Running a business from the comfort of the home is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Business owners need to have certain personality traits in order to make their home business a success. Working from home requires discipline, self-motivation, organization and pragmatism.
"Anything that can be done, can be done out of the home," said Tim Hildabrand, owner of Hstar Inc. in Avery, who has worked from home since 1983. "What we're finding is as whole bunch of people are taking their jobs home. There is no reason to go back to brick and mortar or to have a physical presence. Why go back? I think what most people will find, once they have worked at home they'll never want to go back to working at an office."
Rapid technological advancement has made a home office much more feasible, and more and more business owners are cutting costs and abandoning the traditional work place. Perhaps the most important technological advance is the Internet.
"There's no way anyone can do anything in this world without Internet," Hildabrand said. "It's what allows people to work from home. You gotta have it."
Benefits of working from home?
Cutting costs and having individual freedom and control were some of the top reasons area business owners gave who operate out of their home.
"I like the freedom to come and go as I please, and work in my jammies!," said Tricia Slavik, owner of Beyond the C Marketing Communications in Murphys, who has been working from her home for about 10 years.
She went on to say that she enjoys having a flexible schedule, working while traveling and being available for her two teenagers.
Hildabrand said that the benefits are so obvious that a more interesting question is why more people aren't working out of their homes.
"Why get brick and mortar if you don't need it? You don't need to sit at a desk now days," Hildebrand said.
Richard "Dick" James, owner of Dick James Stock Photography in Arnold has been working out of his home for more than twenty years.
He said working from home saves him money because he doesn't have to lease a building, his commute is pretty short and reduced overhead.
Designate a work space
"The biggest thing is an isolated area," Hildabrand said. "You need that time and area way from the rest of the home.
"Don't be trying to work off the kitchen table. You need your own private works space. It's yours. To be successful, everyone needs that space."
"Have a dedicated space where you sit," Slavik said. "Make it feel like when you are sitting there, you are at ‘work.' And always make sure the kitchen is clean before you sit down, otherwise it will drive you crazy.
Slavik said she works on a desk and credenza set up in her living room, which isn't ideal.
Keeping the work space clean and organized is recommended, however that's not always possible.
"My wife says, ‘a pig sty!'" Actually, as much as I hate to, I have to agree with her," James said. "I can, however, find anything I'm in need of, because I know exactly which pile it is in, and where in that pile it is located. It sometimes shocks her that I find things so quickly."
Minimize distractions
After designating a special work place that is away from the rest of the house, it's important to cut down on tempting time-wasters.
"Don't have a television going, don't have instant messaging going," Hildebrand said. "When you're working at home, there are so many distractions."
Slavik said that the biggest challenges she faces are the distractions in her home. She pointed to dishes, laundry and kids as the main culprits.
James said he learned how to work around distractions during his time in Vietnam, and is now pretty good at it.
Working from home with a family
"Have a schedule with your family," Hildabrand said. "If you have kids, it gets complicated Kids interrupt all the time. Tell them when you're working and when you're not working. That's the hardest thing to do."
Slavik said that working for home makes her family life that much better.
"I am a single mom, and I can pick the kids up from school, take them to appointments, put dinner on and basically just be there when they need me," she said.
With lots of work to do right at business owner's fingertips, family time can suffer.
"If my wife is home, I'll stop my work and try to do things with her," Hildebrand said. "When the kids come home, you stop working, and stay up with the kids."
"Make sure your wife and kids hold you accountable. Have them call you out on it."
James' wife definitely calls him out.
"My wife claims I don't do my honey-do's quickly enough, and I'm too involved in my work," James said. "I hate to admit that she's right (don't tell her that)."
Overworking
While finding the self-motivation to succeed is a big hurdle for many aspiring business owners working from their home, at times doing too much work can be a problem.
"Overworking is a big problem - major, major problem," Hildebrand said. "I'm bad, I'm addicted. I work all the time. I have to cut myself off."
James said that he probably works too much, as he is on the job from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to bed seven days a week.
"Try to find time for yourself, otherwise it is easy to fall into the trap of work, work, work," James continued. "It's difficult maintaining a regular work day because work is always there for you to do if you're working at home, as opposed to having an office away from home, where an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule is easier to keep."
Work Schedule
"You have to set that schedule," Hildabrand said. "Set your times. Tell yourself ‘During this time I'm doing these things.'"
Making a daily, weekly and monthly list of goals can help keep persons working at home on track.
Slavik said she takes care of her household duties first and then determines exactly how long she will work and keeps to it.
Feeling Isolated
Most humans need social interaction to avoid a feeling of loneliness. The traditional workplace offers a daily dose of conversations with other human beings face-to-face.
"At the office you have a guy in the cubicle next to you," Hildebrand said. "At home, you can get cabin fever. You get lonely."
The good news for those working from home is that the Internet is making it easier to connect with others through things like social networking, instant messaging and video conferencing.
"I think technology will solve some of those problems," Hidebrand said.
Contact Joel Metzger at joel@calaverasenterprise.com
No comments:
Post a Comment