The perils of home business
Posted 3 June 2008 at 9:05AM by Ian Betteridge in Doing business online
Not that long ago, I was one of Britain's forgotten legion of home-based workers. As a freelance reporter working for US and UK companies, my commute to work sometimes consisted of rolling out of bed and into the chair at my desk, then eating my cereal as I checked the morning's emails.
In summer, thanks to the miracle of WiFi, breakfast was in a local café near the sea front in Brighton, where I lived at the time. My hours were irregular, thanks to working for customers in three different time zones, but all things considered it wasn't a bad life.
So how come I gave up this idyllic-sounding lifestyle in favour of full-time employment? Put simply, I fell into the trap that many home workers find themselves in: going quietly mad thanks to the lack of human contact.
I missed the sociability of the office, as well as the rewarding experience of working in a team to achieve a common goal. While I was in touch with people constantly via email and phone, it doesn't have the same immediacy as actually meeting people face to face.
So if you're thinking of starting up on your own and being based at home, think seriously about getting some face-to-face time with people too. Could you work from a client or customer's office for a day or two a week? Could you arrange regular meetings which at least get you out of the house? Or could you simply find and meet other local home-based workers socially, to at least discuss your experience and share some ideas?
Home working isn't for everyone - so if you're finding it tough going, don't suffer on your own.
Tags: bt, bt broadbandoffice, homeworking
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Comments
2. At June 3, 2008 11:11 AM, 'Razor' Ramone wrote:
Working from home also has the added danger of spending too much time with your partner/spouse. Some people can handle 24 hour contact, and some can't. Sometimes it's better to get out of each other's hair once in a while.
One home worker and one regular would be fairly handy, I guess. The home worker can double as a housekeeper too, although why they should do twice the work when they're also an earner is an issue that would probably come up at some point. Buy hey, what's a relationship but a challenge?
3. At June 3, 2008 11:17 AM, Nicola Steel wrote:
I work from home and it is the best thing I have ever done both in terms of lifestyle and earning potential. As a working mother, I spend more time with my daughter and keep a home for my husband! I also earn as much money in half the time. I spent 10 years working in vibrant London office environments which I thoroughly enjoyed but spent a lot of time chatting by the photocopier when I should have been building relationships with clients! I have to be more strict with my time because of child-care so I am much more self-disciplined. This would not have suited my lifestyle in my 20s but is perfect in my 30s!
4. At June 3, 2008 12:11 PM, Sonuga wrote:
Like every other thing, working from home has its pros and cons. The 'quietly going mad due to lack of human interaction' mentioned by the writer will not occur to everyone. Some people actually prefer working all by themselves while others prefer working in a group. It's an individual thing. You have to know which lifestyle suits you better.
5. At June 3, 2008 2:30 PM, Lizzy wrote:
This article sums up perfectly how I felt during my stint at home working. I think how productive you are, also depends on the nature of the work you do , including whether your work for yourself or someone else.
people talk about the perks, managing your own time, more freedom etc etc . Its anything but - you still have a job to do and you have to be disiplined to avoid unproductivity. Longer hours & less results.
In an effort to keep down costs year 1 of my new start up business, I worked from home. 3 Months in, and the costs were forced to be incorporated into the budget for a small office for the purpose of sanity!!
In addition to the lack of background interaction, team work and shared goals, I found I missed the structure. At its most basic this included having a place of work to go to in the mornings. Even though I still frequently work from home in the evenings, the sense of seperation between the 2 is now there, where as previously it all merged into one.
I never considered that routine would be a primary motivator for me. More then anything home working was a learning curve . I could not bare to do it again !!
You have to be very good in your own company to enjoy it.
6. At June 3, 2008 3:09 PM, Gary wrote:
You comments are spot on. I've been working from home for well over 4 years now. As well as your comments, those of the others posters are the very same pros & cons I have found.
In addition though, I also found I miss out on the cross-fertilisation of learning and new ideas & techniques which, in a high-tech IT industry, means I have to work that bit harder to keep up with the game.
For me it has been a vastly more positive experience, but it isn't as rosey a picture as one might initially think.
7. At June 3, 2008 5:30 PM, JAMES wrote:
Working from home is the greatest thing that I ever did. Less overheads and able to work the hours that I wish to do. I can go out when I want and the answer machine, our computers or my wife can deal with matters. My wife and I have worked together since I first employed her way back in 1970.
My usual working hours range between 10am and midnight 7 days a week 365 days a year. As an international mail order company we need to answer emails on a very regular basis to maximise orders.
We originally had a retail outlet and were very much tied down to regular shop hours. Now at 70 - this is my active hobby and I am in regular contact with people all over the world.
8. At June 3, 2008 7:44 PM, Steve Blamey wrote:
There is an idea called co-working, that started in the US and is now spreading into the UK and Europe, and aims to tackle the need that some lone workers have for community and some kind of structure around their work. I won't expand too much here but try a google search for coworking or see my short post http://www.adbury.net/work/community-for-freelancers-and-startups.html for an introduction to the idea.
9. At June 3, 2008 10:31 PM, Pat wrote:
I work from home. The worst part is having friends and relatives know you are there all the time and thinking it's OK to visit whenever they feel like it.
10. At June 6, 2008 11:10 AM, Rosemary Lass wrote:
I agree with Pat, also you are not always taken seriously if you say you work from home. I feel people think I am running an amateur project, which is far from the truth. I run my organisation from a central home hub with my staff based in contracted premises in and around London. I agree with most that has been said. One extra downside - and I have been working from home for about ten years - is that I have increased in size! I do not take the excercise I used to. I do not get to the gym anymore and it is too easy to nip into the kitchen to snack. Otherwise all I can say is thank God I don't have to commute into London anymore and the positives outweigh the negatives ten fold. I thoroughly recommend it.
11. At June 9, 2008 12:36 PM, Shaun Wass wrote:
I have been homeworking for about 3 years now and i find it great, i use all the new technologies so i have Video on my phone (means that you have to shave in the mornings) i use web/video conferencing so i actually see more of the team as we are spread all over the world..and best of all no one comes to my desk and asks that dreaded question...have you got a minute!
12. At June 9, 2008 2:20 PM, Judy wrote:
Having read everyone's comments above, I am now firmly convinced that I have the ideal situation. I work from home 2/3 days a week for an internet company, I work 2 days a week for a surveyor where I have a half hour drive to his home office, and occasionally (usually once every 4 weeks) I work a day for another company where I interact with lots of people. I also help out a friend every couple of weeks by manning her gift shop on Sundays. For me variety is really the spice of life such that I quite look forward to my days working from home. As my husband works part time, sometimes he is home with me, which is great, and sometimes I'm on my own. Because every week is different and I enjoy all my jobs, it never gets boring and I don't have a problem with getting up for a day working from home.
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1. At June 3, 2008 9:20 AM, homework bound wrote: