Don't try this at home

WORKING from home sounds ideal. No daily commuting on overcrowded Tubes, no bitchy office politics and no boss breathing down your neck.

Instead, an extra hour in bed, peace and quiet and the freedom to take a break in the garden whenever you feel like it.

According to the latest government statistics, more than two million people work from home for at least part of the week, a figure that is up 65 per cent in the past four years.

But it's not easy. "It can be lonely, isolating and boring," says Carol King, a freelance website producer.

"You have to be extremely motivated and like your own company, because you can go for days without seeing anyone."

Claire Murphy, a freelance journalist, says that when she worked at home she was constantly distracted.

"I would make endless cups of coffee and procrastinate madly. I would clean behind the fridge rather than getting down to some work to meet a looming deadline."

Finding somewhere to put filing cabinets, paperwork and even a desk can also be a problem, as Graham Harris of architectural practice SHH, explains.

"When I started the business, it was me, my business partner Neil and a PA, all working from my two-bedroom flat in West Hampstead, which I also shared with a flatmate.

It was chaos.

"We worked on the couch or around the coffee table, and when someone phoned asking for our accounts department I would run into the bedroom and take the call.

And all work stopped when Neighbours came on TV."

The solution for those homeworkers who can't make it work at home is to buy or rent office space.

After months of tripping over filing and having nowhere to put his drawing board, Harris eventually bought a bespoke office in Hammersmith.

Meanwhile, Murphy rents an office with three other freelancers in Fitzrovia.

"It costs us pounds 180 each a month and it's money well spent," she says.

"I'm much more disciplined about work and there is always someone around to bounce ideas off. It feels more normal to come into the centre of London rather than sit at my desk at home in my dressing gown."

Finding an office space is not as difficult as you might imagine and is tax-deductible for the self-employed.

Serviced offices, which provide additional facilities such as meeting rooms, photocopying and even secretarial support, are available across London and the South-East. Regus, one of the biggest in the market, charges from between pounds 8 and pounds 30 a day, depending on location.

Local Enterprise Offices also have details of office space available to rent, including some run by local authorities that offer low rents to local businesses.

However, if you rent an office alone you still face the same problems of isolation. A cheaper option, and one that provides a degree of human contact, is to rent a desk from a company with more space than it needs.

Many small creative companies advertise desks to rent in trade publications such as Design Week, Campaign and Creative Review, from around pounds 50 a week.

But be careful who you share with.

Do you mind incessant chatter? Are you sure you can trust your fellowsharers not to steal your stationery or, worse, your ideas?

ONE freelance PR consultant who doesn't want to be named, says: " I moved into an openplan office share from hell. There were six of us, one of whom was a minor celebrity then, but who has now hit the big-time.

She was a nightmare. She was loud, would yell into her mobile phone all day, never washed up and worst of all brought her lap dog to work - it wasn't house trained and would yap constantly. In the end, half of us moved out."

Murphy adds: "You have to be as selective about choosing an office mate as you would a flatmate. You have to actually like each other.

"In our office, we respect the fact that sometimes someone needs peace and quiet and we know each other well enough to say shut up.

But you do have to set ground rules from the beginning or things can deteriorate."

For details of your nearest Local Enterprise Office, call 01234 354055.

Small is beautiful

Several companies have a London-wide portfolio of offices, studios and workshops catering for sole traders and small firms requiring affordable space.

Prices start from about pounds 100 per week and often the accommodation can be taken on a flexible lease or licence, with as little as one month's notice.

Some offer pay-as-yougoservices, such as secretarial help and boardroom hire.

Lenta: 0800 515 622 Acacia: 020 7483 3434 First Base: 0500 007850 Workspace: 020 7377 1154 Spacia: 020 7940 4646, or 020 7645 3000 Business Environment Group: 0500 006606

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