Melissa Rich-Landis Author – Your Virtual Home Office Can Be a Reality!

Your insurance agent should be aware of your home office and may need to adapt your insurance coverage for your home based business venture.  For example, you may need to increase your liability limits if you have frequent visitors to your office or you may need to add a rider that increases your coverage for the additional electronics (computer, printer, etc).  

For more information regarding the various types of home business insurance policies and riders, please review Chapter 12 – Business Insurance.

They say you are never too old to learn something new. I truly agree with that statement. I cannot say enough how much I have learned from my wonderful boss. She has taught me so much on different software programs and techniques. I have also taken online courses to boost my knowledge base on different programs.

Every local community college offers classes that are beneficial to those of us who work on the computer from home. You can boost your business offerings by creating your own website or learning how to do search engine optimization. The possibilities are endless and so is the availability of continuing education.

If you are going to need outside help for your home office venture, you need to closely consider whether your worker will be an independent contractor or an employee.  The IRS looks at behavioral control, financial control, and the relationship of the parties to determine a worker’s status.

Not correctly discerning the difference between an employee and independent contractor generally has large tax consequences.  To protect yourself, you may wish to consult with an attorney and review Chapter 4 – Independent Contractors.

When working from home, do you need business cards? I would say yes. I can’t say how many times someone will ask me. “You work from home, what do you do?” Times like this, I like to give out business cards.

It gives all the pertinent information about my job, website information – as well as advertises the company I work for. This is a great business tool for creating business in your community.

Your accountant or CPA can be a valuable source of information and can increase your bottom line.   They can help you take advantage of applicable home office tax or business tax deductions.   They should ask probing questions to uncover hidden tax deductions and should be available to answer questions as they arise.

For more information on selecting an accountant, please see Chapter 13 – Selecting and Using Experts.

Working from home is wonderful! I cannot say enough about much I have enjoyed my 20 year career of working from home. I do have to say at times it has really been a challenge with those that are closest to me – my family. Children and husbands have a tendency to interrupt during working hours. I have found it best to set up two offices in my home. One is in the mainstream area of the house and the other has a private location for times that I need complete privacy.

I work during the day in the main area for times that don’t need complete quiet this allows me to tend to my two-year-old as she needs. My working rules are when I am in my private office; I am not to be bothered. I make arrangements with other family member to handle the small dramas that come about during that time.

Purchasing home office furniture can be an important decision.  Often, home workers emphasize lower prices and sacrifice functionality and durability in the process – which can be costly in the long run.  With over ten years on my home office, I have learned to buy the best piece that I can afford – otherwise, I may be replacing that same item much earlier than expected.

Good quality office furniture should last for many years and if selected carefully, it should meet your needs for years to come.

It is so easy to overextend yourself when working from home. You have your business or job working from your home office and then you are asked to volunteer for the school. You think to yourself “That is easy enough, I can do that……it will only take a few hours on Tuesday”. Then you get another call that requests more of your time since you were able to do the first job.

People that do not work from home don’t have the same understanding of the work from home job role. They have a tendency to think you are sitting at home eating bon bons and watching soap operas. Set up working guidelines to keep yourself from over extending your time and alleviating stressful situations.

There has been lots of activity from my home office lately, and thus I have been working longer hours.  However, the longer hours are much easier since I can set my schedule to meet my needs and the needs of my family.  For example, this morning I started my day at 4:30 am – simply because it works best for me and my family.

Having a home office allows me to schedule work hours that are more conducive for my family’s needs.