For More Workers, Home Is Where the Office Is
As reported by Colleen DeBaise in online.wsj.com
Adapted from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL COMPLETE SMALL BUSINESS GUIDEBOOK (Three Rivers Press).
So maybe 2010 will be the year that you finally break out on your own. Voluntarily or not.
As we continue to dig ourselves out of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, many of us have lost corporate jobs. Others worry that layoffs are lurking. We’re taking on free-lance assignments, contract work and short-term projects — and getting them done in the extra bedroom, eat-in kitchen or spare corner in the utility room.
Flexibility — and Distractions
The home is the new hotbed of entrepreneurial activity.
For those who have temporarily joined the ranks of the self-employed, a home office is the natural (and cheapest) place to get work done. For others who are using severance packages to take a shot at entrepreneurship, the home can be an ideal incubator to test out ideas. Many a successful venture began life in a garage (Hewlett-Packard, in 1938) or launched from a living room (LinkedIn, in 2003).
In many cases, it makes sense to grow the business at home before moving into a separate physical location. Other times, your new venture, career or sideline is simply well-suited to be run out of your home. And in a tough economy, a business owner who has rented office space might return to a home office to trim costs.
About 52% of all small businesses are home-based — representing a broad swath of industries, from software development and mail-order sales to plumbing and general contracting — according to statistics from the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy.
What are the advantages of working from home? … click here to read the entire article.
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