Fear of starting a business: how to work with it instead of waiting for it to go
Fear of starting a business doesn't disappear before you begin. It shrinks when you begin small. This is the most honest way I know to face it.
Leer más →Starting a business from home: what changes and what doesn't
Starting a business from home is possible and, at the beginning, almost always the most sensible option. What doesn't change is that it's still a company: it needs customers, order and boundaries.
Some people believe a real company needs an office.
It doesn't.
A company needs customers. The office is optional.
Why starting from home makes sense
Low costs. No rent, no extra bills, no commute. Every euro you don't spend is another month you can hold on while you get going.
Focus on what matters. At the start, the only things that matter are selling and delivering. Everything else is decoration.
Flexibility. You can start while working on something else, adjust your hours and grow at your own pace.
Which businesses fit
Almost any that sells knowledge or delivers over the internet:
- Development, design, marketing, consulting.
- Software and digital products.
- Online training.
- Admin or management services.
If your customer doesn't need to come and see you, you probably don't need an office.
What changes
The place changes. The hours change. Nobody sees you working.
And that demands something an office gives you for free: structure.
What doesn't change
It's still a company.
You need customers. You need to get paid. You need to meet deadlines and answer emails. You need clear numbers.
Working from home isn't working less seriously. It's working just as seriously somewhere else.
A company isn't a place. It's what you do for your customers every day.
How to do it well
- A space just for work. Even if it's a table. When you sit there, you work. When you get up, you're done.
- Hours your customers can understand. They don't have to be office hours, but they should be predictable.
- One channel for customers. Have everything arrive in one place. It saves chaos and lets you delegate later.
- Clear boundaries. With your family, your customers and yourself. Being at home doesn't mean being always available.
- Get out. See customers, other founders, people. Isolation is the hidden cost of working from home.
When to stop working from home
When there's a business reason. A team that needs to see each other daily, customers who have to visit, something that can't be done remotely.
Not before. And not to feel more like a company.
Today I run our company without an office. It works because the place was never what mattered.
P.S. I wrote about it in a company isn't a place.