Being an entrepreneur comes with many perks. Apart from coming up with a new idea and being the first to introduce it into the market, you get to set your schedule. You’re your own boss. You choose what times you work, when to host meetings, who to hire, and so forth. One of the many decisions you’ll make when you’re your own boss, is deciding where to maintain an office. Is a home office best suited for you and your work style or is a coworking space a better fit? Here we’ll highlight the pros and cons of each, in helping you make the decision.

Home Office

With a home office you’re already paying for the space, and you get to work from home. Who doesn’t love working in their PJs? But, remote work from a home office comes with some drawbacks you’ll have to deal with as well.

The Pros

Several benefits exist in a home office setting including

• It’s your home, your space, and you decide how to decorate and maintain the space
• It’s already paid for, plus you can take some write-offs during tax season (home office, internet, office supplies, etc)
• You don’t have to drive to the office every day so you’ll save time as well as the costs of fuel, parking, and wear and tear on the car
• You can save money by preparing meals at home
• You choose to start, stop, and break times throughout the day

As your own boss, you have nobody to answer to. Obviously, you’ll need to be disciplined if you want to maintain a viable business and keep up with customer demands, regardless of your industry.

The Cons

There are several perks to working from home as a business owner, as well as for young freelancers who like their personal space. But this also comes with some negatives as well, which include

• You have to be dedicated and you have to maintain boundaries (especially if you have kids and a spouse, you need to separate work and family time)
• It’s hard to work from home if you need to host meetings regularly or meet with clients regularly
• It might result in lackluster work performance, some people might lack motivation or find it hard to work, when there’s a TV, gaming system, and other fun things to do right outside the office door
• Difficult to manage if you have other employees working in remote areas
• Tough to maintain security (cyber crimes, employees using personal devices for logging into work etc.)

Coworking Space

As you can see, working from home is great, but you also have to think of the setbacks and lack of productivity concerns that come alongside those perks. With coworking spaces, you’re out of the house every day, around other people, and feel like you’re actually “going to a job.” It may not be as tough to find motivation in a cowork space, but you should still weigh the pros and cons before making the final decision.

The Pros

A cowork or shared working space, comes with many benefits to freelancers, entrepreneurs, and others who don’t maintain a fixed office space. Some of the benefits include

• It’s affordable, as you’re sharing the cost, based upon how frequently you go to the space, how much space you use, and how many others are in the shared space
• Other freelancers and entrepreneurs sharing great ideas around you, will motivate and help spark new ideas for your business
• You can socialize and interact every day; you’re not working alone from home, so you feel like you’re “part of a community” even if they’re not your coworkers
• You separate your work life and social/family life
• Great for networking

The Cons

Several great benefits of coworking spaces are highlighted. It’s also important to consider some of the negatives which include

• It’s easy to get distracted in noise, personal conversations, and while networking
• You’re paying for the space (it’s a shared cost, but is more expensive than working at home)
• You need to bring lunch or buy lunch every day, which is an added expense
• The commute by bus, car, biking, or walking, is much longer than that of having to roll out of bed at home
• There’s also a lack of privacy as anyone can peer over your shoulder

What’s Right for You?

Ultimately, personal preference will dictate your decision, especially if you’re a freelancer, entrepreneur, or can work remotely. For those who like anonymity, their own space/time, can balance work/family time, and don’t mind the commute for meetings from time to time, working at home is a great option. If you lose focus easily, need to be around others, and want a chance to network, a cowork space might be a better solution.  Regardless of your desicion, make sure you set up your company properly, you can learn more about sole proprietors, partnerships and whether or not you need an EIN.

If you’re not sure, give each a try. Go back and forth for a few months and see which one suits you best. Ultimately, you’ll find what you’re best suited for, and find a way to make it work and let your business thrive when you ultimately choose the office setup that’s best for your creative energies to work.

About the author

Alessandra de Faria has worked as a freelance copywriter for approximately 10 years. Her background in the fields of marketing (BA) and legal (JD), has afforded her with various development tools in research and writing. She’s experienced in blog writing, composing ebooks, long and short-form content writing, and online content writing.

She enjoys writing in various niches. Her favorite forms of content writing for clients include listicle, how-to, and general comparison-based pieces. Alessandra’s well-versed in various different areas of online marketing and content creation, and enjoys researching new concepts, ideas, and the latest online strategies, to help create engaging content for her client’s site visitors and readers.