Welcoming Strangers into Your Home for Business
The thought of starting a business can be overwhelming. Aside from the business planning and financial forecasting you need to do, you must also take into consideration your workplace setting.
Whether its a home care service like yoga training, child care or putting their homes up for rent through Airbnb, using your home as an asset can help cut down on expenses (and time) compared to settling for a traditional out-of-home (OOH) office set up.
Starting a home-based business can be very appealing. But you also need to consider what it might mean to have ‘strangers’ coming to your home. Unfortunately, you can’t just assume that everyone has good intentions.
Keep everything in place
Above anything else, you want to make sure that valuables are in a safe place – and insured. Make sure your important documents and valuable personal items are secured and well hidden from prying eyes.
Safety at home
Personal safety, for you and your visitors, is important. Check for trip hazards, exposed wires and anything else that could result in an accident.
You might want to invest in security alarms and CCTV cameras. Cameras built into a doorbell can serve a dual purpose. Remember that opening your house to the public means that other people know where you live. Having a reliable security system may lessen your anxiety whenever you leave the house.
Be organised and prep your home
No matter how much we like to say that we don’t care what other people think about our house, we still want them to look clean and presentable. This is especially true when you are treating your home as your office or your receiving area. Put a little effort into cleaning or beautifying your house to impress your guests and make them feel important.
Closing doors or screening areas that are private allows you to differentiate between work and home zones.
Expect the worst
No matter how much we prepare for guests coming over our place, sometimes it just so happens that everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
That heirloom vase you were gifted from your family? It could break within seconds after your guest steps through your door. That room you spent hours cleaning and making sure it’s spotless? It could end up with a coffee stain on the floor.
Friendly tip: brace yourself (and your pocket) for a little fix up and upgrades every now and then.
A home and a business in one seems like a good idea especially if you’re someone who likes to take control. Hospitality has always been a part of our lives and for some, entertaining people who step in our house is no big deal. However, every business has its pros & cons and there are things that are beyond our control. Home-based businesses, like any kind of business, are a test of trust. It could be easy to report or to expose someone who went beyond our limits, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry.