Working from home can be beneficial for many people. However, this decision can affect your personal life and if your business wasn’t always run out of your home, your business as well. Even with the ability to separate your business and personal lives, a home office can still create unavoidable conflicts.
Is a Home Business Right for You?
If your first thought about having a home business is that you get to work comfortably in your home, then you may want to reconsider. Working from home takes just as much work (if not more) than going to an office every day.
Hurdles you may be likely to face are:
- Whether you’ve fully considered if your business model is well-suited for a home office
- How you will deal with customers, clients and suppliers
- Dealings with family and friends who may want reduced rates for services
- Friends and family may not understand your need(s) to work uninterrupted
- Whether being your own boss results in an advantage or a disadvantage in your work
Dealing with Neighbors and Family
Boundaries between a working and home environment—especially involving your neighbors, your friends and your family— most quickly come to mind. Since a traditional office work setting allows you to create natural boundaries, the transition can be difficult for some people. Working at home means that you are responsible for creating these boundaries.
One way to help you create these boundaries is to decide how you will deal with the unavoidable interruptions that you will face.
Interruptions. When working from home, you have the task of making those close to you understand that when you are at home and working, it is your place of business. Unfortunately, people who would never barge into your traditional workplace may act differently when you work at home. They may simply see it as an opportunity to ask you to do errands, baby-sit, call you, or stop by just to chat—all because they may not see working at home as really working.
To try to reduce the instance(s) of interruption, setting up a separate workspace may help—especially if you can put a door between you and the outside world. Furthermore, when people interrupt you, it is important to tactfully let them know that their interruption is unacceptable. It is also a good idea to let them know exactly what they’ve interrupted so that eventually they will learn to take your home business seriously.
While it is definitely important to make sure that you can work as undisturbed as possible, it is also important that you do not end up making yourself feel isolated while working. In a traditional environment, you work and network with co-workers and have the option to socialize with your co-workers. This means that working at home can be lonely.
In order to avoid feeling isolated and gain professional contacts, there are several options available. For example, you can:
- Join any number of professional groups including those for:
- Industry organizations or associations
- People working at home or people in small business
- Take classes in areas that are pertinent to your business and interest you
- Participate in and plan events that involve people in the business community
Even though working from home can prove difficult for some people, it can also be very profitable and convenient—as long as you can avoid distraction and set up a successful personal workspace.
Starting a business can be difficult. This can be especially true of a business from home. MaxFilings can help you make decisions in order to make your new business a success. If you are just starting a new business or are looking to help your business flourish, do not hesitate to check out our Knowledge Center to learn everything you need to know about incorporating a business along with other helpful information.