Being an entrepreneur or running a small business requires a dedicated workspace. For most solopreneurs or small business owners, operating from a home office is often where most of their business activities occur.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that roughly 19 million U.S. small businesses are home-based. Approximately 50 percent of U.S. small businesses start at home, while 60 percent of those businesses without any staff are known to be home-based.
Furthermore, most entrepreneurs surveyed in the 2024 Entrepreneurship Report by Squarespace are currently working solo. Being a solopreneur gives one more autonomy over essential business decisions and keeps various business-related expenses to a minimum.
May I just say, dear entrepreneur, you need a great office space at home! Working from home requires organizing and setting up a home-based office or workspace that will act as the foundation for your business. A dedicated workspace, or home office, allows you to separate the business from the personal environment providing you with a functional space to be efficient and productive.
How To Create A Productive Home Office As An Entrepreneur
Whether your business requires you to meet clients in person or work remotely via a computer, the importance of having a dedicated workspace at home will provide you with the foundation from which you can operate your business.
The Digital Space
Having the appropriate software to work with is crucial to the long-term success of your business. As an entrepreneur, you should research what type of software you will need to purchase or use throughout your day-to-day operations.
Planning and Organizing
Keeping track of everything, from client queries and orders to sending out invoices and meeting with suppliers, you need to remain organized to stay on top of everything. Having a dedicated tool, in this case, a digital calendar and schedule planner, will help you keep all of your important notes and dates in one place without losing track of things.
For instance, a digital calendar will help you keep track of all your important dates. It is a flexible tool that can be used across multiple platforms and facets of your business. Digital calendars can be tailored to your personal and business needs, meaning that having two or more calendars will allow you to plan and organize more efficiently without having overlapping events.
A digital calendar can be shared with others outside of the home office, including clients or suppliers. This will make scheduling calls, meetings, or arranging important dates more convenient for both you and the people you do business with.
Having a digital calendar on your phone or computer means that this tool is accessible anytime, from anywhere you are working, and removes clutter from your working space.
Password Manager
Proper cybersecurity is essential to any business. Using a password manager has become a more convenient way to keep track of all your login details further strengthen your cybersecurity features. Using a weak password is still one of the most common ways data breaches occur, and around 49 percent of all data breaches in the last several years were caused by inadequate password best practices.
Being in control of your business means having to account for all the various moving parts you may encounter along the way, including remembering a series of passwords for all your different accounts and online profiles.
Using a password manager to secure digital accounts is only one piece of the broader puzzle. Other important cybersecurity practices, such as using a VPN (Virtual Private Network), anti-virus software, and malware detection software, must also be included in your security features.
Additionally, entrepreneurs are advised to use different passwords, passkeys, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to strengthen their business’s frontline protection further.
Communication Apps
Staying in touch with clients, suppliers,, or business-related partners is an integral part of business. Working from home means that, as a business owner, you must have a dedicated communication platform.
Try to use a platform you are already familiar with, such as Google Hangouts, Skype, or Teams. Next, ensure that your clients and suppliers know how they can reach you via these platforms. Consider this as well when working with other freelancers or employees.
Using a high-end platform to facilitate your business-related communications will help consolidate your communication needs and keep everything well-organized under one domain. Additionally, choose a communication platform that can be used via a mobile device, allowing you better and more frequent access to these platforms when needed.
Customer Management Software
While it’s important to understand what is going on with your business at all times, keeping a close eye on your customer relationships will help foster more long-term business and provide you with improved customer services and reliability.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps business owners control customer data more conveniently and securely. These systems provide insights into customer needs, preferences, and behaviors. Furthermore, CRM software is now integrated with various other digital platforms, including social media and project management software.
For any business, big or small, efficient CRM software will help them create more mobility within their business ecosystem, allowing them to establish streamlined communication with clients, and have a fully digital system to manage and analyze customer data.
Project Management Software
Besides having a dedicated digital calendar to keep track of important dates, times, and meetings, a project management software interface will allow you to manage projects more efficiently and house all critical information in one dedicated place.
Instead of relying on pages upon pages of paper to jot down important information and tracking project progress through this approach, digital project management tools make it possible to remove unnecessary admin.
These tools will become very handy once your business begins to take shape and sees an increase in new work or higher demand. Having a dedicated system will make sharing your projects across multiple devices and platforms possible, meaning you can access important information regardless of where you may be working.
Sometimes, project management software will allow you to link different projects, clients, and communications, such as emails. A project management system is designed to remove the burden of drowning in emails or various messages and instead consolidate all the information you need in one place.
Web Content and Administrative Tool
As of 2023, roughly 73 percent of U.S. small businesses use a website, according to industry insights published by Zippia. Should a website be relevant to your business or industry, around 81 percent of consumers choose to research a company online before making a purchase.
