: Why Leave the Home Office?

5 Ways Home Offices inhibit growth

The following are common challenges that home offices deal with on a regular basis and how Hive44′s coworking in St. Louis county can help confront the sighs of independent home office business people.

1. The Home Office First Impression

This is a huge problem that can be “do or die” for your business. If you run your business in your home you are surely going to meet clients from a traditional business setting who sadly, won’t take you seriously. The appearance of your business will shape their opinion of your services regardless if they are top-notch. Image is everything. You personally must reflect the quality of your business to establish credibility. The way you project yourself and your business must be serious and professional if you expect to attract reliable businesses. Hive44 satisfies these needs by providing its coworking members with electronic key access, waiting room for clients, door name plates, meeting rooms and access to other St. Louis professionals who can help shape a client’s perspective of your business. Your devotion to your business deserves a space that echoes your diligence towards your work.

2. The Home Office Space Requirements

One goal of any business should be to have a base of operations. A space that they designate just for work. Psychology studies show the existence of a powerful phenomenon called contextual effects. This phenomenon occurs when students take exams in a different space then where they studied and learned the information. These students who tested in rooms separate from where they regularly thought about a subject, tested significantly worse and had memory difficulties. Similarly a business should be conducted in a professional space where you can forget about life’s problems and “get down to business.” If the space in your home requires you to have a laptop that you use on your kitchen counter or in bed then you probably do not have the space to achieve your business’s full potential. Besides designating a portion of your home for office space, eventually you will require equipment for presentations and space to meet clients. Yet again, Coworking in St. Louis can remedy this lack. When you arrive as a member of Hive44, you get access to a comfortable space that provides the amenities of big business. At Hive44 you can surround yourself with likeminded, ambitious professionals who agree that your work needs a home separate from your own.

3. The Home Office’s Unhealthy Work Habits

At first glance this might not appear to be a problem but it can have serious consequences. I understand that one benefit of a home office is its accessibility. However, having your office 10 steps down the hall and the first door on the left can lead to unhealthy habits. Some people simply get swept away with their work. They never take a moment to pull their eyes away from the screen until the sun is rising and that obnoxious glare is obstructing their computer screen. They tell themselves “my bed is just down the hall; I’ll stay up a little longer and get more done.” Not only is this unhealthy but your productivity steadily declines until it would have been better for you to fall asleep at 11pm rather than retype that same paragraph 9 times and pass out accidentally at 3am. Personally a night of mindless attention to my laptop screen promises an irritable and uninspired tomorrow. Without creativity and patience to socialize I might as well go back to sleep and hope for an epiphany in my dreams. Mediating how long you work doesn’t get easier when your phones have direct access to your attention 24 hours a day and literally anywhere. Work can be so addicting that checking my email has become a nervous tick and I don’t even like my phone. Being a member of Hive44 provides a space and time frame that provides a healthy work schedule that keeps work and personal life from mixing into chaos.

4. The Home Office Loneliness

Let’s be honest the increase in work productivity and creativity is a boon of working alone. However, the overwhelming silence and lack of second opinions could be detrimental to having stable confidence and enjoyment in your work. I don’t want to say this clichéd phrase but I will. “People are social animals.” We benefit and grow from communicating information and experiences as a group. As an individual we can only accomplish as much as we can on our own. When the work and responsibilities of say “running your own business” are too much to handle, your eagerness and excitement towards your work falls apart. These frustrations and uncertainties can be resolved by being involved in a coworking community. Responsibilities are burdens and sometimes you can feel uncertain about your decisions, so having a friendly community who can offer advice is unmistakably valuable.

5. The Home Office Distractions

The other side of the coin is that some people work too little. Life is full of distractions that make it difficult to work when you are at home. Dogs want outside, sons and daughters want to play tag with their friends, and there are always messes to clean and something that seems more interesting on TV. This is why you need a separate space. Your life can be the most overused excuse and procrastination tool to keep you from working. These distractions can be ignored but you would need to be a saint with unwavering self-discipline. You are your own boss, and under your own supervision. Yet again coworking offers a promise of concentration free from distractions.

Hive44 is a pioneering coworking community of creative and ambitious business people in Fenton, MO with desks and office space available for rent by day, week or month.

