Tiny Home Living Tips for Home-Based Business Owners

Tiny homes make ideal living spaces for many people, and they can even double as an office when you work from home or have a home-based business. But when you bring your work home with you or bring your business into your tiny home, you’ll need to take some additional steps in making that home as safe as possible. Break-ins, fires, and other incidents could jeopardize not only your home but also your income. Luckily, many people successfully run businesses from their homes, and there are many ways you can modify even a tiny home to accommodate your business.

Increase Your Home’s Security

To protect not only your home but also your business and its associated equipment, increase your home’s security by installing a home security system. On the flip side, home automation systems give you control of your security system, allowing you to access video surveillance and your home’s smart door locks remotely. With a single Smartphone app, you can monitor and operate important functions of your home, like the lights, thermostat, and more.

There are plenty of security systems to choose from, and home automation systems tend to be affordable and easy to use. Because your home is small, you’ll only need a minimal number of sensors, which makes protecting your home more affordable. As an added bonus, installing security systems in your home may earn you a discount off of your homeowner’s insurance.

If your tiny home is portable, you’ll want to take additional steps to prevent theft of your home. Keep a hitch lock on your trailer whenever it isn’t hooked up, which can keep a thief from simply towing your home away. Making your hitch inaccessible by blocking it with a vehicle or other large object can also help. Don’t forget the importance of motion detector lights, dogs, and even signs indicating video surveillance in deterring thieves and protecting your home and business.

Invest in Business Insurance

Homeowner’s insurance protects your tiny home from events like fires, fallen trees, and sometimes floods, but it isn’t designed to protect your business or to cover the liabilities that your business may expose you to. For instance, if you have business clients over to your tiny home and a client falls and hurts themselves, your homeowner’s insurance may not cover the costs because the incident was related to business, not to your home. In some cases, a homeowner’s insurance provider who learns that you’re running a business from your home may decline your home’s coverage, so you may need to shop around for the right policy.

That’s why it’s so important to not only have homeowner’s insurance but to also get proper business insurance to protect your home-based business. Business insurance policies can help to:

• Cover bills that might arise if a client injures themselves on the property
• Pay for replacements of any business supplies that were damaged in a home fire or other event
• Cover lost income if you had to close your business if your home was damaged
• And more

Different types of business insurance policies offer different coverage, so it’s best to talk to a few different insurance companies and determine just what your individual business needs. Request quotes from multiple insurance companies and is sure to compare the premiums, deductibles, coverage limits, coverage exclusions, and more when determining which policy is right for your business.

Plan How to Keep the Business Operating Smoothly

You’ll need to plan ahead to make sure that your business can continue to operate smoothly once you’ve transitioned it into your tiny home. If you’ll be traveling across the country in your home, think about how you’ll find tiny home-friendly businesses where you can stay and access a reliable internet connection and any other elements you’ll need to run your business.

If you have inventory or other supplies that are necessary for your business, you’ll need to make sure that your home has the space needed to store those supplies. Adding custom shelving or storage units can help to keep your business organized. When bringing your business into your tiny home, you’ll quickly discover which supplies are essential to your business and which aren’t, and you may be able to cut down on your supplies a bit.

Be sure that you also familiarize yourself with the available resources and business programs for business owners. Thanks to the availability of online courses, you can develop your business skills online from any location in the country. There are also some business programs and resources available for entrepreneurs with a disability, and SCORE also helps to connect entrepreneurs and business owners with free business mentoring. SCORE’s network includes over 10,000 volunteer business mentors in over 300 chapters throughout the country, so no matter where you’re located with your tiny home, you can probably access SCORE’s services locally.

Running a home-based business out of a tiny home will take some creativity and planning. But, if you prepare your home the right way, you can enjoy not just living in your tiny home, but also the convenience of being able to work right out of your tiny home.

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