It’s easy to list the advantages of running a home-based business: low overhead, no commute, and creating a more flexible lifestyle.
But when you live and work under the same roof, there are also are a number of disadvantages with which to contend: your children storming into the office, having to answer the door, and resisting the lure of that mid-afternoon nap.
How clearly I remember setting up a home-based business as a shopping centre consultant some 25 years ago. I was an executive in when the worst commercial real estate depression hit in the early 1980s. Some of you may remember those days when prime interest rate rose to over 23%. Yes! 23%, one of our smaller prairie shopping centres had a $1,000,000 interest only mortgage at prime + 10%, that’s nearly $350,000 a year interest payment without any principal paid-off! Compare that to your home mortgage at 3% these days – imagine paying nearly 8 times more on your monthly payments. Now you get an idea as to how my industry was destroyed and nearly all developers went bankrupt. Hence I was out of a very high paying executive job and decided to become a home-based shopping centre and commercial real estate consultant.
My older children were at school and my youngest was still at home. Hence a new problem. Daddy at home meant somebody to play with. And, we all know how irresistible little kids are. Having never worked at home ever before, I had a hard time separating business from home life and the responsibilities thereof.
Other concerns for your home-based business are to develop a part of the home exclusively for business including quality equipment and fixtures, direct accessibility from outside, washroom nearby and of course a professional ambience complete with solitude.
#1 by Antoinette on April 7, 2010 - 10:11 am
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Another very real concern for a home based business for me and I am sure others, is being a single mom or even a single female. I’m exposing myself and making myself vulnerable. You don’t want to feel that the person you helped earlier in the day may come back to try and hurt you. In this situation I might want to – this is me thinking out loud – be very selective of clientele maybe through referrals only? – or get a really big mean dog that’s well trained and everybody knows it. That should put everyone at ease before their session LOL. Seriously safety is my number one concern for a home based business. The question for me is would I feel safe or exposed and vulnerable. I would love to have a home based business. I think?