturb other people.

Coworking

Co-working means sharing a common workspace with other individuals that usually rent their own spot in an open-space office. The form of payment varies in the form of a daily, weekly or monthly fee, while some co-working centers prefer a membership fee.

Advantages:

• The atmosphere of a work environment brings motivation and better time management.
• You won’t have to pay and care for your own office.
• You can use a co-working spot when you need it.
• There’s a bigger chance you’ll meet interesting people or important contacts that can help you.
• Some centers have a community manager that will help you find the right people.
• You can usually pay for your own mailbox or a storage unit where you can store your things. There’s usually also a kitchen or a lounge area where you can relax or work in comfort.
• Many co-working offices also offer places for meetings, workshops or other fun events for graphic designers, copywriters, and others.

Disadvantages:

• You have to account for other (hidden) fees, such as the price of food, drinks, commuting or parking. If you have the option, try to pick a co-working center near your home or near the town center.
• You’ll usually accompany your new colleagues to lunch or for a drink, which means some more ‘networking’ costs.
• If you’re not exactly an extrovert, try co-working for a short time and then decide if you like it or not.
• If you have children, you will have to find someone who will look after them.
• Though you’ll have an internet connection and a place to sit in a co-working center, you should always use your own equipment. If you’re using your own items or leaving your items in the office, always have them insured.

Whichever of these three you choose, you should always keep in mind the effectiveness of your work. Calculate the pluses and minuses of each option. We’re all different and so we’ll all prefer something else. It’s up to you to find your own recipe for success.