Business Tips » When to Move out of the Coffee Shop and into a Real Office

When to Move out of the Coffee Shop and into a Real Office

Dynamic shared office space bustling with legal professionals engaged in work on laptops, reflective of a collaborative and tech-savvy law firm environment, with a background of large windows offering a view of the cityscape.

Workspace flexibility is so popular right now that in the right field, you can manage your business from practically anywhere. This new trend is incredibly helpful for solopreneurs looking to skip the financial investment of a traditional office space. Working from home, however, may not be the alternative solution. For many, it can be a struggle to focus and stay on track when working from home. So, what is the next best option? For some, it’s the coffee shop around the corner.

Coffee shops provide the goods (coffee, obviously), free Wi-Fi and music, and some very constructive ideas have emerged from working in them. Finding your own spot to get a change of pace and regain focus is important. But is that how you are using it? If your local coffee shop has unknowingly evolved into your office, you have outgrown it, and it may be time to think about a real office space.

Ask yourself these three questions about your coffee shop turned office:

  1. Are you getting angry at other patrons for being too loud or disruptive while you are working?
  2. Are you meeting clients there?
  3. Are you holding conference calls there?

If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you have become too involved. The last two questions are especially important because they both involve your clients. While an occasional outing or lunch meeting is completely acceptable, repeated visits to your favorite coffee shop are going to start raising eyebrows.

Most clients will begin to question your legitimacy-whether this is warranted or not- if you don’t have some type of professional office space to conduct business in. And no one wants to be on the other end of your conference call while listening to the latest happenings at Starbucks.

So how do you solve this problem affordably?

Join the co-working movement! This is another modern trend that is really changing the game for home-based entrepreneurs and businesses. Co-working itself has a variety of options, but basically you are paying to use a shared space with other professionals. Amata offers several co-working packages to choose from.

You can wake up, get ready, and go to the “office” every day if you like, or if you prefer, for only a few hours or days of the week. Our co-working space is shared with other members like you, who need a professional space, but don’t want the commitment of a private office. We also have private meeting rooms available for client meetings, so your days of less-than-impressive coffee shop meetings are over!

While making the move into a co-working space can seem like a big step, it offers the perfect transition from home-based to professional space and won’t leave you shell-shocked from the price tag. Plus, all of Amata’s co-working packages give you access to our member-hosted and networking events. You may even find inspiration from the pro working in the same space as you. Co-working involves a whole different level of community and networking benefits that private offices just don’t have.

So pick up your morning coffee still if you must, but head right back out that door and into a co-working space with the other professionals, because that is what you are, so start treating yourself like one.

Check out our flexible co-working packages here: https://amatacorp.com/pricing/