First try- running operations from a converted garage

Four years later, Laura got herself on the property ladder with a semi-detached townhouse. She converted the single garage, and began running her business from this room. She saw the benefits immediately: less stress and labour for herself,  and her clients enjoyed going to a ‘traditional’ space for their treatments (soft music and lighting, essential oils, refreshments) rather than hosting themselves.

Laura explains, “I didn’t lose a single client when I made the move to running my business from home. A few would prefer me to see them in their own home, I know, but for most I think it’s a break from them, away from the distractions of everyday life…and I’m making them a coffee instead of the other way around!”

However, there were also noticeable drawbacks. “Noise was a big problem. Because it was a townhouse, the living room was directly above where I was working and you could hear people walking around upstairs and the TV when it was on. Then there was the dog barking, or someone knocking at the front door. Things like this wouldn’t matter for many businesses, but during a relaxing massage the clients’ experience suffered.”

Aside from the rhythms of the household impacting the business, Laura also found this set-up slightly claustrophobic. “I definitely had an issue with being in the house so much. I work long days and being at home all the time could be a bit much.”

Over time, Laura aspired to have greater separation between her home and work life. Laura considered renting a separate unit for her business, but the cost of overheads put her off. She had also grown accustomed to running her business from home, and was not willing to give up the benefits it conferred.

Options

A major fork in the road for Laura was deciding how she could run her business from home whilst maintaining the privacy of her home and the peace and tranquillity of a home-salon. She looked at various options open to her and narrowed these down to two: buy a house with a detached garage to convert or with a large enough garden to accommodate an outbuilding. The fact that there were several properties that met these criteria within her budget sold her on this plan.

A move to a semi-detached property in a nearby village provided the outdoor space she needed, and she poured her savings into building her salon outbuilding.

The Build

When the house purchase was underway, Laura had builders measure up for her outbuilding in the garden. She knew the building would need to fall under Permitted Development rights to avoid a lengthy planning permission application process and ensure she was ready to start work as soon as possible.

“We had to move in very quickly, it was a bit last-minute. Then the day after we got the keys, we had to travel abroad for a wedding.” So as to not waste any time, Laura arranged for the builders to start work when they were away.

“This was a mistake,” Laura says, “We got back from our trip to find seven complaints had been sent to the local authority planning office and the building work had to stop whilst it was investigated.” In the meantime, Laura’s Public Liability Insurance meant she could see clients in a spare room of her new house as a stop-gap measure.

The complaints were followed up by the local planning office, who duly inspected the site and confirmed the build qualified as Permitted Development. One complaint in particular came from a neighbour who worked in the local planning office, however, and highlighted the fact that the rear boundary of the property was not a straight line, meaning one corner of the outbuilding would encroach into the 1m gap left between the property boundary and the outbuilding’s cladding (in order to meet Building Regulations). On inspection, this was found to be true and Laura had to instruct her builders to lose 4cm from the affected side of the outbuilding. Laura reflects: “It was frustrating at the time and cost me a fortune, but least I know that the building is definitely all above board and fully compliant with Building Regs.”

Another complaint suggested Laura should not be having a toilet and two wash hand basins installed in the outbuilding, as this could be an additional dwelling. However, the inspector was not bothered about this and said they quite often receive similar complaints.

Laura said she has learnt a valuable lesson about speaking to her neighbours before commencing building works. “If I could have done this differently, I would have spoken to my new neighbours first and explained what I was doing. In reality, there just wasn’t time. I couldn’t delay moving out from my townhouse and into this house because I was in a huge chain and it was important that we got the building up as soon possible so I could start working there!”

Since the outbuilding was constructed, Laura’s neighbours have not had an issue with her running her business from home. Many have ‘liked’ her social media pages and have not raised any concerns.

Tax Implications

Laura was conscious of the fact that when she ran her business from a dedicated outbuilding, she might have to pay Business Rates. However, the square meterage of the outbuilding means it has a rateable value of less than £12,000. As a result, Laura qualifies for Small Business Rates Relief.

“I had the building designed so that it was as big as it could be, within Permitted Development rights and Environmental Health regulations. Luckily, the size means I don’t have to pay Business Rates, which makes an enormous difference.”

Laura also made sure not to claim the cost of the build through her company, as in doing so she would have to pay Capital Gains Tax on it if she sold the property.

Insurance

Most Home Insurance providers will not cover any building used solely for business use, or stock for a home-run business. Laura was determined in her search, however, and found one insurer (LV) who offered to extend her Buildings insurance to cover the salon outbuilding. Her Public Liability Insurance covers the stock and equipment that is kept in the building and also clients using her premises.

Having her business premises covered by separate insurance to her stock and equipment is useful because, if the outbuilding suffered storm or fire damage for example, Laura’s Public Liability Insurance would allow her to continue working from a room in her house until the outbuilding is fit for purpose again.

