Many people dream of having their own home based business. When you don’t have to fight with traffic to get to work, there is little overhead to deal with because you don’t have to pay for an extra space and additional utilities, and you get to make your own hours, it’s easy to see why the idea has such a draw for so many people.
In the past, working from home was a luxury that very few could afford. However, thanks to technology and the movement towards online jobs that allow you to work from anywhere there is an internet connection, about 45 percent of the U.S. working class works from the comfort of their own home.
Work from home for this percentage of the population usually comes in the form of freelance work. If a person is employed by a company, employers cut costs by hiring out their employees as independent contractors, or since there is no need to have an office space, they keep everybody working from wherever they want as long as the work gets done.
If you’re operating a home based business and you’re looking to cut costs even beyond what you’re saving by not having overhead on a space, try doing these things:
Skip the Middleman
With a business that is registered with the federal government, there are going to regulations to ensure that you’re operating by the book. Often businesses will hire out services such as accountants or marketing specialists, but if you’re a home based business that is a manageable enough size for you to take on by yourself or with few employees, skip the middleman in the equation and embrace the support of a software that does the math for you. Why pay somebody to do something several times over when you can pay once for a software that will do the service for you for years to come?
Lease Your Extra Space
If you’re operating a small to midsize business out of your home and you have a couple employees working underneath you, if you have the space in your home, a good way to make money on the deal is to rent out the extra space that you have. If you have a shop in the backyard or an extra room, or a garage you don’t use, convert the space to one that can be rented out to vendors. This works great for people who have studio based businesses, but the idea can work for anybody with a little ingenuity.
Embrace the Write-Offs
The government loves people like you who create small businesses. It boosts the economy and creates jobs. However, if you’re a veteran with the whole small business thing, you know how expensive all the odds and ends of operation get. To save yourself, study hard on write-offs and embrace them like they’re your lifeline-because they are. Write-offs come in unique packages, so look hard for them and you’ll be able to save a lot of money.
