Home Office in a Box

If you decide to start your own business ormove your business to your home there are quite a few things to take intoconsideration: 1. Space for your office2. Equipment needed3. CommunicationsTaking each item in turn:1. Space for your office We have all had them, our own little space in the home for our own use,haven’t we. Well not all of us have houses the size of a castle and it can bevery hard to find that little space you need to run a busy office from. There are a few ways around it that involves construction (or serious DIY):Garage conversion, simply clear out the garage and turn it into an office.Simple to say but the pit falls and how to avoid them are;Warmth, without a decent insulator for the walls, floor and roof you’ll findthat the room will become very hot during the summers and very cold during thewinters. The cold can be taken care of with a simple heater but then the costwill be higher, when its hot, however, you will need either a portableair-condition unit or be able to sit and work in shorts.The answer is to use insulation which also bring about the possibility ofredecorating the walls, floor and ceiling, and maybe even a new lighting system!You should use at least 200mm soft insulation in the roof, this will not meetbuild regulations for a house (250mm minimum) but will be adequate for an officeneed. We would recommend 300mm but that’s because we are concerned about theenvironment!Floor needs to be insulated to a depth of at least 100mm of polystyrene, thechoice of a hard insulator is simple, you can lay your chipboard flooringstraight on it (remember to glue those joints) and have a ‘floating floor’.The chipboard covering should be cut back about 25mm from the walls so that nopart of the flooring touches the walls (with reduce the chances of a warpingfloor to practically nil).The walls needs at least 75mm of polystyrene this interwoven with a lattice of2” by 3” stud work set at 600mm centre. As long as the main studs are at600mm then you will have no trouble with plasterboards (1200mm) to be sent andfastened straight onto the studs.This new room should be very cosy and should serve you for years ahead. Attic Conversion or Loft conversion. This option has proven to be very attractive to a lot of people, as a matter offact, I think that this might represent a large portion of work to our friendlypolish work force that’s here now!This is to hard for you to undertake without specialist input, you will need agood architect to draw it up, an engineer to verify the structural aspect of thebuild and you home and then you’ll need to find a good builder.The real advantage that this gives is that it does, if carried out properly, addreal value to your home! Mini office or Log Cabin in your Garden (serious DIY)A lot of our members have taken this option after they did the loft conversion!It can be a real pleasure of getting out of the house in the mornings, besideyou can hardly hear the family from out there (with the exception of summerholidays).A office in the garden requires you to have enough space for it, this should beblatantly obvious to moist of us BUT saying that the main issue is that itsbetter to go for a larger unit instead of a smaller one. I'm saying this becauseif your office grows your space in this office will be sorely missed if youhaven got it and you know that you could have had it!2. Equipment NeededVital equipment:1. Computer2. Photo Copier3. Telephone4. Fax (don’t integrate the computer with one!)5. security List of Recommended small office home office equipment:3. Communications It is, also, vital to get your communications right. You will have to:A Change your number (unless you can keep your existing one)B GET A NEW TELEPHONE LINE – forget trying to share it with your family itjust doesn't work, no really, don’t!C GET A NEW FAX LINE – forget sharing, why doesn't anyone listen to meD Don’t forget to put up a message on your old telephone line informingclients that you have this new one!

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