While I was traveling cross-country to work with a client on her home office, I spoke to the person sitting next to me. He told me about his business and I asked him whether he worked from home.
He seemed flustered and didn’t give me a direct answer. Then he admitted he works from home. I could tell that he was embarrassed to be home-based.
Sure, there are a few reasons why you could be embarrassed about working from home, but there are several reasons why you shouldn’t.
First, why you could be embarrassed:
- You don’t have a “real” office with a receptionist, break room and rent costs.
- It’s difficult to meet with clients in your home office. Unless your home office is near your front door or you have a dining room that can double as a conference room, you may not want clients to come through your house to get to your home office. Meeting in a coffee shop isn’t a bad option.
- Using your home address can be unprofessional. When I first started working from home, I made others think I rented office space by using a postal suite address. I still use a suite address at the UPS Store, but for different reasons. I can keep my home address private and the top-notch staff at my location accepts packages and deliveries for me.
Why you shouldn’t be embarrassed to work from home:
- You’re money savvy. Instead of wasting money on rent, you can upgrade your office equipment or spend money on marketing and PR.
- You’re smart with your time. Rather than sit in traffic for almost an hour a day, you’re able to get to work after a short 10-second commute to your home office. By the time your corporate counterparts buckle up and back their car into traffic or catch the subway to their office, you’re sitting comfortably in your home office.
- You’re reducing your stress level. Rather than worrying about making enough money to cover your overhead or wasting time in traffic, you’re focusing on growing your business.
When you own your own business, you may find plenty of reasons to be embarrassed. Working from home doesn’t have to be one of them.
