Working from home.
Just saying the words aloud is enough to fill office workers and small business owners with masses of euphoria. And in fact, just over half of small businesses in the US thought the same thing, as 52% of SMEs are actually based at home, according to an article from Forbes.
If you’re already in the planning stages of beginning your own business, there are a literal wealth of reasons as to why making it home-based could be one of the best decisions of your professional career. Even right off the bat, there are many affordable options for registering an affordable domain name, as these providers and many others allow emerging businesses to find a cheap possibility for something that’s usually seen as expensive.
Travel
Of course, lack of travelling is a huge winner here, as your bedroom will be just yards away from your home office. It remains unlikely that you’ll never have to use the car or public transportation for work related travel ever again, as picking up products or going to client meetings may still be a factor within your business. However, cutting back on gasoline costs and weekly bus or rail passes will start to add up each week.
Food and drink
If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’ll know that employees can get into a routine when it comes to buying lunch or coffee. Bringing in prepared meals is an option and many do this, yet a large selection of people can often resort to their local Chipotle or Starbucks, for example, when lunch or break times arise. As delicious and quick as these types of places are, food and coffee bills could be massively reduced in favor of good old home cooking and coffee appliances for the kitchen.
Wholesale
For online retail businesses, purchasing from warehouse directories such as this are fantastic ways to make sure you never end up paying retail price for anything. What’s more, you can start to forge trusted relationships with suppliers, as it may be possible to buy a small amount of stock over a long period of time, instead of always large quantities at once.
Taxes
It could come as a surprise to home-based businesses as to just how much could be claimed as a business owner. Portions of rent, phone bills, heating allowances, furniture, office supplies, etc. are all possible to claimed as a business expense, but just be sure to keep all receipts and consult an accountant. More info on tax laws for home businesses can be found here.
As previously discussed in a separate article, it’s good to keep in mind that knowing your credit score before beginning your small business aspirations will undoubtedly save you the headache of being denied loans because of poor credit.
Joe is a former financial advisor and media representative for American Express and Ameriprise. He was the “Money Man” at Detroit television WXYZ-TV, appearing twice weekly. He’s also appeared in Bride, Best Life, and Child magazines, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and Baltimore Sun newspapers and numerous other media outlets. Joe holds B.A Degrees from The Citadel and Michigan State University.
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