Do you operate your business

Away from home is the best choice for me. No one to bug me when I don't want to be.

 

If I had it to do over , I would have my shop away from my home . Too many people showing up at all hours

 

I agree with tazzymoto and buckfever............someday.
Mine's in the basement 8x10 feet.
Some day....... a girl can dream right?!?!?!? ;D

 

I would love to have a shop seperate from my residence for that exact reason. People showing up at all ours unannounced. Plus you never know if people are coming by when no one is home. I have sent a few people packing for doing this repeatedly even after being asked to call ahead.

Luckily I have some great neighbors. They tend to keep a good eye on things when I am gone. I do however feel a little safer having my buisnes only a few feet away where I can keep an eye on things. Something happens I am right there.

 

Like any situation there are pro's and con's. I had an electronics repair shop next to my house in my converted four car garage. It was great for the convenience of walking to work, being to go in the house and have a cup of coffee anytime and not having to pay rent but a nightmare to try to keep regular hours. People had no respect for my hours. They would come by any time, any day, including Christmas! Usually they would say, "I called but there was no answer". Uh, Duh, I am like closed. I put up a gate at the end of my driveway and it sort of helped but some would just walk around the gate.

Even though I closed over four years ago I still have people that show up and tell ask me if I know the phone company says my number is no longer in service! Now I just tell them I don't do repair work any longer, sorry! But if I ever did decide to do commercial taxidermy work I would still have a home business. The convenience outweighed the hassle and at the same time I didn't have a mortgage or make a landlord any richer. By the way, my garage is my hobby taxidermy shop now! All 836 square feet of it.

 

+




= no one just "stops by".

 

Years ago I did work from a building on my property by my house. But moving to a much bigger building away from my house was the best thing I ever did, even though it is only 1 mile from my house !!
Believe it or not but I do get more work done by being away from the house because I always stay there and work. By working at my old shop on the same property as my house, it was too easy to say well its too late in the day to start something I might as well go in the house instead of working in the shop. Plus like everybody else has said , it keeps the clients from stopping by at all hours to drop things off. Also, now this is just my opinion but I think for me it just looks so much professional to running a studio away from my house. And that is NOT to downgrade anybody who works from there home. Notice I said "for me" !!

 

I operate out of my basement now just on a part-time basis but I'm growing quickly which is great so I would really like to have a shop away from my house. I've already ran in to the issue of people not respecting business hours and it seems like my family never rembers that if I'm in the basement I'm probably working

 

I lease a 3500 sf commercial bldg. I have also worked from home in the past. The additional cost incurred by leasing space is peanuts compared to the increase in efficiency you gain by having a building dedicated to taxidermy.

 

I like working from my basement. I don't have utility costs for a separate building. I am going to move all of my freezers to a separate building though, (10) so I have more room for displays. My customers like to see mounts in a natural home atmosphere too. A lot of guys have their man-caves in garages or basement rooms too!

 

AMEN !
The appearance of a proficient professional building, will increase your traffic, guaranteed. Once inside its up to you to sell your self and talent to make them come back.

Sometimes it still amazes me at the people that see the building, and will stop just to look around when they were just traveling through, This is not a rare occurrence its ever week. Yes some of the people return with items.

 

I have a dedicated shop on my property, and not sure I would want it otherwise. No added rent or mortgage or commuting. I am open by appointment only. I don't have "window shoppers" stopping in slowing me down. If they want to see my work they can look at my website and then make an appointment.

 

I prefer it that way. As far as making an impact on my business, I can't say, I have always done it that way, and so do all of the others in my area. I state my policy on any form of advertising I've used. I have a fair amount of customers that have voiced their appreciation of the fact that I have my shop next to my house, it gives them a sense of security. Some have had bad experiences with store front taxidermy shops, where the owner was unreachable and they lost trophies and money.

 

On the point of working from home...our shop is a separate building and our showroom/office is separate from that. Our home is back in the woods behind the shops. We are appointment only also. Our Clients never enter our work area. We bring them in the showroom to do paperwork and show them options. We keep a fridge stocked with beverages and have a bathroom also. It works for us. As a side note...when we built the shop and showroom we were not even considering doing taxidermy. We just converted everything once the business took off. But there are some valid points. We would probably get more work done if the shop wasn't on the property. ..too easy to grab a pole and go fishing.

 

Bahahaha...."grab a pole and go fishing", I thought that was only me. My shop is behind and to the side of my house where it is easily seen from the road....two German Shepherds keep most from dropping in, dogs are in the shop when it's open. The house and shop are situated on 7 acres and I can only think of one "hard study" that will come to the house if the shop is locked and lights are off.

I am only a part time shop and most of my customers are from the county I live in with the exception of 10-12 that come in from TN (only 8-10 miles from the border), being that I am in my shop M-F 4-9 I don't have anybody coming by after the lights are out. Weekends I tend to cater to the client, makes it nice to walk to the shop, take in work and walk back to the house.

You all have some good points either way, I would lean toward a separate shop located down the road a piece if the shop was my bread and butter... regardless of where it is it just seems more professional to me. To me my shop is like my business card that is always on display.

But like I said I'm just part time and in it for the fun, the money I make goes back I to the shop until I get it just right, pays for my utilities, buying animals and a place I can relax.

 

have approximatley 300 square feet in my basement. Wish a separate location was possible, especially when it comes time to skinning/fleshing/Tanning....drives my wife crazy.

 

I used to operate out of a 3 car garage with 10 foot ceilings for 4 years pretty much full time after work.. Bought 10 acres last June with a 2400 sf house that has a 3500 sf shop with 20' ceilings.. Mortgage was cheaper before, but I spend less time chuffing things around to get things done.. I can walk out my door of the house into the shop. Plus side is its right here, no commute, good neighborhood, lots of room to do whatever.. Downside would be if the shop ever caught fire, pretty much consume everything., shop has its own entrance with 3 x 16' oversized doors, just remodeled the bathroom from the floor tile to crown molding on the ceiling, probably the sharpest room of the house..

Hours are 8-6 Monday - Friday.

Weekends are appt and pretty much pick up only if I'm here.