Need advice about moving my business out of my house to an office space

[worldwide_ship]

Hello Community,

I've been selling online for about 15 years by myself. My wife and I recently had our first child and the time has come for me to move the business to an office or small warehouse and hire an employee or two. The problem is I don't know where to start! Does anyone here have any resources I can tap into or any advice about how to go about this? Thanks

[profitweb]

I just did this a year ago... it's been SO NICE not to have inventory strewn all over my home and helpers there every day.

I can now get more pallet/truckload deliveries, that weren't always available to a residence.

First off, if you are not bringing in enough $ now to pay for rent, then don't sign a lease.  I would not recommend borrowing money to do this.  Try to get a 2 year lease, to try it out.  Many will try to get you locked in for 5 years.  That's risky, especially if there's not a cheap way to terminate the lease early.

I can't tell what kind of products you sell, so it's hard to give much advice.  Size of your items matters.  Can you tell us or PM me the info?

You might also want to consider AMZ FBA.. they'll store your items and, when you get an eBay order, you tell AMZ to ship/deliver it.  Their storage fees are crazy cheap and their shipping costs seems to be less for my items than eBay's discounted carrier rates (not eBay's fault).  

I'm in an area where rent is high though ($2150/month for 2000 SF of mostly warehouse and a little office).  My rent is probably going to go up substantially when my lease runs out in a year.  AMZ FBA may be cheaper and far more convenient.  I'm still investigating that.  Also, my eBay customers might get confused/upset if they get their eBay purchase in an AMZ box.

Office space is cheaper here than warehouse space, but I need a large overhead door for deliveries.  Having this benefit has made it worth getting out of my house.  I can buy in bulk more easily to lower inventory cost.  Being able to fit tall pallet racks is also necessary for me.

I would suggest looking for commercial spaces on Craigslist and FB Marketplace.  If you go with a realtor, or commercial RE listings, you'll pay top $$ for those spaces.  Leasing directly from an owner is so much cheaper.

CREXI and Loopnet are great websites to investigate spaces and prices (although they're higher on there).

I "furnished" my warehouse over the first 6 months.  I purchased used shelving off of FB Marketplace and Craig's.  It was a hodge podge.  We liked the rolling shelves the best.  When Bed, Bath, and Beyond went out of biz, I really cleaned up.  I got nice pallet racks, rolling stairs, rolling ladder, and a pallet jack cheap.

[adkhighker]

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@worldwide_ship wrote:

Hello Community,

I've been selling online for about 15 years by myself. My wife and I recently had our first child and the time has come for me to move the business to an office or small warehouse and hire an employee or two. The problem is I don't know where to start! Does anyone here have any resources I can tap into or any advice about how to go about this? Thanks

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Other than the good advice profitweb already gave you, I would say to only hire "an employee or two" if you absolutely need to.  If you're planning on hiring employees full time, as in putting them on your payroll, that will greatly complicate things for you. There are a lot of things you'd have to consider such as legal issues, employees tax forms, extra tax work for you, setting up a payroll, workers compensation insurance if your state requires it, and all the fun of having workers that don't show up or don't pan out. Of course there are a zillion different situations where small business owners just hire people part time whenever they need a hand for a few hours or for day or two, which is a different story.  

[squinkercat59]

I personally know someone that was friendly with a shopkeeper in her town, who offered her the use of a good-sized back room in the building for a very reasonable price (just a few hundred dollars a month). The room had its own entrance onto the alley in back, which would be useful for deliveries or coming & going at your own hours. You might check the local ads, or talk to local shopkeepers, to see if anyone is offering that sort of arrangement. I would think they'd jump at the chance to have the extra income if they could swing it.

[worldwide_ship]

That's a great idea. I definitely will ask around. Just to start I only need a part time employee for a couple hours a day. Like a college student or something

[varebelrose]

When we were actively selling, I bought one of those Movable sheds (mine was a 20' x 10' that the company had repossessed. It only cost me $2000 delivered... couldnt build it myself for that price!)

Put it in the backyard, ran power to it, insulated and paneled it, installed a small window AC unit and portable heater in the wintertime. I had a desk for the computer (used wireless router signal from inside the house), dedicated packing and photo areas, and lots of shelf space for storage. This setup worked GREAT for us. Just an idea.

Its now my "man cave" for hobbys!

[gloryglorygifts]

See if there is a SCORE office around your area or check them out online. They are retired professionals that volunteer their time and expertise to small business owners. You can get all kinds of info from them, from real estate options to taxes and employees. They were a help to me years and years ago and I highly recommend them. They have online meetings and instructional videos too. 

I'm really excited for you! Good luck and congratulations on your new baby.   

[profitweb]

@gloryglorygifts SCORE is great advice.  Great share!

I just met with my first mentor on import/export, that SCORE hooked me up with, and they were top knotch!  They own a huge import/export shipping company near me.  I wasn't expecting to get the-best-of-the-best from SCORE, but I sure did.

And it's free!

[gloryglorygifts]

I used to be the executive assistant to the president of a bank in NYC. When he retired, he started volunteering his expertise at SCORE. That's how I learned about them. They are an incredible resource! I'm glad that you found that to be true as well and yes, it is all free! 

[farmalljr]

Score was already mentioned. I too think they are a good outfit for those needing some business help.

But I will also echo what someone else said. Adding employees and a sperate space, will come at great cost, risks, headaches, and all of that. It's not as easy as saying "I'm going to hire someone now". First, you will need a pretty large stash of money to fund all this, have payroll put away for 30 days or more, pay for all the new insurance you will be required to have, etc. You will also need to be able to cover all those new ongoing expenses every week/month/year. You WILL be taking a massive pay cut to hire people, unless you have somehow figured a way to pay for all of this stuff in advance. Were I you, my first and only goal right now would be finding a new place for business. That is enough of a load to take on, making this type of transition. 

Once you hire people, you are responsible to keep a paycheck rolling. You are taking on a moral adoption of people who now will be depending on you every day. That's no small burden. If you fail, they fail. And it wouldn't be just you who went through financial hardships, you would also be the cause of theirs. Employing people is no small task. I do not employ anyone other than myself, and never will. Don't need the pressure, don't want the responsibility. 

[b86fiero]

Congrats and good luck  🙂

My advice, take your time to investigate what is available and run the financials. Making a year(s) long commitment and all that moving your business to an outside location entails can seem overwhelming. I recommend breaking the process down into manageable tasks and goals (a business plan).

Will a 20x30 foot space be adequate? Will that size allow for expanded inventory? Exactly what do you need in workable space?  Location, is it a safe area for you to work alone? Insurance and flood insurance? 

Can you afford to not pay yourself an income if you are paying rent and all the other expenses? 

Since you now work from home, will spending time away from your wife and new baby create any hardships?  Child care?

Lots of good advice given in the above posts and lots more to consider.

If you don't try you will never know if you would have succeeded.  Do your due diligence then go for it! 

[femmefan1946]

Just to start I only need a part time employee for a couple hours a day. Like a college student or something

You may find an at -home parent more reliable, especially if the child is small enough to be in a playpen while parent works.

And being a home with a baby can be mind-numbing. After the glow wears off and energy returns, having occasional adult company is a joy.

Also, if you decide to go with AZ FBO, look into shared office space.  DH used one when he was first retired.

The idea is that there are permanent staff, actually usually the business owners, who supply rooms/offices/meeting space as needed , along with shared business machinery like printers, fax and phone service.

When you need space, whether daily or occasionally, you arrange for the appropriate space to be available. We were setting up meetings for appraisals since DH didn't want to have strangers in the house.
The employees took our calls, accepted our mail, made copies and arranged for all the things managers don't realize need organizing, like regular cleaning of the offices.

These small businesses are quite common, usually run by women who have years of experience as administrative assistants (you know, secretaries).

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I looked into this last year & for me, shared office space wouldn't work, since my primary need was inventory storage & I could continue doing the office work from home, though it would have been nice to have it all in 1 place.  I ultimately came to the realization after scouring Loopnet for weeks, talking to commercial brokers, watching vids & learning about the triple F's or N's, can't remember.  Ultimately, I came to realize that with rents being from $2500-3500 here,  without the triples, there was just no way it would work.  So I stuck with my storage units, that sounded really expensive, until I saw how much commerical/mixed use/warehouse space was.   Anything below $2500 was in a bad part of town.  Good thing I came to the realization I did, b/c my life changed dramatically in the course of a year & it would have been a really bad move.  So my advice is to be 150% sure you can afford it! 

I have heard amazing things about SCORE. 

[chariot_badges]

I would be REAL careful and thoughtful about starting or expanding a business right now.

Have you read about our economy?

Just sayin ....  waiting six months won't hurt you.

[mam98031]

Something to consider about Amazon FBA, they comingle same inventories.  Meaning if there are other sellers of the same items, your inventory will get mixed in with theirs.