Struggling to decide whether to work from home or work from an office? Here’s why I moved my HQ 160 miles away from home and back again.
The pandemic forced many of us to work from home. So, when the lease on my premises expired in 2020, I decided to close my office for good. That is until now. My team and I have returned to the office and have set up HQ in Chelmsford. But why did I make this decision?
The story so far…
In 2006, I became self-employed. In 2009, after being a mortgage broker on my dining room table, I got my very first office. I stayed in that office until 2015. Then, during the course of 2018, I’d downsized my team. With a lot of people working remotely and only being in the office only a couple of days a week, I thought, why do I need this?
Then we got hit by the pandemic. Enough said. The pandemic made me realise that I didn’t need the office. And so, in July of 2020, I made the decision to build a home office, 20ft x 12 ft, perfect for me to use daily and as a marketing studio.
Now, there was still a huge need for my team to have an office. So in the September of 2020, I rented an office for my Operations Manager – situated three and a half hours away from me! That office held a team of eight.
The Challenge of Working From Home
Then the realisation struck. Both my operations manager and I realised it’s difficult to build a team and implement an entrepreneur’s ideas from a distance.
The logistics were stopping us from sitting around a table and sharing ideas. We couldn’t just go into a meeting room and brainstorm.
Technology is great and has enabled us to work collaboratively, but nothing can beat the value of physically sitting around a table with your team.
So, as restrictions are lifting, I’ve made the decision to close my office 3.5 hours away, and open a new HQ in Chelmsford, Essex, closer to home.
Getting back into an office lets me implement at the speed at which I need to. To build out the teams that I have and want.
I need to be at the head of the culture, to be the driving force for the brand and to be surrounded by my team.
The Best of Both Worlds
At the time of writing this, I spend 2 days in HQ and 3 days working from home most weeks. Getting the best of both worlds has been superb to our growth plans.
Working from home has been fantastic and has given me more time to spend with my family and readjust my life.
But just because I have the office doesn’t mean I will be here all the time, because there’s no need to be. That’s the beauty of having a team.
I can focus on the big picture and big projects at home and I also have the option to come in and implement ideas with those who manage my day-to-day operations.
We have a base to implement the marketing, the strategy, the systems, the processes, the automations and the sales from. We have a base to measure, monitor, and manage our advisors from.
I’ve always had desktops for my teams but I’m going to be changing that and getting everybody laptops. So that should they want to work from home, they have the means to.
Having an office will give the freedom and the autonomy to have the best of both worlds. Working from home, whilst having the ability to build a culture, build a team and build an environment.
I hope this story has inspired you in making your own decision about working from home or working in an office environment. Remember, the best environment for your business to grow is one that is best for yourself and your team.
But most importantly remember….
Now is the time to become PRO!
If you’d like to watch me discuss this topic in further detail click here!
And if you are in the early stages of building your team, check out Financial Services Recruitment Mistakes to Avoid.
