What does a Website Design / SEO Business look Like?

[malhyp]

HI to all,

I am a website designer and partime seo / sem in Australia.

Currently I am working from home and thinking of moving into an office soon.

I was just wondering if anyone can give me feedback on where you work from.

Do you work from home?
Do you work from an office?
Advantage / dissadvanges from one or the other.

If business seems to be going well from home should I spend the extra $ to move into an office and hopefuly improve on the business image.

Also I have hnever been into website designers or seo office, what's there? Chairs, Desk & Computers, or is it set up like a retail store?

Do your customers come to visit you? or do you visit them?

Any comments or feedback is greatly appreciated.

Mal

[beu]

Originally Posted by malhyp

HI to all,

I am a website designer and partime seo / sem in Australia.

Currently I am working from home and thinking of moving into an office soon.

I was just wondering if anyone can give me feedback on where you work from.

Do you work from home?
Do you work from an office?
Advantage / dissadvanges from one or the other.

If business seems to be going well from home should I spend the extra $ to move into an office and hopefuly improve on the business image.

Also I have hnever been into website designers or seo office, what's there? Chairs, Desk & Computers, or is it set up like a retail store?

Do your customers come to visit you? or do you visit them?

Any comments or feedback is greatly appreciated.

Mal

I've worked in an office as well as from home. An office is not a bad idea in terms of "image" but, lots of clients never see your office. Either way, working from an office makes it easier to go home and stop working at the end of the day.

As far a furniture, obviously computers are a must, desks are a good idea and you will need chairs for clients.

[Jazajay]

Its down to your circumstances if you get a lot of local sites work do it walk in. If not do it modern you know massive bean bags nice sound system what ever gets you in the mood to work.

I work my best listening to heavy metal my creativity is always great. I personally work from home as I like the home life and no commute its a beautiful way of life. Up to you. My personal opinion is if you get a great reputation for what you do and your office is relativly clean, not as a couch potato then any clients who like to meet you face to face wont mind.

Most people I do work for is by word of mouth and they don't mind that I don't have an office. They just want a site.

[Voasi]

The question you should ask yourself is: "Do I need to?"

If business is great and you never have clients come in to visit you, why have an office? You don't need to have the additional overhead. On the other side of the coin, if clients do come to see you occasionally, then it might be better to have a professional office/conference room for them to come and discuss. In the states, you can rent out "Executive Suites", which are offices within a larger office. You have your own small office (fits 1-2 people) and you share a conference room with other tenants. I'm not sure if you have anything like that in AU, but it wouldn't hurt to look.

As for my SEO office, it looks like any other business setting: Cubicles, computers, people, ping-pong table, kitchen, etc... My customers do come and visit me. I really push for them to come down, meet myself and my staff, see that its not some guy in his PJ's and see our professionalism and that we're not some fly-by-night SEO firm. You might not be at that level and that's fine too.

[Wavy Davy]

I like working from home. I have been doing this for over ten years and invite all clients to visit if local.

My office is upstairs, 400 sq ft, with a TV (English Football , mega iTunes powered sound, phones, a Google GSA (which I don't use these days but it looks good, Google bean bag, poster of The Beatles, The Who and Dido - every potential client that visits hires me I really believe inviting them somewhere special works.

I get job offers weekly but couldn't work in an office environment with all the BS....

[Smooth Operator]

I agree, currently I do my work from an office where I have an awesome cubical. (think office space, seriously!!) It can be distracting because you can hear other phone calls or get distracted by other employees. For the majority of my clients or contacts, I have never seen them face to face, so it would make sense (to me) to not have an office. Also I do most of my schemin and brainstormin at home so I really don’t get a disconnect between work and home. If you can work efficiently from home do it.

[StuartL]

Have you considered the cost of working from an office? Here in Australia you would have your lease payments - your outgoings - the cost of extra phone lines and an Internet connection - plus GST on all of those.

It soon adds up and it's going to take a big chunk out of your monthly income.

[cryptblade]

Nice question. Cost is definitely an issue. Leasing an office is a lot different from leasing an apt. There are LOTS of costs, etc. And if you go through an incubator, there are costs like phone use, Internet, etc.

If you have grown big enough and have employees, then definitely look for an office. If you are still a 1 person shop, then try a virtual office so that you can secure meeting rooms for your clients/leads. It works well - cost effective without all the huss-n-fuss (I think that's made up) of leasing an actual office.