A website plays a vital role in ,shoppers’ decision-making. In addition, a well-designed and managed website is often the first point of contact clients have with your business, and first impressions count.
Using a reliable website management system will ensure that your business has access to reliable digital resources. A web content and administration management system will minimize the need to outsource work to third-party vendors and freelancers.
Furthermore, having the appropriate systems in place will put you, the business owner,, in the driver’s seat. You can choose and design a website that reflects your company’s image. Having more control will also allow you to add more personal touches to your website, keep content relevant to your business, and immediately correct errors without paying another person.
There are plenty of benefits to using a website management system. Still, as a business owner, you need to consider the various pros and cons of each and which system provider will offer you the best benefits and budget-friendly solutions.
Cloud Storage
Keeping important business and client-related information secure requires a reliable cloud storage system. Cloud storage makes storing a large amount of data on virtual servers possible. Storing data on the “cloud” is similar to uploading information to a portable drive. Still, in this case, the “drives” are located in remote locations and encrypted with secure cyber defenses.
Cloud storage has become a game-changer in many aspects of business. A cloud storage system makes information more accessible to a wider pool of users. Research shows that over 60 percent of all corporate data was being stored in the cloud in 2022.
For instance, a business owner uploads a series of important documents that need to be signed by a client in a different location. By uploading the documents to the cloud, the client can access, sign, and send back the information without using physical objects such as paper or printers.
Cloud storage technology has evolved alongside consumer and enterprise needs, and there are plenty of cloud-based systems available solely for business purposes. As an entrepreneur who may be working on different projects at any given time, using cloud storage will ensure the security and integrity of your business and protect valuable information against cyber threats.
Alternative Power Supply
Power outages are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., with outages increasing at two percent per year. Growing demand, coupled with an aging national power grid, are all contributing to the increased number of outages that homes and businesses across the country have been experiencing.
Having a loss of power means that most of a business’ essential functions will come to a stop. This may include operating things such as computers, printers, the internet, and other digital devices or equipment that need power to operate.
The monetary loss of power downtime can vary depending on the industry your business is in, the length of the outage, and the time of day. By some estimates, 98 percent of organizations have claimed that an hour of downtime due to power outages can cost their bottom line over $150,000.
For a small business, any amount of downtime can be costly, meaning that you will need to ensure you have an alternative power supply on hand should an outage occur. One cost-effective solution is purchasing an Unitterabitable Power Supply (UPS) to help power smaller devices such as a computer and the wifi router.
Larger versions of these devices exist, and cost will vary depending on the power needed. Investing in these devices will ensure that during any significant blackout or power outage caused by non-natural occurrences, your business will remain operational and online.
The Physical Space
Depending on your options, it’s essential to plan what your home office will look like and how you will arrange the space to meet your needs.
Dedicated Workspace
Take a moment to decide and plan your workspace. If you live in an apartment, consider the physical floor space available to dedicate to your home office. Entrepreneurs with bigger living quarters, which may include an additional room that can be turned into an office, might have more space to work with.
Apartment Home Office: You might be restricted by how much apartment floor space you can dedicate to your office. If you live in a small apartment, consider arranging a desk in a corner of the living room or perhaps in the bedroom.
Whichever you decide, ensure enough space for you to work comfortably, and move your office chair without hitting surrounding walls or furniture. Additionally, as you might be working in a smaller space, arrange a desk near a window for more natural light throughout the day.
Family Home Office: Perhaps you have a spare bedroom that can be converted into a home office or more floor space to work with. In this case, arrange the home office space to be separate from other rooms, including any remaining furniture or items that will stay in the home office.
The home office should be solely dedicated to your business and not for other activities. It’s important to set clear boundaries with family or household members on using the home-based office space. Having clear boundaries will help keep the space organized and professional during working hours.
Furniture
You might be convinced that spending less on expensive office furniture will help save your business money, especially during the start-up process. Instead of seeing these purchases as expenses, rather consider them to be an investment for your business.
A well-designed and high-quality ergonomic office chair will provide you with plenty of health-related benefits compared to more affordable and unreliable options. Ergonomic chairs will help reduce back pain, neck pain, and hip pain and improve blood circulation – which are all important things to consider if you’re planning on spending most of the day at your desk.
Next to consider is a desk, which should be well-designed to meet your everyday needs. Do you need a large desk with space for two or more monitors? Will you need a multipurpose desk for doing administrative work, and completing other tasks? How many hours of the day will you be spending at your desk?
These are all critical questions to ask while putting your new home office together. You need to remember that the physical size of the office space might restrict your furniture options and require you to think about your options differently.
Electronic Equipment
Now that you will be working from home and running your own business, it’s important to decide on the type of digital equipment you will need to fulfill your business needs. Knowing what you need and what might be considered a luxury, at least in the beginning, will largely depend on your budget and how much you are willing to spend on digital resources.
