It’s a common approach for anyone starting a business, to use their home as the base of operations. But while some use it as a stop-gap, until they’ve made a name for themselves, or they’ve got larger premises, more and more entrepreneurs are using their home as a permanent base of operations. But with the overwhelming statistic that roughly 8 or 9 startups out of 10 fail within the first year, is this partly to do with the base of operations being an entrepreneur’s home? It could be, but if you don’t have the finances to set up an office space, you need to make your home a base of operations that creates a profitable business. How can you do this?

Pick A Room

So many people don’t have the physical space, but if you view the self-employed life as setting up camp in a cozy corner of the couch, and staying there all day, it’s unlikely you are going to be as productive.

Think about it from a practical perspective, typing with your laptop on your lap will cause you back problems, and it’s not particularly comfy! It’s far better for you to choose a room that gives you the space to do what you have to do. This means setting up the equipment you need to ensure you do a good job.

From desks to ergonomic chairs, whatever you need to ensure you work to the best of your ability, buy it. Some people are lucky to have a spare room, but others are even luckier to have the space to build an outbuilding.

If this is you, then it’s thoroughly recommended you do this. But there are things to consider in light of this, the cost being one. The building materials depending on what you go for, can be an excess of cost, the polished concrete floor cost can throw up financial issues depending on who you go for, so if you are in the budget to set up a working space, such as an outbuilding or a shed, you need to ensure that it is beneficial to productivity.

Don’t think that because you’ve built a shed, that it will keep you warm in the bleak midwinter. All of these practicalities need to be borne in mind.

Separate Your Working Space From Your Living Space

If you can set up an outbuilding, great! But if you have a spare room in the house, keeping it as far away from the hubbub of home life is vital. The one thing that people always say, when they work from home, is that they need to treat it like it’s a job. It’s easier when you go to a physical office for the purposes of work, but when the home and work lines are blurred, especially when you have children, it can be a considerable challenge.

Starting up a business means you will be working more than the average person, but this doesn’t mean that you stay barricaded in your office or studio forever. If you are at the point where you are setting up the business, and putting the stops in place, and as such, there’s only so much you can do, rigid hours of 9am to 5pm gives you that balance.

Of course, this isn’t always the case, especially when you are at home, and your children don’t grasp the concept of work.

Take A Flexible Approach To Working

If you are doing the school run, keeping on top of housework, and are generally having to keep the fort running, it’s vital that you take a flexible approach to your working day. If you’re lucky enough to do strict hours, that is great, but the reality of the situation may be far different for you.

It may benefit you to not give you work as a strict timescale in this instance, but rather, keep an eye on proceedings throughout the day in between picking kids up from school and sorting them out.

So it could benefit you to have a more mobile approach to working, either by having everything you need on your smartphone or a tablet, so you can work on the move.

Setting up a profitable business in your own home is possible, but it might not be the way you imagined it. To make it work, it’s not just about viewing your home office as a place for you to work, but it’s about being in the mindset where you can switch from work mode to home mode in an instant.

This can mean that you won’t feel like you’re relaxing from time to time, but there are things to help you out with this. And if you are keen on being an entrepreneur, the very best of them are always able to switch on and off.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.