The main offer of most working at home business is the promise of the escape from the rate race. Is this a true fact? Most people I know who work from home actually work a great site harder and longer hours than the nine to fivers on a job - at least they can actually switch off and leave the work behind them. So is the promise of greater free time, more time spent with your family and the escaping of the rate race actually true for people who choose to work at home? As always and as with most things, it's a case of pros and cons. There are benefits and costs associated with both ways of working so lets explore some of the detail contained in each when working from home.
Working at home will give you more free time?
Actually, most probably not because time now equals money and when you are not working you are not earning in most cases. But, it does allow flexibility of time that most probably will allow you to schedule your time to fit in with other family commitments on a day to day basis. However, a little understated benefit is the fact that you are surrounded & encompassed within your family environment which means you are still privy to the day to day antics that you can still observe or choose to take part in. You are also on call for those domestic problems to assist with your partner without the need for that embarrassing phone call to the office and the long anxious drive home. It may not be quality time totally focussed on your family but it's a great counterweight and superior environment knowing that you are still in site & in touch with your family throughout the day.
Working at home means you have escaped the rat race?
Yes and no is the answer to this one. Yes, you have escaped the daily trudge to the remote office via slow moving traffic or dirty public transport but the pressures to maintain an income are exactly the same. However, having your own home based business usually means greater chances of making a higher income and the satisfaction that you are in control of how much you could make. There is no greater motivator when effort directly equals reward. You could argue that you have also escaped the pressures of a boss but in reality having your own home based business often means that every new client or customer is like a mini boss within themselves placing their own demands on your services, time or products. On balance I would say that it's a 60/40 split on this one and its how you value the benefits of working from home can bring.
You will earn more money working for yourself with a home based business?
Over time probably yes but perhaps not to start with. If you have just started a new business it needs time to grow. Some people slip into running their own business working from home as a part time operation and this is perhaps the safest and most practical way in to working from home. However, this approach often requires years of burning the candle at both ends by working evenings and weekends in additional to the day job. This can take its toll on a person or family if there is no end to it but once that critical mass is reached within the part time activity, the nettle should be firmly grasped and the giant leap taken to allow that part time work to flourish into a proper work from business. So as usual, it's a case of swings and roundabouts. Although PAYE careers have additional employer benefits such as health and pension funds that the self employed home business has to pay for, the potential for developing and exploiting your own ideas for profit usually, in the end, win overall. Lets just say that most successful and wealthy people I personally meet in life always seem to be running their own businesses - it may not always be working from home but it is a concept that seems to work for the majority.
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