From the get-go, it’s advised to invest in the proper equipment that will meet your needs and, most importantly, that of your business and clients. Consider weighing out different options and reading more about the specifications of each product you are interested in.
Decide on something that will draw you the most benefits but will last you a while before needing to be fixed or replaced. Low maintenance and durable equipment might be more expensive upfront but will save you money in the long run.
You should also consider whether buying portable equipment is better than stationary items. For instance, having a high-end portable laptop might be more efficient than an expensive industry-grade manual computer. Having a portable computer makes it possible to take your work anywhere, including working on the road, meeting clients, or attending business-related events.
Ensure that you put together a budget for these purchases. Investing in digital equipment will be essential to running a successful business. The equipment you decide to purchase should be functional and durable and provide you with long-term use as your business passes through different phases.
Practical Pieces
Next, decide whether you need any additional office-based equipment for your office. For instance, you might need a printer for your office, which is another item to budget for and include as part of your planning when mapping out the space needed for your home office.
Then there are things such as a whiteboard, which will need to be placed against a wall, and easily accessible. A whiteboard will allow you to brainstorm ideas or place important dates to remember. Consider how having enough storage space from the start will become a game-changer once your business takes off.
Additional equipment, including lighting, such as a standing lamp or desk lamp, is important to have when you are working during the early hours or late at night. Also, having alternative lighting for your dedicated workspace will create a more warm and welcoming environment. Studies have shown that having the ability to control lighting and using warmer lighting in an office can affect a person’s mood and productivity.
Tips For Putting Together A Productive Home Office
Building a home office requires some consideration and planning. As an entrepreneur running a business remotely, it’s important to ensure you have all the necessary equipment and tools beforehand. This will minimize the risk of encountering near-term obstacles that may impact the business’s bottom line performance or relationships with clients.
Budget: Having a budget should be a main priority for your business. Purchasing new equipment and investing in expensive tools and resources should be carefully planned out beforehand. Having a budget to put together your home office will be mission-critical to ensure that you have the essential equipment at hand to get off the ground.
Business Tasks: During the planning process, list all the tasks you need to complete during the day. Making a list of the various tasks you do each day as a business owner will tell you more about the type of space you need to create and how much of your home will be dedicated to your business.
Floor Space: Should you have limited floor space available, it’s best to map out the space you will use as your home office. This will clearly indicate how you will likely need to rearrange your apartment and perhaps move some furniture around. Take an approach that allows you to maximize floor space without compromising the overall look and feel of your home office.
Physical Boundaries: Create physical boundaries for your home office, such as placing a rug underneath your desk and office chair to anchor the space. You may choose to use a room divider or separate the space using other pieces of furniture, such as putting the back end of the couch towards your office to break the rooms apart. This works in small spaces where an additional bedroom is unavailable for a home office.
Office Hours: As you will be working from home most of the time, create desired office hours that allow you to work in your home office. This will not only help limit you from overworking but help you switch off from work once the day is over and motivate you again in the morning. Having office hours will also help set boundaries with other people using the same space and help create a more respectful environment.
Aesthetics: Just because it’s a home office doesn’t mean you should neglect the overall aesthetics of the space. When creating a home office, make an effort to create a space that makes you feel motivated. Add small features unique to your business, such as signage, or use your company’s color as the anchoring point for your home office.
Shop Alternatives: Building a home office can become quite expensive, and looking for more budget-friendly options will help keep costs to a minimum while allowing you to put more money towards business-related activities. For instance, shop for a cheaper desk, but splurge more on an ergonomic chair. Buy a second-hand lamp to create an ambiance for your office, and use that extra cash to buy a soft and durable rug instead.
The Power Of A Productive Home Office
For many entrepreneurs, a home office should be a space to inspire them to create, innovate, and solve problems. Having a dedicated workspace at home can help save on additional overhead costs, such as renting an office space or having to pay extra for commuting.
There are many reasons why a dedicated workspace is vital for you as an entrepreneur, but more than this; there are numerous benefits to having a home office space for your business that allows you to balance your personal and professional commitments without breaking the bank or any physical boundaries of your home.
Investing in a home office will create a space that anchors your business. This space will play an important role in the development of your business, and more importantly, you as an entrepreneur. Take the time to carefully plan and consider your home office’s large and small details, and create an environment that motivates you to be your own boss. Remember, dear entrepreneur — your need and deserve a fantastic office in your home.
Featured Image Credit: Photo by Oussama Bergaoui; Pexels
Carma Khatib
Carma Khatib is a passionate innovator and product manager with significant experience driving digital products from conception to launch. My mission is to find and create solutions to real-world problems that ultimately impact a company's triple bottom line: People, Planet, and Profit.