Setting Up Your Home Office as a New Freelancer
By: Kahli Bree Adams
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Business, Small Business, Productivity, Freelancing

Assuming you do have the option to set up your own home office in a separate room, this is what you’ll need to bear in mind:

Furniture and set-up:

You’re going to spend a lot of time in your home office, so it pays to make it as pleasant and comfortable as possible. You will need a large enough desk that is the right height for you to work in comfort and a proper office chair with arm and back support that allows you to sit comfortably. Don’t skimp on the chair — your body will thank you!

I also highly recommend a footstool under the desk, so you can put your feet up. I have found this to be very comfortable for long stints at the PC, and it has definitely become indispensable for me.

Finally, don’t forget to get some storage options for your home office. The last things you’ll want is paperwork piling up on your desk.

Technical equipment:

No home office is complete without a few technical essentials. Let’s take a look at what these are.

Lighting

First of all, it is essential to have proper lighting in your home office. Ideally, you should have lighting installed over your reading area, over the computer and behind you so that there’s no reflection off the computer monitor.

Computer

It goes without saying that you will need a PC or Mac. As a freelancer writer or creative, you don’t usually need an enormous hard drive, but your computer should have plenty of RAM so you can research on the internet and run various applications concurrently. If your budget allows, I would also purchase a laptop in addition to a desktop PC. Technology has a tendency to fail just when you most need it (e.g. just as you’re about to finish that important 10,000-word project for a new client), so it is definitely worth having a second machine to work on in an emergency, or if you ever feel like working on the go.

Monitor

As freelancers, we typically stare at the computer screen all day long, so I’d recommend investing in a separate large monitor (at least 17'’). This will make working a lot easier and more comfortable.

Internet connection

A broadband or ADSL connection has become commonplace for most of us, and as a freelancer, you will definitely need one in order to upload and download large files and surf at faster speeds so as to not slow you down while researching a term or delivering a file.

Printer

A printer is another indispensable item for your home office. Clients will likely send you NDAs to sign at some point, you may need to print out vendor agreements or contracts, or you may want to print out a text and proofread the hard copy rather than checking it on screen.

External hard disk drive

You may have already experienced a computer crashing without you having backed up your data in a while. It has certainly happened to me before! It is therefore imperative to purchase an external hard disk drive as soon as possible and run daily backups.

Surge protector

A surge protector basically works as a shield, as it blocks excessive voltage spikes and surges. This will protect your electronics from damage, which is obviously a good idea.

Smartphone

A smartphone is important to have if you want the flexibility of being able to step out of your office during office hours and still being available in the sense that you can respond to email enquiries promptly without making your clients wait until you return. The client will feel reassured even if you just briefly acknowledge receipt of their email, e.g. “I’ll be back in the office in two hours and will respond to your email then.” Having a smartphone means there is no pressure to rush back to the office to check if you’ve missed any emails, as you can stay on top of things even while you are out and about. You can even open documents and see what files clients have sent you.