In this article, we discuss the challenges that online business owners face and 3 ways to create a workspace for your online business.
With cell phones and wireless technology, it is much easier than ever before to conduct business as usual, no matter where you are in the world. However, as an online business owner, your #1 concern is not that you don’t have the technology to connect with people around the world, but that figuring out a way to manage people who are in different time zones.
Keeping this in mind, we discuss 3 ways to create a workspace for your online business.
Essentially, you can choose to work from home, work from a shared workspace or work from an exotic location half away across the world.
Work from Home
Because of the internet, you no longer have to go to an office anymore. No reason to worry about office politics, and you can now work in your pajamas if that’s the way you like it. You can be as comfortable as you want to be and work in a completely relaxed environment. But for some people, working from home can be distracting, not to mention boring and lonely.
To retain your productivity even as you work from home, you must have a dedicated space that home that you use for no reason other than for work. You can have your own dedicated home office in a spare bedroom or in a garage. It should be professional and should replicate the office environment at home.
Most importantly, you should invest in a comfortable chair. You are going to be spending hours on the chair, so don’t hesitate to buy the most comfortable and ergonomically chair you find in a furniture store, although it’s on the expensive side.
Also, make sure to give yourself a break every so often. Go for a quick coffee break when you need to, and definitely, go for a walk after having spent hours working. If you have to meet someone, invite them to the Starbucks nearby and conduct the meeting over coffee.
Work from Shared Workspaces
There are many who hate working from home and miss the sense of community and togetherness that comes with working in a shared office environment. They miss not being able to talk to people and find working all by themselves at home terribly distracting. In that case, there are many offices that offer shared workspace for online business owners.
This requires some sort of an upfront investment, but they can help you become more productive. If you are working with a team of freelancers, then it would be far better to invite them to work with you at your shared workspace than to invite them to your home, especially when you have small children who constantly demand your attention – it is just not professional enough.
Also, when you work in a shared workspace, you will meet other like-minded professionals and get to network with people who can make a difference to your business.
Work from an Exotic Location
There are a lot of freelancers today who work as digital nomads – which means they visit exotic locations such as Cambodia and Colombia and take their work with them. As a digital nomad, the world is your office. You are just as likely to work from a beach in Costa del Sol, Spain as from a ski resort in New Zealand.
You won’t stay at once place for too long, never more than 6 months, and hop from one country to another, with your faithful laptop by your side. A digital nomad lifestyle is now possible because of fast and reliable internet connections, smartphones, cloud computing and apps such as Skype and Whatsapp that ensure that you will stay connected with your co-workers or clients no matter where you are in the world.
No matter where you go, you carry your office with you. Your data is stored in the cloud and you can get access to any software or application you want on a remote server, made available to you by hosting provider at a nominal monthly fee. This is a fun way to travel, live and work.