Local Authority Permissions

Aside from the involvement of the Local Planning Authority in checking her outbuilding was Permitted Development, the Local Authority also sent Environmental Health officers to inspect and sign off on the building to certified it was compliant with their regulations.

The outbuilding was designed around these criteria, and had to have:

• Windows, for a good combination of natural and artificial light
• A hot- and cold-water supply
• Two wash basins: one foot- or elbow-operated, and another in a separate area for washing dirty equipment
• Non-slip, washable flooring
• Height-adjustable table and stool made from spill-resistant material that can be disinfected
• Smooth worksurfaces that can be easily disinfected

Laura also had to arrange for sharps-bins and regular collection of this waste by a specialist waste disposal company.

Day-to-Day Running

Advantages

Speaking of the benefits of running her business from home, Laura says she has seen her productivity skyrocket. “There’s no wasted time. If a client cancels or forgets about their appointment, I can use that time to go into the house and wash my towels, clean up in the salon, do a quick stock-take and order anything I need. When I was mobile, that time would have been non-productive. Even when I was working from the townhouse, I couldn’t get my business laundry done because the noise in the utility room next door would disturb my next client.”

What is more, running her business from home has given Laura full control over her working hours. “If a client is going away for a last-minute trip and wants to see me before they go, I can open up the salon and see them on a Sunday morning without massively impacting my day. I couldn’t do that if my premises weren’t in my back garden.”

The main advantage of her business outbuilding, however, is the separation between work and home. “I love the fact that I work in a completely separate building, which I lock up in the evenings and at weekends and detach from it a bit. Plus, I don’t have to worry about noise in the house disrupting my work anymore, which is a relief!”

This separation not only helps Laura switch off from her work, but it maintains the privacy of her own home. She no longer has clients in her home, she can have a load of laundry going, appliances running, or the dog barking- all without worry. She can have friends and family to stay without anyone feeling conscious of making noise in the house. What’s more, clients arrive via a side gate, so there is no need for them even to knock on the front door.

Of course, these benefits all come with the added bonus that the outbuilding itself has increased the value of her property. It also means Laura has virtually no overheads, which is an appealing prospect for many businesses.

Drawbacks

Running a business from home is not for everyone. Even Laura has found it overwhelming, at times, to be both solely responsible for her business and to have that business tied up in her property. There are a number of regulations and restrictions to adhere to, permissions to be gained etc.- this of course comes with the territory of running a business anywhere. However, Laura says it can feel all the more daunting when that business part and parcel of your own home.

Despite the physical separation from the main house, Laura’s personal and business worlds do sometimes collide and it can be stressful: “Occasionally I’ll be finishing off with one client who was ten minutes late to their appointment, my next client has arrived and is waiting, the sharps waste collectors are at the door and the waste itself is stored in my garage because it is hazardous and so cannot be left out for collection, so I have to go into my house to get it for them and leave the clients waiting!”. The issue here is that, in a typical salon run from a non-residential property, there would be a receptionist there to deal with all of this. As it is, Laura needs to manage everything and the size of the business and the parking limitations of her property doesn’t warrant employing a receptionist.

A complaint often cited by those who run their business from home is that you never really ‘switch off’ and work more hours than they sometimes should. Laura agrees “It is difficult, especially if I know I’ve got little jobs to finish off and I’m trying to enjoy sitting out in the garden…it does creep into my mind and I tend to just go and open up the salon to sort it out. I suppose I can always see the salon because it’s in my back garden, so work isn’t far from my mind a lot of the time.”

The fact that the business is run from a residential property has limitations that might have deterred some business owners. Laura, however, accepts these limitations and remains pragmatic about her decision. For example, Local authority restrictions mean Laura can only have one client at a time, as there is only one available parking space on her double driveway and the business cannot create parking issues in a residential area. So, if Laura ever wanted to expand and employ another beautician to work alongside her in order to get more clients through the door at the same time, she would have to find bigger premises. Laura says, “I’m never going to build an empire from my back garden. I did consider renting a salon space but I’d rather have no overheads and the benefits of working from home.”

When asked if she ever misses working as part of a team, Laura is resolute. She can see why some people who take the leap to running their business from home may miss the water-cooler moments, workplace gossip and Christmas dos, but she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out. Laura says, “I was 24 when I became self-employed as a mobile beautician, so I had six years’ experience of working as part of a team and enjoying the social perks of that. My job is sociable anyway: I see people all day, every day. If anything, sometimes I can feel quite tired of talking by the end of the day! If I was in a line of work where I didn’t see anyone all day, I might feel isolated. It’s not for everyone, I guess, but it works perfectly for me.”

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