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The Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home

Many people dream of working from home, and for quite a few, that dream is becoming a reality. They find an opportunity, take the time and spend the money to set up their home office just right, and then aren’t successful, for various reasons. While working at home can be a great thing, for the right person, only a handful of people are actually able to make it work. There are advantages and disadvantages to working from home, and while you rarely hear about the disadvantages, it is important that you look at all angles before making such a big decision.

Of course, if you work from home, and you are self-employed, you have the benefit of being your own boss, and setting your own hours. Your salary depends solely on your efforts, and isn’t impacted by anyone other than you. You can work all night and sleep all day; you can work all week and not do anything on weekends, whatever you choose. You can work in the nude if you want, or you can dress up in full office attire, again, your choice! You don’t have to spend your hard earned money on an expensive business wardrobe, unless you decide to do so. You can take your children to and from school, attend all of their special functions, and have the time to run errands and clean house, and work around your own schedule.

Being your own boss and setting your hours can be a disadvantage for some people, especially those who lack the discipline to work unsupervised. It can be all too easy to procrastinate and say that you will do it later, and then when the bills come in, realize that later never came. If you don’t work, or only work here and there, then you won’t have the money that you need to support your family, and everyone in the household will suffer. If you aren’t able to limit your distractions at home, and take the extra time to run errands, and do those cleaning tasks that you have been putting off, you aren’t spending the time that you should on your business, meaning that you could be setting yourself up to fail.

If you don’t go through the routine of getting up every morning, getting dressed and eating breakfast, and then commuting to work, you may start having production issues. You may develop an attitude of procrastination, which impacts productivity, which impacts the money you make, and again, the success or failure of what you are trying to do.

You have to learn to plan out your day, so that everything that needs to be accomplished does get done. You need to develop the self-discipline to work until these items get done, no matter how long it takes. If you can’t do this, then again, you won’t be successful.

You have to make it plain to your family and friends that you will be working during certain hours, and that you will be unavailable to answer phone calls, or to visit. Every phone call you take, every time you walk away to answer the door, interrupts your workflow, and costs you time, which in turn, costs you money.

Remember, that while you are self-employed, you will still be required to pay income taxes, and you will either need to hire an accountant, which can be expensive, or take the time to do your own bookkeeping, and to learn how to do it correctly. You definitely don’t want the IRS on your tail!