If you’re a freelancer or start-up working from home, it’s likely you might be reading this from your ‘office’, otherwise known as the spare bedroom or your couch.

You may or may not be wearing pants, and you might be wearing a shirt, but it’s most likely not a business shirt. There’s no problem with working from home, but a freelancer’s daily schedule is very different to the average office schedule, and it’s generally one that includes several trips to the kitchen, a little procrastination and somewhere between three and four hours of actual work.

When you’re freelancing or working from home, you’re more inclined to go with the flow, because that’s precisely how your business operates; work comes in, and work goes out, at a steady pace with a structure that your clients define.

When you’re working from an office in the real world though, or even better, a co-working space, you’re more accountable, your hours become more defined, you’re more productive, and pants become a necessity instead of an optional extra – and pants are every CEO’s secret to business growth.

We know what you’re thinking… When you’re working from home, you get to run your own day, there’s no traffic on the way to work, life is flexible, and there’s no need to change it. But, that’s only because you haven’t tried the alternative, and you’re yet to discover the benefits of co-working for your business.

Co-working increases your productivity.

Co-working is a smart choice for freelancers and solopreneurs because it increases the potential of your business and your productivity.

It’s a fact that when you’re working in a professional space, you’re more inclined to focus, you feel more motivated, you’re more creatively inspired, and you’re more productive – because you’ve got a certain number of hours in the office each day to get things done.

Co-working is flexible.

If you’re not ready to put on two pant legs, start with one and try a day pass or collaborative / hot desk membership. Well, you will have to wear pants, but you won’t have to commit to five days a week stepping into the office, and you can start small with a few days at a time.

Building a big business doesn’t happen overnight, but it does require commitment, which means setting yourself a schedule and actually turning up. When you’re co-working and paying for a professional space, you’re accountable to yourself, and being accountable means measurable business growth.

Co-working increases your happiness levels.

There’s a reason there’s an isolation cell in jail – because it’s torture. Being by yourself all the time isn’t healthy, and isolation can lead to depression and social anxiety. When you’re waking up and heading into a co-working space a few days a week, the benefits are clear – you’re getting much-needed social interaction and fresh air, which means a happier and healthy mind.

Co-working is a great way to impress clients.

You can pick a home-based freelancer or home-office small business from a mile away by how they schedule meetings. If the next meeting has to be at a local coffee shop ‘because the office is being renovated’, nine times out of ten, there is no office.

It’s not exactly business-savvy to invite clients over to the spare bedroom either, which is why co-working is a professional step up.

When clients come to meet you, they want to see that you’re a professional, which means a meeting room, sparkling water, four walls that aren’t your house, a front desk, and pants.