I've been developing and contracting from home for a couple of years now. And although it has great advantages, I can't help but feel I'm stunting my growth as a business. If that makes any sense. It restricts all communication to online or phone, unless I do the travelling. Work hours are blended into personal time. Social abilities decline, and with the kids running about the house it's a little hard to keep focus at times. If I need to take on employees, they're instantly restricted to off-site contracts and need their own equipment. As much as I do enjoy working at home, I can't help but be drawn to the glamour of having an office to go to. I've looked into co-working situations. But I have a lot of equipment (like a render farm) that is quite expensive. Who here works in an office? I know of a couple but not sure if it's actually a common thing.
I would if I could afford the rent. When I need a change of venue, I'll take my laptop to one of the local libraries (there are great ones around Seattle) and set up shop for a few hours.
In the UK there are a lot of business enterprise centres which rent units to small businesses for a reasonable cost. The only downside to that - if it can be considered as such - is that your business will have the same postal address as 20 others. Nothing like that in Oz?
I do have an office. It makes a huge difference. We're just 2 (me & programmer), but we rent 35 m2 room (it's usually less than $300 a month). I did work from home, but it didn't work for me very well.
I really like working at home so I can be flexible. Probably I get less done that Roman in his office, but I don't mind.
When I was single, working from home was not only problem-free but ideal. Now that I have a family, I've found that I need an office for two reasons: (1) because I'm more productive there and (2) to separate home and work. If I have to work late for whatever reason, I usually do it from home, but 'after family hours.'
Like MFS said. If you're single working at home is perfect. But if you have a family, kids can be a great distraction. Especially since they don't always understand that even though daddy is at home you can't always give them attention when they need it.
It took about a year, but the kids understand that when I'm in the home office they can't get my attention, as much. I find I can be very productive, but I definitely spend most of my time in front of the monitor, and it is effecting the family life. My thoughts are if I can manage to work away from home, when I do get home I can actually make it home time... but then again, I may end up just spending more time away from home in the office. Gah! @ Desktop Gaming - Yeah there are a few springing up here with shared areas and virtual offices (one receptionist). And also those places that offer walled off spaces. I've considered those but the problem is part of my animation services (which I do to fund game dev) require me to jump around once in a while. And I'm also looking at expanding with some mocap equipment, which takes up more room. I like the Idea of potential networking in these "Hubs". I certainly need to regain my social skills.
On a personal level: When I transitioned from in-house to freelance, there was an awful period where I attempted to work from home. It was impossible for me to distinguish work me and family me, from gaming-at-the-computer me to I'm-checking-some-work-emails-and-fixing-up-a-few-sounds me. Now that there is a distinct difference from a studio and a home life, that extra barrier to drive all the way to the studio to do work at times that interfere with family (dinner, board-game-night) is enough of a reality check for me to say, is this really that important that it can't wait until the morning? On a professional level: I've found I work more efficiently and effectively in a creative "work space". Home distractions are waiting for home, motivating me to get there sooner by working better and more focused during my office hours.
I should say that I have a home office all set up, with a door, so it's not like I'm working in the living room with kids running around.
My day job (the bill paying one) is in a proper office. I much prefer my other roles, in which I work at home - the study/spare bedroom is my office. No kids to interfere, but one rather wilful cat that sometimes demands attention. And a spouse, much the same!
I purchased a big shed, decked it out with insulation, mains wiring, ethernet points, air-con and desk space for 6 people (at a squeeze). My commute to work is about 10 seconds and it keeps the work-life balance perfect. When I did work inside the house I NEVER stopped working, but now when I "GO" to work I get a lot more done in my time.
which kids? anyway, I like working home, cuz it's 1 second away from my bedroom (and that is by foot ^^) and I can have a snack or drink whenever I want...
David Mccullough (the guy who wrote the John Adams biography) does his work in a similar building on his property. I saw an interview where he was working in the little building behind his house and thought, man that's pretty cool.
@Indiepath I'm totally into that idea. Have a friend who has an epic shed too. I'd go as far as putting a bed in mine too probably (just so I could occasionally get some peace if I stayed up super late coding).
Yeah, work from an office if you can afford it. It makes a difference. It will also allow you to keep your mind off work when you are at home. We have a small rented office in a commercial building (We're 4 people) and it works out well.
I've worked from home for a long time, but just a month ago finally decided to look for an office. I ended up working at a coworking place which has turned out great. There's plenty of space, nice desks and chairs, a kitchen, and other people around working on similar projects as me. I've found my productivity has increased dramatically without all of the distractions at home. The coworking place I am working from also has private offices that you can rent so you could store your stuff in it overnight and not have to worry about it (I assume it is like this at most of them).
I do the same thing as Ratboy. I found working from home untenable, I couldn't separate work life from home life. I find Seattle library hours a bit constraining to my personal schedule (city budget cuts and all), so I also camp out at coffee shops and the Pacific Place mall. It tends to be a bit more comfortable and free wifi.
I always feel that a great thing about an office is that you have somewhere to go during the week. It gets you out of the house, and when you get there it has the atmosphere of you're here to work. I also enjoy having other people around, to talk to and keep up socialising.