Being Your Own Boss

Some people ask me why I started my home business here (developing websites), leaving a good dayjob position for it too. Well, I wanted a flexible job, where I wouldn't be bound to strict hours or days even. I was planning a family at the time, and wanted to be able to manage my own time. Yes, I do realize some people will lecture you about how a home business is a business just like any other, and that in order to be a success, you have to actually put in even more time than if you were just a hired employee in someone else's gig.

That is true actually. The more you invest into your own venture, time-wise, the more likely you are to be making even more money. However, for some of us money is not the number one priority in life. My home enterprise is really taking off these days, as my kids are getting older and I have more time to work. Granted, for the first few years it was not as easy, and indeed fewer work hours also meant a much smaller growth rate and less profit. So what? at least I could still keep it running, even if on the back burner. Unlike a 9-5 job, where you can't just decide that you're going to put in a 20 hours work week, instead of full time, just because you feel it's the right time for you to be with your kids. See the difference? it's about independence and making your own choices. Yes, you need to realize that these choices come at a certain cost, but they also may bring you special rewards. Either way, it's up to you to make them. Not your boss.

The Work from Home Business Concept

When we talk about working from home, it does not necessarily mean owning your own business. Some people work as employees for a company, even for a large corporation and are still allowed to work from home, i.e. take emails and phone calls, work on excel sheets or documents, on their laptop or even their home desktop station. Moving files from the office to home, using a disk on key apparatus is so easy these days. Mobile phones, handheld computers and a myriad of other gadgets make it extremely easy to work seamlessly from two locations. You can even work while commuting.

These people may essentially be working from their homeplace, but they are not the ones we refer to when we talk about "work from home businesses". Nope, this is an entirely different concept. This isn't just about the physical or geographical location. It's about owning and running your own show, being independent and self employed. It's also about not having your own shop or external offices, so that your main headquarters for your business are indeed at home. It may or may not mean working your own hours. Some of these businesses may still require keeping to regular work schedules, especially the ones that deal with customers or with scheduled tasks (for example, a home based daycare center).

In fact, work from home businesses come in so many shapes and forms, it's difficult to characterize them in one bundle. They only unique parameters are -
1. Being your own boss - owning the business.
2. Setting the headquarters of your business at home.

Can You Work from Home?

I maintain that anyone can work from home. It takes will power, dedication and it's not easy. You can do it though, if you put your mind to it.

Approach this with the right expectations. This is going to be a long journey and it is going to take time before you can see results. But it's doable, and the more you read about it, the better. In fact, before you do anything else, set aside a few days to learn. The net is full of excellent resources, some of which we will refer to here in this blog. Use them. Read, read, read. I can't stress that enough. Yes, you will need to be productive and work hard, but working smarter is just as important, if not more so, as working harder. And to work smarter you need to know what you are doing.

This blog is going to bring you information, tips and ideas about setting and running your home business. Use them and come back often to read more.