With the high cost of renting shops especially in cities like Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and others, many people are now running their businesses from their homes.
If you are an event planner for instance, you can work from the comfort of your home. Where you don’t want to bring clients to your home due to security reasons, you can book appointments with them at restaurants or gardens.
Working from home allows you greater flexibility. However you have to be disciplined to focus on business when you have a client and allow someone else attend to family issues. This will enable you to be more productive and run a successful business.
Create a space to work
When you need to do intellectual work, think about the best space to work in your home. Where will you be able to concentrate without any distractions? Is there an area where you will be able to focus on work and make phone calls without interruption?
This accomplishes two things: You know that when you walk into that room you are there to work until you are done, and then you shut the door to all family members and let them know that they should respect your work space when you are in it. But when you cannot spare a room, create a corner in your sitting room where you will have a table and chair to work with.
Invest in equipment
You can also invest in a good office chair to increase your productivity; effective storage equipment to keep organised and making sure you have reliable technology such as a computer, printer and scanner.
Invest in a Smartphone
A Smartphone can help you run your business from anywhere. Smartphones can create flexibility and accessibility to the internet where you can receive emails, Whatsapp messages and generally increase your online presence.
Get organised
The fact that you are at home does not mean you will not do paper work. So, get organised. Get a cupboard to keep hardcopy of documents. Also, organise your files on your computer as well. Statistics show that the average executive spends three hours a week looking for things – that is more than 3.5 weeks a year. As your own boss, you cannot afford that. You can use colour coding for file folders and flash drives to keep important documents which will be handy when you need them.
