Work At Home Employment
There are many practical advantages to running your business from home. Some of the main ones are listed below.
Save money - If you work from home you will avoid having to pay rent and other running costs (including business rates) on business premises. You will also save on travel expenses (see below).
Save on travel - You also avoid wasting many potentially productive hours in your car or on public transport. Many people spend two or more hours a day just commuting; added up over a year, the total amount of time lost in this way can be quite staggering. With many roads approaching gridlock during the morning and evening rush hours, the savings in terms of both time and your blood pressure can be substantial. You will save money on petrol and season tickets; and a further benefit is that you will avoid having to venture out every day during the winter months on dangerous, icy roads and pavements. Of course, you will still have to do some travelling, for reasons such as going to the bank or post office, visiting clients and selling your work.
Feel more comfortable - For a start, you can wear whatever clothes you like. You don't even have to dress or shave if you don't wish (though you will, of course, need to make an effort with your appearance when meeting clients and selling your services). You can take as many tea and coffee breaks as you like, whenever it happens to suit you. You can also arrange your office furniture, lighting and so on exactly as you wish.
Benefit from flexibility - Many aspects of family life can be easier to arrange if you work from home. For example, if you want to pop out at 3.15 to collect your youngest child from school, there is nothing (and no-one) to stop you. You can choose your own hours, working early in the morning or late at night if these options suit you best. You can be around during the day when the plumber or the meter reader calls; you can put out the washing and bring it back in if it starts to rain; and you will not miss important deliveries because you are toiling away at a separate workplace.
Enjoy tax advantages - If you work from home you can claim a proportion of your household expenses (heating, lighting, phone, mortgage/rent, etc.) against tax. Any alterations or repairs to the property which are directly relevant to your business activity can also be set against your business income.
Gain greater home security - The fact that you are likely to be around in the day can help deter burglars (most burglaries in residential areas take place during the daytime). You will also be on the premises - and therefore able to take prompt action - in the event of fires, burst pipes and other such emergencies. Some insurance companies are starting to recognise this fact and offer lower premiums for homeworkers - though this must be set against the fact that work-related computers and other equipment may have to be insured separately for an additional premium.
Enlist support from your family - Working from home means you may be able to get help from your family in your business activities. This might include such matters as answering the phone, making appointments, typing invoices and letters, meeting and greeting visitors, and providing other forms of practical assistance (e.g. repairing the car or troubleshooting your brand new multimedia computer which obstinately refuses to function!).
Enjoy the lack of pressure - With a home-based business you can work as many or as few hours as you wish. If you want to work a fifteen-hour day, you can do so (though hopefully not every day!). Equally, however, you can work part-time if you prefer, perhaps to fit in with your family responsibilities. You can also set your own pace, with no-one standing over you telling you to work harder or faster. For older people, or those with disabilities which slow them down, this can be a particular attraction. As long as your business is bringing in enough money to meet your needs and those of your dependants, you can work as hard or as lightly as you wish - you have complete control over your 'terms and conditions'. It should, however, be said that, although you won't have a boss looking over your shoulder, you will still have customers, who will expect a good quality product or service from you within a certain deadline.
Although working from home has many attractions, it does possess a few potential drawbacks as well. Some of the main points to consider are set out below.
May disrupt family life - Running a business from home means you and your family's domestic lives will inevitably be affected. Obviously you will need a space in the house to work which might otherwise be used by other family members. In addition, many self-employed individuals have to work long and irregular hours, and your family may need to get used to you being in and out at all times. You may have to work during the evenings, public holidays and weekends, when most 'normal' people are at leisure. Furthermore, in many businesses clients may wish to contact you by phone outside standard office hours (this applies especially if you provide a service to private individuals, e.g. window cleaning or gardening). Family members will therefore need to become accustomed to receiving calls from clients and be briefed on how to handle them. If you have other heavy phone users in the house (e.g. teenagers!) you may need to consider having a separate line installed for business calls.
May be too many distractions - Family and domestic matters can also interfere with your business. Friends and relatives who would never dream of interrupting you at a 'proper' job may think nothing of phoning up or arriving unannounced, not realising (or perhaps caring) that you are 'at work'. Regular interruptions of this nature can seriously reduce your productivity, and hence your income. Even if you avoid this problem, working from home offers a huge range of potential distractions, from pets and family matters, through shopping and household chores, to gardening and watching television. You will need to be self-disciplined, or you can fritter away many working hours on non-productive (in business terms, at least) activities such as these.
May be lonely - Running a business from home can be lonely at times. This applies especially if you live on your own, where in some businesses (e.g. writing or computer programming) you may not speak to another person face-to-face (apart from perhaps the post office clerk) for days on end. Even if you do have a family -or at least a spouse/partner - you may find the isolation during the day difficult to bear. This applies especially if you have previously worked in a busy office or factory, or you have a naturally sociable temperament.
Clients may be deterred - Customers who come to see you in person may be put off to find that you work from home. However unreasonably, they may deduce from this that you are not serious about your business and that you might fail to deliver a professional standard of product or service. Even if you conduct your business entirely by mail, some people find what is obviously the use of a private address off-putting. You can get around this problem to some extent by using a PO Box or a separate accommodation address.
Can be hard to get away from work - If you work from home, you may find that work and domestic life become indivisible and it is very hard to 'switch off' and relax when the day's work is done. People who have previously worked in a separate establishment often find the journey between home and workplace provided a valuable psychological dividing line. When your home is also your workplace this line is gone, and the distinction between work and leisure can therefore easily become blurred.
May need greater home security - If you have high-value, easily portable equipment such as computers, fax machines and so on, this may make your home a tempting target for burglars. If, as with many businesses, you have to publicise your address on letterheads, advertisements and so on, this will unfortunately increase the risk of your property being targeted. You may need therefore to increase the level of security in your home, perhaps fitting a burglar alarm, security lighting/cameras, window locks, and so on.
Planning and other restrictions may apply - There are often planning restrictions on running businesses from homes in residential areas. This is most likely to be a problem if your proposed business is likely to cause noise or other irritation to your neighbours: printing, for example, or car repairs. If you live in rented accommodation, the landlord may object to your running a business from his property; and if you are buying your house with the aid of a loan or mortgage, the lenders may be unhappy. There may also be terms in the lease or deeds of your property prohibiting its use for business purposes.
None of these problems is insurmountable, but it is undoubtedly true that working from home is more likely to be suitable for some businesses - and individuals - than others. The best types of business for running from home are small and office-based, rather than those which require workshops and machinery or selling direct to the public.
