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We have collectively started to pay more attention to the importance of having a good work/ life balance. Combine this with the rapid changes to the way we work, and the result is that more and more people are choosing to run businesses from home.
No commute, lower costs and more time with family are just a few of the reasons that business owners are shifting their operations to their homes.
Read on and find out more about the beauty of running a business from home!
There are a lot of parents that try to weigh up the costs and benefits of working against spending time looking after children. Running a business from your home, however, will allow you to do both.
Of course, it’s not a magic solution. You will still need to figure out how to keep focused on work when you are home and keep yourself form getting distracted from important tasks.
If you are going to make it work, you will have to be very organised and find a schedule that fits in all aspects of your life.
Having time to look after yourself is part of creating a good work/ life balance.
Running a business from home gives you the opportunity to choose when and where to work out and you are able to make yourself healthier lunch options.
There are also multiple studies that have pointed to the importance of your workspace for your health. And, while office space has really transformed over the past few decades, you are still given a lot more control over this if you work at home.
Of course, this depends on how much attention you pay to your health. You will still need to be vigilant that you are not falling into bad office habits if you want to improve your health when working from home!
Working from home will alleviate the need to commute. This alone will transform your day. Time that you would have spent on the road can now be spent on your family, yourself or on errands.
Immediately you’ll have given yourself a better work/ life balance and that’s even if you work the exact same hours as you would have working an office job!
Commutes can also be costly- both to your wallet and to your health.
If you are trying to juggle work and children, working from home will allow you to work flexible hours. Change your schedule so that you work after you children have gone to bed so that you can spend time with them after school.
Having access to emails and phone calls from wherever you are means that you will always be contactable should something pop up. Video calls have also made it possible to take meetings from anywhere!
Interesting Read
A survey done by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) found that 55% of people who work from home found flexibility was the most significant advantage.
Despite the flexibility, you will need to remember to take breaks and not work really long hours. Working from home can sometimes mean letting your work bleed into all hours. This will come back to bite you in the long run.
With flexibility comes the need for discipline!
Working from home will also give you a lot more control over the environment that you work in. You can wear what you want, design the space that you want and even move around if you need to.
Working from home brings with it a lot more freedom in the way you work. If it suits you, you can even take your work to a coffee shop!
For most people who work from home, working conditions greatly improve.
Having a better work environment is important when it comes to productivity. All of us have a preferred environment for productivity. If you are working from home, the onus will be on you to create a distraction free space where you can work from.
Starting your own business is not for the faint hearted. It’s risky and can take a lot of start-up capital. The more you invest, the more you have to lose.
Running a business from home, however, requires less investment as you don’t have the costs of renting premises. Once you’re up and running and out of the woods in terms of your business, you will also be keeping more of the money that you make by not paying a landlord!
It’s certainly not an unusual thing to run a business from home anymore. Your clients, customers or suppliers will not be concerned. In fact, The BBC has reported that there has been a 74% increase in the number of people working from home from 2008 to 2018.
In the same period, 2008 to 2018, the growth in women that are self-employed freelancers was particularly significant. Being able to work from home has created a lot more options for women who no longer have to choose between career and caring.
When it comes to finding a business that you can run from home, there are really very few limits. There are also plenty options for sale that will not break the break the bank to buy.
Some great examples are online businesses, events planning businesses or any work that is done on contract basis.
If you are looking for increased support when you make the leap to business owner, you should consider franchising. There are hundreds of franchises that you will be able to run from home around your schedule and still have the training and support of the franchisor.
Think cleaning franchise, tutoring or even children’s activities!
Searching online with BusinessesForSale.com or FranchiseSales.com will give you an extensive range of options. It’s important, though, that you know what it is that you are looking for so that you can more easily narrow down your search.
Working from home can make your life easier and reduce stress, however, it will be up to you to ensure that it is. You will need to be organised and disciplined. If these aren’t your strong points, this working style may not be for you.
Before you begin the working at home journey, consider what systems you will put in place to make sure you don’t work too much or too little.
You will, however, reap the rewards if you are able to get it right!
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