Running a Business from Home – Is it always a good idea?

Working from Home As an employee you may have spent hours daydreaming of setting up your business and working from home. Starting a business may have been prompted because you wanted flexibility in your life or you got fed up of the 9-5 treadmill along with the relentless commuting. Well, now that you are working from home, is it all that you imagined? Are you loving it or hating it? Do you sit all day at your desk in your pyjamas, not bothering to get ready for ‘work’, just because you can!? Do you leave the washing up and housework till its ‘home time’ or do you fit it in around your working day, after all that was your dream, to create this lovely flexible lifestyle.

Being disciplined when you work from home is not always easy. You have to put your ‘business head’ on to make sure your day is productive and you are earning money or pushing your business forward Let’s take a look at a few of the pros and cons. Pros You can get out of bed in the morning whenever you like, no more alarm clocks. You can take the kids out during the day or meet friends for lunch without asking for time off. You can structure your day around your own schedule and priorities. You can work till midnight (and beyond) and be safe and warm in your own environment. You can shop online and update your social media without the office ‘snitch’ keeping an eye on you. You can keep an eye on your children and what they’re up to.  You can sleep in late but miss a big chunk of the working day. You can go out during the day, but there is always ‘catch up’ to do. You can get easily distracted and not achieve very much and wonder what you did all day! You can feel isolated running your business from home. You lack motivation (perhaps you are not the self motivated person you thought you were). You are constantly interrupted by your children or partner (you need to set some boundaries).

You started your business because you felt passionate about it, so do not lose sight of that, but certainly put some strategies in place to make sure that working from home does not become something that you now hate and wish you had not chosen to do. If you’re feeling isolated  join a business networking group. If you are struggling alone on your business, engage the services of a mentor to help you. If find it a struggle working from home, seek a hot desk in serviced offices or rent an office in a local business centre. You could even investigate subletting space from another business owner (you would get an instant colleague /buddy).

Running a business from home is not always as good as it seems, but you do have options. Explore what it is about working from home that either works for you (or doesn’t) and make changes to ensure that working from home is not sabotaging your business.