Undoubtedly, the reason many individuals get into entrepreneurship or have the desire to start their own business, is the flexibility it provides. There is flexibility in the type of work that can be done, the clients to be worked with, work hours and schedule, as well as location and working conditions. The latter two are without the question the driving factors for most.
To be able to choose your own hours is important, though choosing your working environment is perhaps key. Imagining days without being stuck in peak hour traffic, without being stuck in a sun-deprived office for 8 hours straight, without the constent stress of co-workers and office politics. It’s a utopian vision. For many this vision consists of working at home, clothed in whatever they woke up in and sprawled across the bed, coffee in hand and laptop on belly. Not only is this vision possible, it’s very achievable. I’ve been there myself for a number of years. It can ceratinly work out, until it doesn’t.
What we’re going to explore here, are the benefits, as well as the downsides of working at home. Why the dream may transmorph into reality, or why it may lead to an unsuccesful business and an unhappy life.
Benefits of Working From Home
Firstly, we’re going to look at the positives.. and they are numerous. There’s a reason so many aspire to this lifestyle and that’s because it can be pretty damn awesome. What are they..?
Time
Still the most undervalued, underappreciated asset, commodity, gift, blessing we have. How some people can justify squandering time is beyond me. With working from home, you get to recapture a large swathe of time that would otherwise be wasted.
Between the commute to and from work, the empty meetings, the trip to lunch and the getting prepared in the morning, you spend quite a signifcant portion of the day getting prepared to work and make money, without actually actually earning anything. This can sometimes be 3-4 hours a day. If you’re making $30 an hour, you should be concerned that you are losing $90-$120 a day with wasted time.
Working from home alleviates this issue. You don’t have to waste time getting prepared (though you may want to prepare for the day just the same- there are benefits to this), you don’t waste time on the biggest drag- the commute. You can be as efficient as humanly possible, not concerned with having to appear productive for 8 hours a day.
If there is 1 single factor that justifies working from home, it may very well be this.
Flexibility
In the same frame as time-saving mentioned above, working from home also allows tremendous flexibility. If you are naturally a night-owl and most productive during the evening/night hours, you can schedule your workday around your natural tendencies. If you have to take kids to school in the morning, you can relax, knowing you have the chance to get back to work at the hours you want to, later in the day.
Similarly to time-saving, the flexibility of working from home gives you back more of your life.
Not only that, there is flexibility in where you choose to work. Maybe today it’s in bed lying down, resting your back. Maybe tomorrow it’s at a coffee shop for 4 hours. This can be great, though also detrimental at the same time. We’ll get to that later. In the same vain, you may choose to dress in comfortable shorts and t-shirts and yoga tights, perhaps not get dressed at all. If you don’t have meetings to attend to, you can get away with it.
Cost
Another tremendous benefit for a budget concious entrepreneur is the cost saving benefits to working from home. Not only will you save on petrol and commute expenses (commutes really are a drain on everything aren’t they..), you can save on food by preparing your lunch and snacks at home. No more $20 sandwich and water meals for you. No more $5 coffees (this is optional).
You can also save on things such as business suits, parking and much more. Plus, there are tax writeoffs that go with working at a home office. You can claim electricity, printing, office space, phone.. all kinds of goodies. That being said, you also spend more in electricity, printing costs etc.. than if they were all supplied at an office or co-working space.
Focus
This is an interesting one and is purely determined by how you manage your work environment. It can very well go either way. Working at an office can be a noisy place, full of interuptions, distractions and wasted time. Home can be exactly the same. You have to be able to create the environment you need to be able to focus and get on with the task at hand. If your home allows for that, that’s a huge win.
Disadvantages of Working At Home
We’ve looked at the advantages and they are numerous and powerful. However, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops. Let’s examine a few disadvatages so you can weigh up the overall concept.
Focus
Though this has been included as a positive, I’d dare say it’s weighted quite heavily towards being a negative. This was the main factor for me hiring a small office a couple of months back.
First things first, to be able to work from home, with no external accountability or ‘pressure’, requires quite a high level of discipline. As does doing anything difficult by yourself. If you are not naturally inclined this way, it is going to be difficult.
Secondly, your home life and surroundings are going to be the determining factor. If you live alone or have a partner that works during the day, the whole process is much easier. If you have kids, the whole process can fall apart very quickly. It can be next to impossible working from home, even if you’ve got a private office, with the distractions of kids banging on your door, yelling at you and generally making a rucous. It requires monumental willpower, much more so than I possess. In my case, though it’s only been a short period of time, hiring a low-cost office has been one of the best business decisions I’ve made.
This is entirely personal to you and your circumstances. Just be self aware enough of your traits and your surroundings to figure out if this will work for you. No harm in trailling it first either.
Seperation of Home and Work
Having discipline also extends to being able to ‘switch off’, though for a business owner that may very well be just a pipe dream. Working from home does excacerbate this problem though. By working from the same place you relax, the same place you spend time with your family, eat dinner etc.. it can be very difficult to mentally transition between roles.
When you have an office, from the moment you walk in the door, you understand what you are there for. Once you’re done for the day, you can kick off your shoes and relax, knowing that the work day is done and it’s time for your home life. When you’re office is at home, that distinction is lost. It can be both difficult to get into work mode and difficult to get into relax mode, with the result being this state of purgatory that can lead to a pretty difficult mindset. This can be overcome somewhat by having a distinct room in the house that is only used for work, though it is still a challenge.
Socialisation
If you’re a sole operator, then one challenge many will face is the lack of social interaction as a result of being at home all day by yourself. A workplace at least promotes social interaction, even if you and your co-workers don’t necessarily get along that well. This is not such a big factor if you have regular client meetings or other business associates you covnerse with regularly. You can also join business netowrks such as .. that promote interaction between otherwise lonesome entrepreneurs.
Workspace
Maybe your don’t have a room in your house available to be used for an office and are forced to work from the kitchen table. This is doable, though from my experiences incredibly difficult. You have the option of working from coffee shops and the like, though generally for short bursts of time.
There can also be the issue of not having access to the equipment you need- e.g printers, copiers, whiteboards that will add a large expense to a small businesses bottom line.
Though much of this can be overcome, it can still prove to be another hurdle.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, this decision is completely relative to your circumstances and temperament. It can be best summarised by this great infographic below from Online Writing Jobs
If you decide that working at home may be the path you want to take, or at least trial, here’s a few inspirational ideas on how you could set up your home office….
