I went self employed in January 2009, it was a scary time and I honestly didn’t know if it would work out. I had amassed a fair bit of savings to keep me going for a few months if I didn’t make any money.
I would say I was lucky because I landed on my feet within those first few months, I was earning nearly the same amount each month that I was earning in my previous job. As you hear all the time “it’s who you know” and one contact’s business led me onto another and then another.
My business has changed quite drastically in 8 years but one thing has remained the same – I still work from my home ‘office’.
Now please don’t think I’m complaining in this article, I know I have a great gig here. I am SO grateful that I don’t have to do a job I hate travelling long distances to get there and I did work my bum off to be in this situation. This is simply a word of warning to anyone considering going down this road.
First, let’s hit up the benefits of running a business from home:
- (In my case) get up when you want in the
afternoonmorning - Having time to make breakfast, lunch and dinner there and then – YES FRESH HOT FOOD
- Listening to any Spotify playlist you want (and then singing along)
- Midday Netflix breaks
- Shopping Breaks (we live a stones-throw from Lakeside, I’ve definitely ditched work to go to Zara)
- Working in your pants (perhaps the most beneficial)
So yes, the benefits are MANY and they DO outweigh the negatives. However there’s one thing I struggle with and that’s:
GOING CRAZY
“Why would you go crazy?” I hear you say…
Well, there’s something not normal about being home alone all day every day by yourself working away with only the CAT to talk to. I used to be a bit nutty before but since we got a cat I’ve reached new levels.
Running my business requires no leaving the house to visit clients and no phone calls. If I was to do a full week of work, my only social interactions would be the post office 3 times a week (I use drop and go so I literally say HI and BYE), waiting anxiously at the door for my girlfriend to get home from work and oh yes – the cat.
You might be thinking “But Steve, just go outside and meet up with someone…. anyone?”
And this is just what I need to do, the difficulty is that being at home becomes, after a while, sooo comfortable, too comfortable.
Have you ever just loved being at home so much that you didn’t want to bother leaving the house? Well, now that work is at home with me, I hardly ever HAVE to leave the house, and that, is sending me crazy.
So, a word of warning if any of you out there are/or thinking of working from home. It can send you crazy after a short while. Venture into the outside world as much as you can, see people, talk to them. Avoid becoming too wrapped up in home/work life.
If you already work from home, are you also crazy like me? Let me know in the comments.
In the meantime, here’s Harley, being helpful as always:
Vegan Steven 