Small office/home office, or SOHO, refers to the category of business or cottage industry that involves from 1 to 10 workers. SOHO can also stand for single office/home office.
Before the 19th century, and the spread of the industrial revolution around the globe, nearly all offices were small offices and/or home offices, with only a few exceptions. Most businesses were small, and the paperwork that accompanied them was limited. The industrial revolution aggregated workers in factories, to mass produce goods. In most circumstances, the so-called "white collar" counterpart — office work — was aggregated as well in large buildings, usually in cities or densely populated suburban areas.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, the advent of the personal computer and fax machine, plus breakthroughs in telecommunications, created opportunities for office workers to decentralize. Decentralization was also perceived as benefiting employers in terms of lower overheads and potentially greater productivity.
Many consultants and the members of such professions as lawyers, real estate agents, and surveyors in small and medium-size towns operate from home offices.
Several ranges of products, such as the armoire desk and all-in-one printer, are designed specifically for the SOHO market. A number of books and magazines have been published and marketed specifically at this type of office. These range from general advice texts to specific guidebooks on such challenges as setting up a small PBX for the office telephones.
Technology has also created a demand for larger businesses to employ individuals who work from home. Sometimes these people remain as an independent businessperson, and sometimes they become employees of a larger company.
In popular literature, the home office has not been the topic of as many works as the "normal" modern office. Brian Basset, the author of the newspaper comic strip Adam@home, has sometimes described its more humorous aspects.
The small office home office has undergone a transformation since its advent as the internet has enabled anyone working from a home office to compete globally. Technology has made this possible through email, the World-Wide Web, e-commerce, videoconferencing, remote desktop software, webinar systems, and telephone connections by VOIP.
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