4 ms·

Great idea, good luck with it. It's very similar to something I was toying with last year, but didn't get beyond the drawing board. The items that stopped me:

Great idea, good luck with it. It's very similar to something I was toying with last year, but didn't get beyond the drawing board. The items that stopped me: 1. Cash-flow. I just couldn't make the numbers work. It didn't add up to a profitable business, and I didn't have the cash to plow into it on a whim -- nor did I want debt, or to go looking for an investor. Maybe your financial considerations were less stringent than mine. I had time, and no cash, so I was prepared to invest hard work... but like I say, I couldn't get the figures to work. 2. Security. This was a real issue -- I didn't get beyond the drawing-board though, perhaps in the Real World people are more trusting than I thought. How could I guarantee that my "guests" wouldn't wander into an unlocked "host" area and steal items? I couldn't. If I put safe-guards in place, I'd lose market appeal: my "guests" wouldn't want to give me strong guarantees of their honesty (Photocopies of passports? Large cash deposits? Nope, that would scare off customers, and give me further problems regarding data security etc.) And the "hosts" would always balk at my inability to provide a guarantee that nothing would get stolen. The corollary of security is insurance. Do Hoffice or your "hosts" need any sort of professional indemnity insurance? If someone trips on a loose carpet and breaks an ankle, they may sue -- but who? And how would that pan out? To be frank, item 2 was what really put my idea on ice. I think item 1 could be fiddled, particularly if a project such as Hoffice is slow-burn, low-income, and highly-automated (so you don't need to tend it manually). How did you deal with these issues, in particular the security/insurance aspects? Genuinely interested.

roel_v 11y ago
This seems to be more a hobby project. There is no money being asked for working somewhere, and from what I can tell they don't deal with 'what happens with bad guests' at all. It's more like couchsurfing.org or Craigslist - 'hey there are all these people who want to meet for some reason or another, we are just a messaging service, good luck afterwards'. Which is fine for some purposes of course, not dismissing the idea.
- austinjp 11y ago
  Yup, looks that way.
- andreasfmwolf 11y ago
  Yes, it's totally based on gift principles. No money involved. Hoffices are right now organised over facebook groups/pages, where everyone can propose/host an event.
jakobegger 11y ago
1) From reading the website, it seems that hoffice is not profit oriented. There is no money involved. People host events because they want to meet people, not because they want to make a profit. 2) I think you are overthinking the security aspect. It's like hosting a party; you don't check the identities of acquaintances that people bring along, and usually nobody steals your jewellery.
- austinjp 11y ago
  1. Ya, looks like it. I'm curious about how long Hoffice will stick around. I personally couldn't find the spare time to maintain an enterprise like this, hence my questions. I needed it to generate at least minimal income to justify any time I spent on it, even just weekends here and there. 2. Hmm... maaaaybe. As someone who needs professional indemnity insurance for my work, perhaps my Spidey-senses are set too tingly for this risk. To test your analogy: would you be happy running a hobby business that facilitates parties, without understanding insurance aspects? I'd hate to get the phone call "So I used your service to organise a party, and now my house is trashed." :) Silly perhaps, just testing the edge-cases.
  - kardos 11y ago
    Both Uber and Airbnb exist and are raking in cash (or at least funding). Whatever they did to solve your original #2 problem is the answer.
lucaspiller 11y ago
> Do Hoffice or your "hosts" need any sort of professional indemnity insurance? You are talking about public liability insurance (in the UK), as I understand it's not required but it's a good idea to have this if you have members of the public (clients or otherwise) visiting your home office - some home insurance policies even include it.

roel_v 11y ago

This seems to be more a hobby project. There is no money being asked for working somewhere, and from what I can tell they don't deal with 'what happens with bad guests' at all. It's more like couchsurfing.org or Craigslist - 'hey there are all these people who want to meet for some reason or another, we are just a messaging service, good luck afterwards'. Which is fine for some purposes of course, not dismissing the idea.

austinjp 11y ago
Yup, looks that way.
andreasfmwolf 11y ago
Yes, it's totally based on gift principles. No money involved. Hoffices are right now organised over facebook groups/pages, where everyone can propose/host an event.

jakobegger 11y ago

1) From reading the website, it seems that hoffice is not profit oriented. There is no money involved. People host events because they want to meet people, not because they want to make a profit. 2) I think you are overthinking the security aspect. It's like hosting a party; you don't check the identities of acquaintances that people bring along, and usually nobody steals your jewellery.

austinjp 11y ago
1. Ya, looks like it. I'm curious about how long Hoffice will stick around. I personally couldn't find the spare time to maintain an enterprise like this, hence my questions. I needed it to generate at least minimal income to justify any time I spent on it, even just weekends here and there. 2. Hmm... maaaaybe. As someone who needs professional indemnity insurance for my work, perhaps my Spidey-senses are set too tingly for this risk. To test your analogy: would you be happy running a hobby business that facilitates parties, without understanding insurance aspects? I'd hate to get the phone call "So I used your service to organise a party, and now my house is trashed." :) Silly perhaps, just testing the edge-cases.
- kardos 11y ago
  Both Uber and Airbnb exist and are raking in cash (or at least funding). Whatever they did to solve your original #2 problem is the answer.

lucaspiller 11y ago

> Do Hoffice or your "hosts" need any sort of professional indemnity insurance? You are talking about public liability insurance (in the UK), as I understand it's not required but it's a good idea to have this if you have members of the public (clients or otherwise) visiting your home office - some home insurance policies even include it.