Work From Home: An Introduction

I have spent a large portion of my life working with people on establishing them in their own business, working from their home in a large percentage of time. The lure of working from home is huge, the conveniences are massive, but there can be a down side. I want to review some of the advantages as well as some of the pitfalls you can experience. First, let’s look at some of the advantages:

You can not get more convenient than waking up, rolling out of bed and being at work in 5 minutes. No commute, no traffic, and no car to have to buy specifically for work or having to gas and maintain one you already have.

· Virtually all of your time spent on a home-based business is aimed directly at the business. There should be no wasted time on the commute, on internal travel, distractions from outside sources; you have the opportunity to create your own environment, which can be very profitable for you.

· Flexibility is within your control. You set your timetable and work around other commitments you have. You can slice up your day and set blocks of time around your work as well as family commitments.

· Change on the fly. When situations come up that require your time, either about work or other issues, you can make the changes necessary without having to check with a traditional boss or supervisor situation.

· Multiple opportunities can be more easily accommodated when you are the boss. As you progress in either your search for good work-at-home opportunities, or add to your current base, you will realize the value of having multiple opportunities on the go. This is most easily done from a home-based business.
The advantages are numerous, many more than what I have listed here. Though the advantages of working from home far outweigh the disadvantages, you still should be aware of the pitfalls and guard yourself from falling into these traps;

· Setting a work schedule and sticking to it. This seems to be the most common mistake work-at-home people fall into. Even though the flexibility and being able to set your own schedule is one of the main advantages of working from home, it is probably the greatest downfall of most people.

· Part of setting a schedule is the difficult task of separating your personal life from you business and social or family life. It’s sometimes hard to tell children and spouses that you are working and not accessible to them, when you are in fact, 2 feet away from them at home, albeit in your home office for instance.

· Getting a physical separation between yourself and outside forces is important if you want to be successful at your work from home business. A separate location for your office and computer set-up is ideal. It’s not always possible, but effort and time in this area will pay big dividends down the road.

This is just a short intro; I brought up a few pros, and a few cons about operating a work from home business. I always spend a few moments on the mental part of operating a work from home business. My experience is that the people who treat their work at home opportunity like a REAL business, do the best. What do I mean like a REAL business? Simple, go at it with a game plan, be organized, utilize your time properly and, most of all, commit yourself to being successful.

I look forward to working with you on becoming successful and enriching and empowering your life.