1710 Fenpark Drive
Fenton, MO, 63026
636-405-3130
thehive44@gmail.com

Hive44 & Bob Dorf oppose 24/7 work ethic

In our earlier post, “Why leave the home office?” we compiled a list of common problems and challenges when working independently from a home office. One really important problem that is typically ignored is “working too much.” However, this is a HUGE problem and most people are so addicted to their work that they do not realize that their recent 24 hour laptop crunch-fest will devastate next week’s productivity.
So I was perusing CNN.com and I came across this really smart guy, Bob Dorf and he was talking about the pervasiveness of business technology in the modern business person’s life. Bob Dorf gives supporting insight to this problem. He believes that your work is not a sprint but a marathon, and that like a marathon your business requires time to rest, stretch, and snack. If you don’t take the time to separate work and life, both will suffer. Your excitement and enthusiasm towards your work will dwindle and the relationships with family and friends will become harder to maintain.
Dorf mostly emphasizes the abuse of electronic devices and the addictive nature towards them 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. However, his overall goal of helping business people conserve mental resources so you can approach the next day as enthusiastically as you did the last, this is one that is shared by Hive44. That blocking time for work and not letting yourself be distracted will keep you from working too many or late into the night. Having a part time space or a full time space to go to keeps the separation between work and play. We also believe that there is a time to work and a time to play, and each benefit from the other.
If you have the time please visit the full article here.

Hive44 is a pioneering coworking community of creative and ambitious business people in Fenton, MO with desks and office space available for rent by day, week or month.

1710 Fenpark Drive
Fenton, MO, 63026
636-405-3130
thehive44@gmail.com

5 ways Coworking Increases your Business Reputation,Image, and Profits

by Cheryl Jaycoxon April 19, 2012in Blog, Coworking{ Edit }

Are you meeting clients in loud crowded coffee shops fighting for a plug and internet access for your presentations? Are you tired of the unending distractions that keep you from getting work accomplished at home or putting it off until later? Or the silence and loneliness of working alone at home?
Do you work for a company that would let you work from home but you are afraid that you would not be as productive at home as you are in an office setting? There are many other reasons for motivated business individuals to look into and consider Coworking.

1. Networking- If you like networking you are going to love coworking. A coworking place takes networking to the next logical step—working together.
Alex Hillman, co-founder of Indy Hall, Coworking Community stated,

“Coworking is a rare opportunity to build valuable, genuine relationships with people without it feeling like “networking”. You can get to know people beyond the basic superficial factors, and get to know things like their interests, their working style and habits, their preferences, and their reliability”

A coworking space such as The HIVE@44, Business Coworking Community allows members the chance to work side by side, get to know more about each other’s business than you can learn in a 30 second intro speech or a business card. It allows pollination between members for more referrals and more potential clients.

2. Proficient- Coworking spaces consist of meeting rooms and other office equipment to get your business going the minute you sit down, you are ready to go to work. All the amenities of an executive office space at your fingertips for a fraction of the cost with one monthly membership payment.

3. Resources –The Community, a coworking space is not about the space you occupy while you are here, it is about what you do while you are here. Coworking spaces are filled with new resources and opportunities.Most communities have a community manager “host” whose whole emphasis is to get to know each member and their business. Spot opportunities for collaboration between members. Organize business and social events for members, and work with members to market their companies or events within the business community and the community we live in.

4 Less Money- A coworking community allows you to conduct your business in a professional atmosphere without having the start up cost of your own office. A membership in a community allows you to share in the business equipment, meeting rooms, work space without the cost of utilities, maintenance, and unexpected expensive of renting/leasing your own space. Memberships are available for any stage of business.

5 Gives you your Life Back-
A coworking community gives you your home life back. You are able to separate your business time from your personal life. The daily /weekly interaction with other professional business owners alleviates the burn out that can come from working alone. The ability to separate business from home life allows you to concentrate on each one individually, a better balance and be achieved and a happier you.

Look for a coworking community  in your city.

Living in the St. Louis area, look for Nebula Coworking and St. Louis Coworking located in the city,       UC Coworking in University City and The HIVE@44 Business Coworking in St. Louis County at 44 & 270.

http://thehive44.com/coworking-increases-your-business-reputation-and-profits/