With a small business accountant, running a small business from home couldn’t be easier. We all need to earn a living, but not all of us were meant to work under someone else. Many people prefer being self-employed instead. For those of you who are unsure about becoming entrepreneurs, we have outlined some of the top reasons why you should take the plunge and start a small business from home.
Here at SureBooks, our expert small business accountants offer a variety of accounting, payroll and tax services to small business owners. So we know all about the benefits of starting a small business from home. Keep reading to find out why you should take on this new challenge and become self-employed.
Top 6 Reasons To Start A Small Business From Home:
Gain flexibility and set your own hours
If you decide to start a small business from home, you will essentially act as your own boss. This means you have all the flexibility you want when it comes to setting your work hours and taking time off.
People who work under an employer are usually confined to the conditions laid out in their employment contracts. In contrast, self-employed people can work from home, remotely and even travel while they work. This may sound too good to be true but as long as your business is being managed effectively in your absence, there is no reason why you cannot work whenever and wherever you choose.
The flexibility that comes with self-employment will also allow you to choose when you take leave. This is particularly attractive to parents, as they may want to have the option to attend school functions or spend more time with their children. This flexibility is also useful around religious holidays, as you will not have to stick to specific contract terms and can take the day off if you so choose.
Make your own business decisions
When you work for someone else, you seldom have decision-making powers when it comes to how the business is run. For some people, this is no problem at all; they prefer to leave the strategic decisions to the boss. For aspiring entrepreneurs, however, it can be frustrating letting someone else make all the important business decisions.
As a small business owner, you will get to decide how your business is run. The suppliers you use, the operating hours your business runs on, the staff that are in charge of different business areas, and all the other critical aspects of your business are entirely up to you. For many people, this is a major selling point for becoming an entrepreneur, as they prefer to have the power to choose how the business functions, as well as the power to change their minds.
Pursuing your passions
Many people who work for employers take time out of their weekends and free time to pursue their true passions. Veterinarians moonlight as musicians; investment bankers go diving on the weekends; small business accountants have hobbies outside of work. But what if you could turn your passion into your day job and profit off of it, too? This is the promise of self-employment: the opportunity to pursue your passion as part of your day job.
If you enjoy diving on the weekends, you can open a shop for diving gear. If you love to bake, you start a patisserie and spend most of your week baking for profit. The possibilities are virtually endless when it comes to tying your passions into your day job.
As mentioned, you will have plenty of flexibility as a small business owner. This means that you don’t have to choose one passion or the other to turn into a business. Why not pursue all your passions? As your business develops and gains a loyal customer base, you could always incorporate more and more new ideas into your service or product offerings and find new ways to instil passion into your business.
No matter how niche your passion is – be it pottery, silversmithing or homemade jams – virtually anything can be developed into a sound business model. That is precisely what is so wonderful about entrepreneurship. If there is no space for your passions in the market, you can create that space on your own terms.
Lower operating costs
Thus far, we have outlined some reasons why you might want to start your own small business. But there are also many benefits to starting a small business from the comfort of your own home. One of these benefits is lower operating costs compared to starting a business at another location.
When you run a business from your own home, you save yourself the additional cost of renting or purchasing a separate business location. If you rent your home or are paying a mortgage on it every month, those monthly costs will be considered tax-deductible as a business expense. This is a significant advantage that will reduce your personal expenses and make your life easier as a business owner.
Using your home as a business location doesn’t just mean your operating costs will be reduced; it also means potentially higher profit. This is incredibly helpful in the early days of your entrepreneurship when your business is still gaining traction. Every bit of money you save will be more than welcome as you start your entrepreneurship journey.
Less start-up capital
Working and running your business from home significantly reduces the amount of start-up capital you will need to get up and running. Finding a good location takes time and it also costs money. There are the administrative fees for signing a lease, paying a real estate agent and taking ownership of a property, not to mention the cost of furnishing your new location. These costs alone can eat up all your start-up capital before your doors have even officially opened.
