Today’s biggest brands, ranging from Apple, Facebook, to Amazon, all have one thing in common, and that’s they were all founded at home. Whether you have space in your garage or basement alongside persistence and motivation, you can follow in the footsteps of these successful businesses worldwide that started from nothing. These successful enterprises mean one thing: you don’t need excessive startup funds to be successful, and you can begin your journey toward success anywhere.
As long as you have the drive and knowledge to do so, you’ll be reaching your goals in no time. That said, the following are more reasons why starting a business in a garage or basement at home isn’t bad as it sounds.
Flexible Working Hours
Working at night or early in the morning is an excellent boon for entrepreneurs with plenty of obligations outside of work, allowing them to balance their personal and work lives with ease. Technologies like smartphones, faxes, and emails enable you to interact with clients and suppliers every day at any time, allowing you to tend to other things outside of work seamlessly.
Plus, even when you have major house projects like septic tank pumping done or having your home’s exterior repainted—you get the chance to monitor progress while keeping up with work. The best part is, if you have kids, running your business at your home’s garage or basement offers you more flexibility with child care, ultimately giving you more time to spend with your family, and nothing’s more important than that.
No Commuting
One obvious and significant advantage of running your business in your garage or basement is saving you tons of money from commuting expenses, which can become expensive over time. For most home-based businesses, the only commute they need to do is walking downstairs, unless you need to do plenty of traveling to visit customers personally.
Lower Overhead Costs
All businesses run at home have the common benefit of not having to buy or rent business premises elsewhere, significantly reducing overhead costs. Since there’s no separate structure to rent or maintain, it lets you save more money from typical business expenses like utilities. Plus, depending on your town’s regulations, the costs of business licenses and taxes.
All you need to worry about is the expenses you need to pay for home use, ranging from electricity bills or water bills, saving you a ton of money in the long run—allowing you to allot more to your business and grow exponentially.
More Income Tax Advantages
Running business operations can be an excellent way to recoup your business expenses and, in many cases, reduce the amount of income taxes you need to pay, maximizing your profits. However, to qualify for it, your office space needs to pass a test, meaning you need to show that a portion of your house is used for conducting business. So, the garage or basement is perfect for it. That’s because if you work in the kitchen or living room, the IRS won’t make you eligible for the tax deductions.
The Ability to Scale Up or Scale Down Quickly
When renting an office space or anything similar, your business’s size becomes limited to the area’s extent, making it inconvenient. That’s because, during events where downsizing is ideal for your business, you can’t do it as fast if you’re signed to the location on a long-term lease, leaving you to pay more than what you need. Working from your garage or basement allows you to hire more individuals, cut people off, or work longer to shorter hours to right-size your operations.
Test Business Ideas with Minimal Costs
More than half of new businesses, no matter the industry, fail within the first couple of years of operations. That’s because if you have had to place some cash out for office space and other fixed costs at the beginning, startup failures are inevitable, especially when you’re not making as much profit or revenue, making it an expensive failure.
Working at your garage or basement enables you to test out new business ideas without costly overhead expenses. It allows you to determine their viability before investing a lot of money.
Starting a business at home, whether in your garage or basement, isn’t something you should be ashamed of—after all, everyone has to start somewhere. Coincidentally, the most prominent enterprises today had their humble beginnings in a basement or garage. The advantages it provides, like those mentioned, can help you launch your startup seamlessly and grow over time.
