Home business could be good business for your pub

With over 60% of new businesses being started from home, a man/woman’s residence has become his/her business HQ. Emma Jones, of home business website Enterprise Nation, suggests that local pubs can benefit from this modern way of working.

A few facts and figures

There are over 2.5 million businesses being run from home, making the home the UK’s most popular start-up location. Factors driving the growth in home business include keeping costs low (why take on the cost of a second office when the spare room/attic/garden shed will serve just as well), ditching the daily commute, and being on hand for friends and family.

These are all the upsides of working from home. Yet I’m often asked about a downside.

‘Do home business owners get lonely?’ … interviewers ask … ‘Do you feel socially isolated when you’ve only got the cat and home office plant to talk to?’

I smile and reply that home businesses are some of the most sociable and well-connected people I know. And this is where a link with the local hostelry comes in.

A home business hub

We read that many pubs are being forced to close, yet I can’t help thinking that pubs are great places for home businesses to meet during the day. As a landlord, you can attract business owners out of their home office and in to your pub in a few simple steps:

• Run a promotion campaign aimed at people working from home - post flyers through doors where you see lights on and laptops whirring during the day.
• Install wireless – setting up a network used to be the work of professionals but it’s so much easier to do it yourself these days. Many Internet service providers give out wireless routers for free. These wirelessly enable a house so could do the same for your pub!
• Turn spare space into meeting space – could you develop a space for more formal get-togethers so a collection of home businesses can host a monthly meet-up with speakers and experts visiting from outside the area? If you’ve got accommodation maybe you can offer a deal on this too ... meeting room for hire … speaker stays for half-price?
• Do something on Home Enterprise Day – Friday 20th November marks the UK’s first ever day of celebration of home business. Join in the celebrations by putting on an event/promotion that will attract your local home business owners and secure their loyal custom

With the number of businesses being started from home set to rise yet further, it’s a market that’s well worth exploring.