Besides the cost of basic furniture, there are also many equipment costs to consider such as a phone system for your new office location and computer hardware. By starting and operating your business from home (at least temporarily) you rid yourself of a huge time and money investment because you probably already have a phone system and computer you can use at home.
Naturally, not every home is kitted out with printers, a stable internet connection and the other equipment we’ve mentioned above. But as long as you have somewhere to sit and operate your business and a cellphone in-hand, you can make do. Any printing that needs to be done can be outsourced to local libraries and print shops while you prepare to scale-up your business down the line.
No commuting
People all over the world are forced to commute for long hours to get from their homes to work and back every day. Many of these people travel on foot or make use of public transport, while the luckier ones drive their own vehicles or even get taken to work by company drivers. No matter which of these categories you fall into, nobody enjoys commuting. There’s usually terrible traffic before and after work and a potentially long journey means more and more time away from home, not to mention time wasted travelling when you could be working.
Any small business owner knows that getting started takes a significant time investment. So why not work from home and never have to commute again? Rather than spending an hour commuting five days a week, you can spend the time you save with your family, getting to work early, or having personal time. Any minute saved is a minute you can use more wisely somewhere else.
Another perk of a non-existent commute is the money you save on travel expenses. If you’re used to driving your own car to work, you won’t have to spend as much on fuel anymore. Driving less is also great for the car as it will probably last longer, which means less expensive repairs later down the line! Overall, there are plenty of benefits to working from home when you take into account the lack of commuting.
Small Business Accountant For Your Home Business
Hiring a small business accountant will take a lot of work off your hands and ensure that you always remain compliant. Your reporting will be filed in time (if you have an expert small business account from SureBooks), you won’t have to worry about SARS, and you can focus on other work with all the time you save on doing your own bookkeeping.
From Fortune 500 executives to mom-and-pop stores and individuals, everyone needs an accountant at one point or another. That said, a lot of us avoid getting a professional involved until it’s too late. For example, people who don’t submit their tax returns or do their own returns incorrectly.
Small business owners can make this mistake too, putting off hiring a small business accountant even though they may desperately need one. The fact is, as a small business owner, you need a small business accountant because they’re experts in what they do. Small business accountants have plenty of experience bookkeeping for small enterprises, making them the perfect fit for your small home business.
In the initial stages of starting your own business, you may be tempted to take on all the accounting paperwork and reporting on your own and avoid getting a small business accountant. This may be because things are still small, there’s not much money flowing in yet, or maybe you don’t have the resources to hire an accountant right now. But it’s important to remember that hiring a small business accountant is going to benefit you greatly in the long run, so the sooner you hire the better.
As a business owner, you’re going to have a lot of responsibilities on your plate. In fact, many entrepreneurs work seven days a week when they’re starting out. If you’re going to be inundated with tasks, why not outsource the accounting to an expert small business accountant? They’ll have more time to get it right and get it done quickly, giving you the space to make more important strategic decisions for your business.
Instead of constantly doing reporting and filing paperwork to keep the tax man happy, you can spend the time analysing your profits or losses and figuring out how to grow the business. After all, it’s your job as the owner to steer the ship. So next time you procrastinate on hiring a small business accountant, remember just how beneficial they will be to the longevity of your business.
Get In Contact With A Small Business Accountant From SureBooks
Here at SureBooks, we have a team of expert small business accountants who can consult with you to help you better manage your finances and improve your cash flow, freeing up valuable time so you can focus on growing your business.
Our payroll services team submits your EMP501’s twice a year so you don’t have to. They also take the guesswork out of your payslip administration, handling your PAYE, UIF and SDL requirements to keep your business compliant and keep you happy.
We cover everything from business invoicing, produce management reporting, cash flow analysis, financial statements, tax return preparation and more.
Hopefully we’ve convinced you that there are so many great reasons to start a small business from home. So reach out to us for a consultation with a small business accountant and find out more about our selection of small business accounting packages.
