Small businesses are shutting their doors as business drops due to the current economy. Not all businesses are giving up; some are closing the doors to their business location and opening the door to their home. Moving a business home can reduce the overhead costs of business drastically. With modern technology, it can be a fairly smooth move.
With a professional and easily navigated website, most businesses can function well from a home office. Product sales can be even be done from home. With e-commerce, many products can be shipped directly to the customer eliminating the cost of maintaining stock on the shelves.
Some businesses won’t be able to make the switch to being home-based. Some of the businesses that are not able to make the move from a brick and mortar business to a home-based business include the following:
- Businesses that generate a lot of noise
- A home doesn’t comply with health and safety laws/requirements
- Businesses that have a lot of customers coming and going
- A product or service that generates fumes or odors
- An established, professional look is needed for customer trust
- Homeowner association restrictions
For the businesses that can make the switch to working out of a home office, there are financial benefits. Some of the costs that will be eliminated or reduced include location rent or mortgage, insurance for location, keeping shelves stocked, cleaning costs, payroll, utilities, and transportation costs to the business location. Some company vehicles and vehicle insurance may be able to be eliminated when a business is run from home.
Additional money may be available to a business when the building and/or land is owned by the business and can be sold. In addition, a portion of home utilities can be used as a tax deduction when there is a home office. An accountant will help you to find all the deductions you will be entitled to when running a business from home. Find out before opening a home-based business so that the appropriate receipts will be able to be kept and readily available when it comes time to do taxes.
For any brick and mortar business, it is important to have a website. For a home-based business, it will be even more important to have a website that is easily located when a potential customer starts searching the Internet. To find out all that an Internet marketing company can do for your home-based business, go to KarmaSnack.com.
