The world has become obsessed and fascinated by the idea of working from home. It’s easy to see why – on the face of it, this looks like a concept that only yields benefits. The main one is that you can significantly reduce the overhead costs for your business.
Working from home means you do not have to rent office space. Already, you’re saving thousands of pounds a year. But, before you jump to the conclusion that you should work from home, here are a few things to think twice about:
The productivity problem
Throughout the early days of people working from home, there were countless reports of people saying they were more productive. The problem is, how do you measure productivity? Is it purely based on work output? If so, many businesses may give the illusion of being more productive by doing more work every day, but the flip side of this is that workers are working longer hours because they’re at home.
In turn, this leads to debates on the mental health effect of WFH. Your team works long hours, causing more stress, which won’t have a positive long-term effect on their performance. There’s also the theory that people say they feel more productive at home because they prefer being away from the office. In reality, they might not be as productive as they claim, which distorts a lot of studies.
The fact remains that some people struggle to be productive at home because there are more distractions and a worse work environment than in an office. So, renting office space could be more beneficial – from a productivity standpoint – if you and your employees work better together in a professional setting.
The forgotten benefits of an office
Furthermore, the advocates of working from home forget about the benefits of renting office space. There are plenty of commercial property locations out there, most of which surround you with other businesses in many offices. Thus, you have the ability to network with different companies, possibly unlocking opportunities that you wouldn’t find when working from home.
Moreover, having a proper office means more people will notice your business. If you’re in a great location, your brand logo will be on the office sign for thousands of people to walk passed every single day. All it takes is one glance to lead to a Google search that could encourage someone to contact you and enquire about your services.
You can also make the strong argument that having a proper office in a good location strengthens your brand image – particularly from a local SEO standpoint. People can find your company on Google maps, notice that you’re in a key commercial location, and trust that you’re a legitimate business. If they see a residential address by your business, it can make them trust you a bit less.
We’re not saying that working from home is a terrible idea for your company. It depends on how you operate, but you shouldn’t assume it is the best thing to do just because you save money on overheads. Think twice before making your decision and look at both sides of the argument to figure out which one is right for you.