Pros and Cons of Working From Home

Working from home sounds great in theory, but it takes a lot of time, planning and preparing for a business to get up and running. People who decide to work from home are taking a huge step from the traditional workplace. To some this is an exciting time, while to others it feels downright scary.

• Are you ready to be your own boss? In a traditional job you will get a steady paycheck and your hours are set by someone else. If you decide to become your own boss your paycheck will depend on you knowing how to hustle and provide services that people want.
• Work will come in waves. Sometimes you will have lots of work, other times there will be no work at all. This means that you need to know how to budget and plan for dry spells.
• What kind of business will you run? Design a business plan that has strategies and ideas for the business that you want to run and you should consider having a backup plan in case things do not go well.
• What kind of office setup will you have? How will you track your expenses and the time that you put into the business?

Once you have thought about these topics, you are almost on your way to creating your work from home job. The thing of it is you have to think about the real pros and cons and weigh each one carefully in order to decide if working from home is right for you.

Pros

• Set your own schedule and work when you want to.
• Set your own price so that you get paid what you are worth.
• Becoming more available for your immediate family.
• Only choosing jobs that you want to take, instead of having someone else dictate the jobs you need to do.
• The only pressure from working at home comes from you, instead of a boss or a company.

Cons

• Sometimes you don’t know when the next paycheck will come.
• Sometimes you don’t know when the next job will occur.
• Your family thinks you are available for running errands, babysitting and just chatting whenever they need to talk to you.
• If you don’t succeed, you don’t get paid.
• Home offices often have distractions and kids running around. While being around your children is great, it doesn’t always get the work done.

If you think the pros outweigh the cons then a work at home job might be for you. Start out small by learning about different work from home options and which options interest you.  Talk to friends who are participating in the industry and research information online so that you can make a final, informed decision before you quit the day job. Consider working from home part time while keeping your job, so that you can learn if you have what it takes to start a successful home based business.