In recent years, working from home has been an attractive option for people made redundant or those feeling stymied from the 9-to-5 tradition work grind. Add to these reasons of no more commuting and difficult boss to deal with, and other personal reasons, the motivation to work at home has been rising.
Working at home is also an attractive option to working mothers who want to spend more time with their children, or a husband who want to fulfill a dream of being his own boss. There are always trade-offs but well-worth it when properly planned and guided with a work from home readiness test.
While it is true that working at home can provide a level of flexibility not found in the traditional 9-to-5, certain factors need to be considered.
The Realities of Working at Home
Being one’s own boss requires that effort is multiplied. As a small business owner, you'll need to oversee the business from a entrepreneur’s perspective, in planning, organizing, and leading the business. Naturally, this entails marketing, sales, operations, finance, and perhaps hiring staff, for expansion.
Long hours are needed, and as a business owner, your leadership characteristics such as determination, commitment, and persistence are constantly challenged.
Idea Formulated as Relates to Business Realities
The idea conceived for a career change to work at home can be best by looking at trends and the market. Brainstorm your idea if your dream business has a need, then look into your ability and skills, your financial situation, and your basic start-up needs.
Considering the Positives and Negatives
As earlier mentioned, flexibility is a great reason for working at home. The other side of the coin is distractions that can hamper the work focus. In simple equation, the positives should outweigh the negatives, and the motivation stronger, along with considerations of strengths and experiences.
Telecommuting: An Option to Work at Home
For others who are not comfortable starting up a business but still prefer the comfort of flexibility, then telecommuting is a lateral option of working from home. Telecommuting in recent years has become a popular career direction.
What is telecommuting? Telecommuting or “telework’ is a work arrangement in which an employee’s work location is replaced by links in telecommunication. This means a telecommuter has the option to work at home, hooked in the company they’re contracted to. Many organizations opt for telecommuters to save cost from hiring permanent staff.
Making the Work-at-Home Career Work
Working at home has its pros and cons. The final decision lies in the person who wants a career change, specifically, as a work at home person. While the dream of being one’s own boss is big and beckoning, the business of working at home should be seriously weighed before any plunge into a business start-up occurs, in terms of the motivating good reasons and the realities of it all.
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