When I started my company I did it in the bedroom of my apartment. I knew I didn’t need a office because of the type of business I ran but even if I did I would’ve done it the exact same way. Signing a lease for a office is a unnecessary expense in the beginning of your hustle as it makes you buy all kinds of stuff to make sure you look like a business way before you even have any business. I had a friend who had a beautiful office with two of his own bathrooms and conference room with his own big screen TV who wished in the end he would have just did like me and ran it out of a apartment.
Let me update this angle a bit because what I wished I would’ve done is get a 2 bedroom apartment near where I needed the business to be. I moved within one train stop. If I could do it all over I would’ve got a 2 bedroom within walking distance of where I need to be because a whole office cost me like 1000 a month and I could have got a better apartment and dedicated the 2nd bedroom as my office for probably 300 more my current rent. I would’ve conducted business and upgraded my living a bit more. See the hustle to realize here is that if you don’t need a office for clients to visit then don’t spend the money. It’s better to spend half the money on a bigger apartment and move closer than have two leases and not know if the business is going to work.
I know you’re thinking FreeMan how will I receive mail? Well the cheapest is to find a mailbox company that is near where you have to be so they can receive it for you. If you are just receiving regular mail then you can get a PO BOX at the closest post office.
I know you’re thinking FreeMan what happens if I have to have a meeting? I doubt if this happens early in your hustle but just in case you do there are plenty of micro-offices that you can rent the conference room without signing some long term contract. In fact if you are near any small law firm they will let you use their conference room for even cheaper if you go in there and ask.
Most people make a mistake of wanting to look like they are conducting business. You don’t want to spend any money until you have real money coming in. You can get business cards for cheap, you can your phone setup for cheap, you can get your fax for cheap, and you can live in your house and watch CNBC on your lunch hour like I did. In the end I barely had 300 more bucks going out of my pocket when I started my business over my current rent.
If your business doesn’t require people coming into your office don’t pay for one. Even your employees will work in your house if you set it up properly. In the beginning of your business you need to be as cheap as possible and if you are going to spend money spend it on what contributes to your business and that might just be you getting a second bedroom and moving to the area where you need to be.
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Great information. This is the #1 mistake Black entrepreneurs make and cost them their business. The reason I emphasis Blacks because we tend to focus on books and marketing material that tells us getting an office or a “professional presence” is the best way.
To be honest, no one requires an office unless they are doing open customer facing business such as food service, currency exchange, dry cleaners or retail. I met plenty of very well-known 9-figure people in my industry at a coffee shop, airport lounge or even at a golf club community center.
Great advice letting people know they need to stop looking professional and just focus on doing business. People who are made respect a hustler that is bootstrapping out of a bedroom because 9/10, they had to come up the same way….
I agree! Look when I started there were other cats who had nice offices and were paying extra money. I stayed home and used the same Internet that was in my house and added two vonage phone lines and I was up and running. I only paid about 25 dollars more for the phones and that was my only increase.
I always laugh when people say they need a conference room. Most of the time you are going to the customers office so what the hell is your conference room for. And, like you said most businesses started off the same way and they welcome the guy out there doing for self.
Like I said people don’t want to make money they want to look like they make money! That’s the damn problem.
I think everyone’s seen someone who had a nice, new and shiny office that eventually gets cobwebs because no one’s coming in. Putting the carriage before the horse will always be backwards and I’m glad you told ‘em like you told ‘em.
Somehow looking like your in business has replaced actually being in business. I don’t know if Office Depot and Staples made you think you need auto-stamper but realistically you can run most businesses out of a garage and if you don’t have that run it out of your living room. All these worries about meetings that never happen are weird.
In all my years in business I only had 2 clients come to my office. Now we’re talking 10 years and no one comes so I don’t get what the hell everyone is thinking when they need office space. It’s unnecessary.
I absolutely agree. I’m now putting my business plan together to finally branch out on my own. I definitely plan on using my apartment in the rare instance that I should need a formal meeting space. Originally I moved into the apartment I have to have virtually no commute to my current full-time job. I lucked out with a place with very nice amenities (i.e a business center and resident lounge that I could reserve). Plus the area is growing into a popular metro spot with a lot of businesses HQ’d here. So I’ll be taking advantage of that before anything.
You have an even better situation because you can use the facilities of your building. I didn’t think of that angle at all but I wish I would’ve. You end up paying for so much when you open your business that it causes you to stress out because of the lease then actually furnishing it so people think you are legit. It’ll be better to take your meetings over lunch someplace nice or like you said in the meeting rooms of your building if you’re lucky. Overall if it’s unnecessary don’t spend a dime or your time on it.
2 Words – Virtual Offices. Office buildings at prestigious locations (Trump Tower, The Crown Buildings in Atlanta, etc) will let you rent virtual office space for $50 a month. The benefit is that you can have Trump Tower as your registered business address (instant legitimacy), have 24 hour telephone service (they either fwd calls to you, record them, or transcribe them and send it to you via email), and access to their conference rooms and resource centers at deep discounts.
I think Regus has the same setup nationwide so you can use them if you want also. So many people have been taught to get office space that it drains all their money. I say get the office when you actually grow into it and until then save your money.
Good post. I was also told by a tax preparer that if you have a 2 bedroom apartment, you could use one as the office and write off part of your rent.
Yeah whatever saves money is worth doing especially since people end up with two leases on a idea they are not sure works at all. People need to realize in the first 6 months a office may not be needed so why spend the money.