Businesses in Cornwall come in all different shapes and sizes, and it is fair to say that the vast majority will have been affected by the huge advances made in technology across the past couple of decades.
The evolution of the internet and the emergence of high-quality digital services have had a transformative effect on many operations, making the possibility of being able to work from home a genuine reality for not only the estimated 51,000 self-employed people in the region, but also those who work for many larger organisations.
However, if you’ve recently taken up the opportunity to work from home, or are planning to launch your own venture in the coming months, you might be keen on ideas on how you can avoid using the kitchen table as a desk and develop a dedicated space for your working needs. Here, we offer up a few suggestions on steps you could take to achieve work-from-home success.
- Create a new space
Getting the headspace and peace required to work properly can be tough in busy households, so consider whether you could transform a spare room or another area into an office. The book Starting a Business for Dummies even suggests opting for somewhere you can literally shut the door on at the end of the working day, so your work-life does not interfere with your personal life.
If space is tight and there is no obvious place to work, could you potentially consider an extension? There are several ways you could fund such a significant home improvement, but seeking mortgage advice from a service like Trussle before you remortgage could be a good starting point. It might not take much;Â a garage conversion, a large room split into two, whatever it takes to get that needed quiet space.
2. Ensure your internet is up to speed
Considering the important role that many digital services now play in the business world, it is absolutely essential that you have access to a quality broadband connection that provides good connection speeds.
As CornwallLive reported towards the end of last year, Cornwall has recently been leading the way on the issue of rural communities getting up to speed on broadband. With that in mind, it may well be worth you checking out what you currently receive and seeing whether other packages could prove beneficial.
3. Get the right equipment
While you may be tempted to try and keep costs low by simply sitting hunched over your laptop on the sofa, it is worth considering how the right tools could make a big difference to your productivity.
A desk will help you keep in a professional frame of mind, while a docking station for your laptop, a monitor, and a mouse may also give your set-up a proper desktop feel. After all, if you’re planning to work from home long-term, you need to have an environment that is fit for purpose.
The perfect environment
Working from home can offer convenience and benefits to many people, while it is also ideal if you’re in the process of starting up a venture from scratch. However, having the right place to do your work is vital.
We hope the suggestions above might have given you a few thoughts on how you could tackle this issue going forward.
