The Car as a 'Second Office'

by Kori Rodley Irons | More from this Blogger

25 Jul 2008 12:18 PM

We often talk about the joys of flexibility as home business owners-all the ways that we can take our laptops or work to the coffee shop, park, or other location and work while we are doing other things. Recently I have talked with a couple of home business owners who confessed that their "office away from home" is actually their car...

If you are a busy parent who is trying to build a home business while raising your children, you may feel like you basically live out of your car. Perhaps that is where you find yourself eating meals (breakfast and lunch on the run?), doing your banking, having heart-to-heart conversations with your child, children or spouse/partner and many of us even 'listen' to books, get our news, brush our teeth and comb our hair in the car. It may be your home/office/bathroom and whatever else you might need-all on four wheels!

I will spare you lectures about talking on the phone and multi-tasking while driving and simply acknowledge that many home business owners conduct a great deal of business in the car. I will suggest that you check with your insurance agent and make sure that you have adequate insurance to cover what you actually do with and in your car and that you talk to him or her about the realities of using your family vehicle for business. Additionally, your tax consultant can help you to understand if there are any tax benefits or special records that need to be kept, how to keep track of mileage and other expenses for deductions and what to consider if the need to purchase a new "office on wheels" should arise.

Being able to multi-task and combine work and family obligations is one of the reasons many of us take the plunge into home business ownership-spending hours driving and working from the car may not have been what we had in mind, but it might very well be the reality of how we 'do business.'

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