Home Working – Dream or Disaster?
From the outside looking in, working from home seems like a dream come true, however, speaking from past experience it is not without its downsides. Luckily the growth of co-working environments and business centres has opened up a whole new set of options for freelancers and the self-employed.
In this article, we will be discussing the benefits of Shared Office Space and comparing them to more traditional home working scenarios.
The Problem with Home Working
So, you’ve decided to become your own boss and made the transition from a busy work environment teeming with friends, colleagues and co-workers to a quiet, lonely room in your house.
Surprisingly loneliness is one of the first issues to hit freelancers and the self-employed; we subconsciously rely on interaction from our fellow humans and a home working environment just doesn\’t offer this, so what are the alternatives?
You could drag yourself to a local coffee shop and use the unstable, insecure WiFi while sipping away your profits drinking over-priced latte’s; however, this doesn\’t solve the problem. Whilst coffee shops offer interaction with other people they are not conducive to a heavy workload, the constant noise and coming and going of customers and staff is guaranteed to wear thin quickly.
This is where shared office space providers like McCue House really shine, no more coffee stained tables cluttered with plates from the previous customer and more importantly no interruptions. McCue House allows you to start simple by renting a single hot desk and growing your business accordingly. Once your business is well established, you may even wish to upgrade to one of our stylish and contemporary private offices.
Getting Hired
Although freelancing has taken off considerably over recent years, many business managers are still reluctant to hire a remote workforce. We took to the internet to find out why and the answers were quite surprising.
According to Reddit’s “r/digitalnomad” these are just some of the reasons business owners are unkeen to hire remote workers:
Poor Relationship Building
Many business managers worldwide agree that it is very difficult to build a business relationship with remote staff. When your only point of contact with your staff is a long-winded email chain or glitchy video chat it becomes easy to see why so many businesses are against home working.
Shared offices and hot desks eliminate this problem, by providing a physical, searchable address that helps to build trust with both new and existing clients. The other benefit in this scenario comes in the form of meetings, new clients are likely to be wary of small businesses working from home in a converted bedroom, as a member of a business hub like McCue House, you will be eligible to book one of three contemporary on-site meeting rooms or even engage with your clients over a coffee at Cafe M once complete.
Jumping Ship
Many businesses assume freelance and remote workers view their job as temporary, seeing each job as a stepping stone on the path to bigger and better things. In my opinion, this is a common misconception as many remote workers are just as passionate about the companies they work for as the on-site staff.
Speaking from personal experience I feel overcome with pride when the marketing strategies I have implemented for my clients pay off, because of this I try and put a little bit of myself into every job I take on, however, I am sure this isn\’t the case for everyone.
Uncommon Time Zones
Time Zones are a major obstacle for freelancers in the eyes of many business owners. When your remote workforce is scattered across the globe it can be very difficult to keep an open line of communication, often email responses and feedback are delayed for several hours, which can complicate matters, especially when strict deadlines are in place.
Loss of Face to Face Interaction
It\’s remarkable how much time we spend discussing work with colleagues and co-workers, however, even simple questions such as “when are X projects due?” can result in long email chains or IM conversations without face to face interaction. It is commonly thought that a job that will take one hour in a traditional office environment will take around five hours in a home setting. While I do disagree with this statistic, I do find it plausible, after all the distractions of home can have a negative impact on your time, from uninvited guests to annoying sales calls and binge-watching Netflix there is a distraction hiding around every corner.
How Can Shared Office Space Help?
Shared office spaces and business hubs not only provide your company with a more professional appearance, but they also offer a work environment geared towards productivity and a community-centric client-base who are all looking to grow their business.
Hot desks and private offices are generally very affordable, especially when compared to renting or buying premises outright and many of these businesses hubs offer a host of fantastic features including on-site eateries, meeting rooms and inclusive internet to name but a few.
We hope this article has shed some light on the benefits of a shared office or co-working environment. If you are interested in finding out more about shared offices in Grimsby and serviced offices facilities available with a McCue House membership, then why not register your interest here.
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