Is It Time to Move to a Real Office?

Back in January 1995, I started an internet company in my one-room studio apartment in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

My impetus for moving into an office nine months later was twofold:

1. It was starting to get crowded as I brought on more workers.
   
   
2. While my company was growing, another internet company that was folding offered me its equipment and office furnishings at a price that was hard to pass up.

Moving my company into the office space of a failed company was a reality check on how fickle the markets could be, and I had many days and nights of panic that I'd never be able to pay the rent each month. Less than two years later, we closed in on a million dollars in sales, but that panicky feeling never went away.

"I do find that entrepreneurs are often in conflict about how/where/when to start their businesses," says Dyana Valentine, a transition and project coach. Before deciding whether a home office or off-site office is right for you, she advises that you:

1. Talk to an accountant to determine whether the write-off/expense ratio is feasible.
   
   
2. Talk to a friend, coach or mentor to investigate why you're moving. Will you be able to serve your clients more effectively? How does moving serve your  business plan, mission, purpose, outcome objectives, etc.?
   
   
3. Make a decision and celebrate your decision. Then move forward into the actions you need to take to make either home-office or off-site office serve your clients in the best possible way.

Anne Taintor, 55, had a practical reason for moving her business from home to an office. "I knew it was either get an office or get a divorce," she jokes about a business that was outgrowing her home and infringing on her living space. Taintor's company, Anne Taintor Inc., is a multimillion-dollar humor-products company. Her business cracked the $1 million mark three years after she moved it out of her home. Her only concern, she says, was how fast she could move into the new space and get up and running.

Joy Gendusa, 44, CEO and founder of $20 million marketing company PostcardMania, knew she had to move into office space because her kids were running rampant and she kept hiring more people. Gendusa says she couldn't wait to get into new space, opting for something cheap and close to home. Less than four years later, she crossed the million-dollar threshold.

After her baby was born, Stephanie White, the 43-year-old founder and president of beauty company Become International, moved from her home to an office two blocks away. White had been planning to move into an office from the start, so making the switch was a no-brainer.

Some wrong reasons for moving into office space, says Valentine, include:

1. Thinking you need an off-site address or location to be legitimate.
   
   
2. Moving because a coach, advisor or friend suggested it as a tax write-off.
   
   
3. Your at-home office isn't working for you. That's a potentially costly reason to change. Valentine recommends you first work with a professional organizer to design a workspace that serves you and your clients--a more affordable alternative.

Recommends beauty expert White, "Don't make the move until you are sure you can comfortably cover the overhead with enough space to expand." She adds, "When we started Become, we planned our expansion and our move very well, so this office will work for us for at least three years."

White suggests that you get a clause in your lease that allows you to break it if you need to move into a bigger space.

Taintor started her company in a remote town, population 200, and soon realized that location would limit her company's growth. She moved the company's offices from her home in New Mexico to Brooklyn, N.Y., and business took off. She still maintains her home in New Mexico.

Valentine stresses the importance of self-awareness regarding your company goals and mission, along with aligning with your target clients' needs before you move into an office space.

Says Valentine, "Many feel pressure to be making as much money as possible, yet that may fly in the face of productivity and exercising the mission at hand. It is vital that we know why we are doing what we are doing."