Can I run a business from my shed?
We have all heard the stories of successful businessmen and women starting from nothing. It is incredibly inspiring, and with hard work and a great product or idea, anyone can give it a shot. It starts from a bedroom or a spare room within their home, builds up enough funds to get a business premise, expands even further to multiple locations, and, ultimately, financial success.
Have you ever thought about where you could start a business? Because a shed at the bottom of your garden doesn’t just have to be full of rubbish that you promised to take to the skip a few years ago. Especially popular with joiners and woodwork, sheds were commonly used to build and work on joists, doors and anything wood related.
But, where can you start? Could a shed be the answer to you turning your hobby into a micro-business that could provide you with the space to do what you love and earn money along the way? Outlaying funds to get premises away from your home adds unwanted stress and initial expenditure. You do not know when your first authentic sale will come in. Why waste hundreds on renting an office if you can give it a go within your own home?
Within this article, we will discuss if you really can set up and run a business from your shed? But, let’s be reasonable. The shed in question needs to be of a certain standard even to contemplate doing something like this.
So, can I run a business from my shed?
The simple answer is yes, you can, but there are some things you must consider. Like running a business from home runs certain risks, you need to consider the various issues that could arise or extenuating circumstances that could disqualify you from running a business from home.
No matter the room in your house that you run your business from, from the kitchen to the bedroom to the shed, they are all quite similar and have their pros and cons.
The main issue that running a business within a shed could cause is the noise you may make for your neighbours. This depends on the type of business you run, but if you are hammering and sawing wood constantly for hours, it may not be ideal for your neighbours, who would be forced to listen. Soundproofing your shed as much as possible would be the way to go about solving this problem, and of course, if your home is detached and far away enough from surrounding houses, this does not become an issue for you.
There is a difference, though to being an employee who works from home or a ‘Small to Medium Enterprise’ trading from home. The type of property, house/apartment etc. it’s all the same in the eyes of the law, and where you physically are in your property and land to do your work doesn’t matter.
Choosing the shed in the garden in preference ahead of a kitchen or bedroom inside your house doesn’t alter things legally at all.
The type of SME, for example, a freelancer, sole trader, or limited company, doesn’t make any difference either. If you are effectively running a business at your residential property, you’ll need to check out a few things regarding declaring your earnings.
What type of businesses would be best to run from your shed and outdoor space?
As we have mentioned, many woodworkers and joiners can use their shed as a starting point before they feel comfortable getting permanent premises. However, there is a range of roles that could make good use of a shed:
- Photography Studio/Art Studio Shed
- Business Office in a Shed
- Tool Rental within the Shed
- Craft Studio Inside a Business Shed
- Business Shed used as a Warehouse
- Business Shed for a Gardening Company
- Pet Grooming Business Shed
- Business Shed Redesigned into an Architect’s Studio
These are only a few ideas that we have come up with, but there are pretty much endless possibilities of what can be achieved, depending on how good your shed is! There is already a range of successful businesses that have started within an outhouse or shed.
One thing we also haven’t discussed is the ease of using your shed. Typically footsteps away from your home, leaving your job and being able to make your way back to your home within minutes or even seconds sounds a lot better than travelling far to earn your money. Being able to take breaks and pop back inside is also ideal throughout the day.
We have covered precisely how to run a business and what ideas you could start up from just the shed. But it is not ‘just a shed’ it could be the start of your way to earning money from doing something you love. Just make sure to keep the legal side in check, and you would be ready to go as of tomorrow.
What is stopping you from following your passion? Your shed could be the key.
If you need to register a business in the UK, you can do so here.
Other useful links from our knowledge centre:
Running a Business from Home
Why Do Businesses Need Finance?
Who Pays Business Rates?
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Ally Cox is a dedicated Copywriter and Blogger for CompareYourBusinessCosts.co.uk. In under two years, the platform achieved the esteemed accolade of ‘Website of the Year’. Since its award-winning debut, Ally has been instrumental in fostering organic growth for the website, expanding its offerings to encompass comparisons across a diverse range of over 20 products to help serve all your business needs.