Why Do Millions of People Just Like Us Work from Home?
Truthfully, the reasons are as varied as the home business owners themselves.
Some of the most common reasons entrepreneurs give for building a home based business are:
Flexibility
A lot of people make the mistake of confusing "time freedom" with "time flexibility" and end up disappointed when their daydream of sleeping until midmorning, then piddling around for a few hours in their business doesn't pan out. The truth is, a home based business can easily consume more hours of the day than a typical 9-5 job. One of the major mind-shifts necessary to transition successfully into the self-employment arena is erasing the thought of trading time for money and replacing it with trading value for money. Very few people in the home based business industry are paid by the hour and even they often invest more hours than they are paid for.
Time flexibility however, is very real. Self-bossers can usually re-arrange their projects and commitments to accommodate family functions, a sick child, school events and other occasions that are often out of the reach of those who are in traditional jobs.
Fulfilling Work
Researchers have been telling us for years that high on the list of motivators for working people is to have work they find fulfilling, work that contributes to something larger than themselves...a greater good. Fulfilling work scored much higher on personal satisfaction surveys than money. This can be very difficult for a traditional employer to provide. Here's a very enlightening video based on the work of Researcher, Dan Pink that explains what motivates us.
Some of the most common reasons entrepreneurs give for building a home based business are:
- Flexibility
- Fulfilling work
- Increased earning potential
- Tax benefits
- Creative expression
- Income security
Flexibility
A lot of people make the mistake of confusing "time freedom" with "time flexibility" and end up disappointed when their daydream of sleeping until midmorning, then piddling around for a few hours in their business doesn't pan out. The truth is, a home based business can easily consume more hours of the day than a typical 9-5 job. One of the major mind-shifts necessary to transition successfully into the self-employment arena is erasing the thought of trading time for money and replacing it with trading value for money. Very few people in the home based business industry are paid by the hour and even they often invest more hours than they are paid for.
Time flexibility however, is very real. Self-bossers can usually re-arrange their projects and commitments to accommodate family functions, a sick child, school events and other occasions that are often out of the reach of those who are in traditional jobs.
Fulfilling Work
Researchers have been telling us for years that high on the list of motivators for working people is to have work they find fulfilling, work that contributes to something larger than themselves...a greater good. Fulfilling work scored much higher on personal satisfaction surveys than money. This can be very difficult for a traditional employer to provide. Here's a very enlightening video based on the work of Researcher, Dan Pink that explains what motivates us.
Increased Earning Potential
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, home based business professionals earn upwards of $40k per year. This may not look like much compared to the average earnings of someone providing similar service in a traditional company until you crunch the numbers and realize that most of this is net income. With the reduced amount a home business owner spends on things like commuting, daycare, wardrobe and other "working expenses", a good deal of what he or she earns, stays at home. There are also very beneficial tax cuts and rebates available to someone who has a home based business that can really add up.
Another great income benefit is that home based business owners have much control over their income. They can "give themselves a raise" pretty much at will by either increasing their client base, increasing their fees , increasing the products or services offered or any number of other creative ways.
Tax Benefits
We touched on this briefly earlier, but home based businesses often benefit from very generous allowances and deductions. On average, having a home business usually results in about $5k in tax benefits every year. To put this into perspective, NOT owning a home business is like taking a $20 bill out of your wallet every weekday morning and throwing it in the trash.
According to Entrepreneur Magazine, home based business professionals earn upwards of $40k per year. This may not look like much compared to the average earnings of someone providing similar service in a traditional company until you crunch the numbers and realize that most of this is net income. With the reduced amount a home business owner spends on things like commuting, daycare, wardrobe and other "working expenses", a good deal of what he or she earns, stays at home. There are also very beneficial tax cuts and rebates available to someone who has a home based business that can really add up.
Another great income benefit is that home based business owners have much control over their income. They can "give themselves a raise" pretty much at will by either increasing their client base, increasing their fees , increasing the products or services offered or any number of other creative ways.
Tax Benefits
We touched on this briefly earlier, but home based businesses often benefit from very generous allowances and deductions. On average, having a home business usually results in about $5k in tax benefits every year. To put this into perspective, NOT owning a home business is like taking a $20 bill out of your wallet every weekday morning and throwing it in the trash.
Creative Expression
As we saw earlier, people want to be able to contribute something of value to something greater than themselves. Creative expression is the aspect of that which adds "in a beautiful way" to that sentence.
Income Security
This may not be immediately obvious as a benefit of a home based business until you ask yourself this question, "if you are traditionally employed, how many people can completely cut off your source of income with no notice at all?" As too many people have recently discovered, the answer to this question is often "one". One person can make the decision that YOU are no longer needed, that YOUR POSITION is expendable. This can be the result of "office politics", a catastrophic illness at home, or a "business decision" made by faceless board members half a continent away. The reason doesn't matter, but the fact remains that it is entirely possible to wake up one morning as the family bread-winner and go to bed unemployed. It's happened millions of times.
A home business owner is in a better position. In order to lose his entire income, EVERY ONE of his clients or customers would have to stop doing business with him immediately. There are certainly circumstances in which that can happen, but the possiblity is far more remote. It's highly unlikey that a home business owner will be blind-sided by an extreme downturn because the warning signs are much more visible.
Are You Ready to Take the Plunge?
If this has you thinking building a home business is for you, the next step is to start brainstorming what you would offer or for a faster start, check out our Ready to Start Businesses
As we saw earlier, people want to be able to contribute something of value to something greater than themselves. Creative expression is the aspect of that which adds "in a beautiful way" to that sentence.
Income Security
This may not be immediately obvious as a benefit of a home based business until you ask yourself this question, "if you are traditionally employed, how many people can completely cut off your source of income with no notice at all?" As too many people have recently discovered, the answer to this question is often "one". One person can make the decision that YOU are no longer needed, that YOUR POSITION is expendable. This can be the result of "office politics", a catastrophic illness at home, or a "business decision" made by faceless board members half a continent away. The reason doesn't matter, but the fact remains that it is entirely possible to wake up one morning as the family bread-winner and go to bed unemployed. It's happened millions of times.
A home business owner is in a better position. In order to lose his entire income, EVERY ONE of his clients or customers would have to stop doing business with him immediately. There are certainly circumstances in which that can happen, but the possiblity is far more remote. It's highly unlikey that a home business owner will be blind-sided by an extreme downturn because the warning signs are much more visible.
Are You Ready to Take the Plunge?
If this has you thinking building a home business is for you, the next step is to start brainstorming what you would offer or for a faster start, check out our Ready to Start Businesses
