Posts Tagged ‘pros’

You can spot them all the time, those lucky people who work from home.
-They’re the ones who take their kids to the bus stop, who are there when they come home from school.
-They’re the ones who can wear jeans or sweats every day, who have a strange look of contentment on their faces.
-They’re the ones who can escape their jobs for a few hours and volunteer at school, or can take a walk when the weather is fine.

Working from home has wonderful benefits, particularly if you have children. But even if you don’t, not having to face that daily commute can be a real blessing. Is there anything worse than getting up at 6 a.m. to scrape snow and ice from your car, shovel a path, digging through a three-foot snow bank left behind by the plow just so you can sit on a highway in rush hour traffic? And when you leave work—finally—it can be just as tough to get into a car that’s been sweltering in the sun all day.

Don’t forget the morning madness if you have children and also have to get to work on time. You not only have to make sure your tie is straight and your pants pressed, you also have to make sure the kids’ hair is brushed, their socks match (though this has become an option, thankfully), their backpacks have their homework inside and their lunches are made.

When your kids are too sick to go to school, if you work from home you don’t have to miss work or worse, send the poor kids to school anyway. If they’re on the couch sleeping or quietly watching cartoons, you can still work. And if they’re released from school early, you don’t have to face your boss’s frown or your co-workers looks of contempt because you have to leave early—again. You’re your own boss. If you don’t get your work done during the day, you can finish up when the kids are asleep.

Yes, you can recognize those who work at home. They’re the ones who can take the time to put their slippers on and read the paper before heading 20 feet to their computer. The house is blessedly silent but for the hum of the computer’s fan. Outside the birds are singing and inside you start your workday.

Perhaps it’s not all that wonderful, but it’s close. As wonderful as it is, though, not everyone would face a day of complete isolation with such happiness. Working at home is not for everyone.

If you’ve always dreamed of working from home, you have two options: work for yourself or work for someone else. Most people would agree that working from home beats working in an office any day, though not everyone has the temperament to work from home. For the most part, home workers tend to have more free time, don’t have to worry about a long commute, save on gas, work clothes and wear and tear on their car.

If you’re trying to decide which route to take – working for yourself or for someone else – it’s best to examine the pros and cons of each.

Work for yourself Pros:

-  You are your own boss. You decide when you work, how much to do, what your budget is. No one is breathing down your back, hassling you or not appreciating what you do.

-  Unlimited potential. When you start your own business, chances are your salary is going to be fairly small. But the best part of having your own business is knowing that no matter how small you start, you have the potential to become something significant. 

-  Unlimited Ideas. The Internet and its power has enabled people who never dreamed of starting their own business to start one. You can pick what you want to do, even if it’s something you haven’t been trained for. You can tap into skills you didn’t even know you had. It’s all up to you.

Work for yourself Cons:

-  You are your own boss. In other words, you have to be self-motivated to be successful. Ideally, you should be tougher on yourself than the boss you are trying to escape. Not everyone is cut out to be the boss.

-  The buck stops with you. If the business fails, it can be seen as a personal failure. You make the decisions, good or bad, and must face the consequences of those actions.

Work for someone else Pros:

-  You will get paid. Even if the company you work for has an off week, you’ll still get money for the work you do.

-  You know exactly what is expected of you.

-  You have a certain amount of job security.

Work for someone else Cons:

-  Many times you have to work set hours, just as in a job working outside the home, so you lose the flexibility that working from home often affords. For example, a growing number of people work from home for customer support positions. These jobs require people to work set hours.

-  You still have a boss to please, even if they are in a remote location.

If you decide a work from home job is for you, visit  Jobs Based From Home and start applying today.