For so many people, working from home is the ultimate dream!
They imagine themselves sitting at the computer in their pajamas, making their
own hours, and being in charge of their day. Ah, that does sound amazing,
doesn’t it?But let’s be honest. Working from home is often much more difficult
than people realize, and it’s just not for everyone. If you’ve been thinking
that you’d like to work from home, whether it’s running your own business or
working for someone else, it’s vitally important to know if you’re truly
ready to take the plunge.
Are you self-motivated?
Whether you’re working from home for yourself or for someone
else, you’ll have to be self-motivated. There won’t be anyone
stopping by your desk to make sure you’re working or to encourage you to keep
going on those rough days. You’re going to have to be able to motivate and
inspire yourself to keep plugging away. Are you prepared to do that?
Are you a
procrastinator?
You’ll have a hard time managing a freelance business
if you’re always putting work off until the last minute. Yes, working from home
can mean setting your own hours, but you can’t fall into the habit of
procrastinating. That will only result in added stress for you, and maybe even
sub-par quality of work, which isn’t going to be acceptable to your clients and
customers. You just can’t run a business that way. You have to focused and on
schedule, and make sure you’re getting things done on time. Are you up for
that?
Do you have extra money set aside?
Unless you’re going into working from home with a remote
part-time job already lined up, it’s a good idea to have some extra money
in the bank. Contract and freelance positions can come and go, and you may have
to survive long breaks in between assignments. On top of that, until you get
your business established, it’s highly possible you won’t be
making much money. It’s always a good idea to have a little “nest egg” to
fall back on in the event of an unexpected drought in work and income. How much
money do you have set aside for those periods when funds might be tight? I
recommend enough cash to pay 2 months of bills.
Do you have short and
long-term plans?
If you were working a traditional job, you’d
likely have hopes and dreams for advancement. When working from home, you
can’t wait for someone to give you a raise or a fancy title. Instead, you need
to know from Day One what your goals are for the future. Where do you want
to go? You need to have a plan in place to help you reach those
goals. If you have not put together a business plan and/or a goal for
the future, you are not ready to work from home. Is your business plan ready to
go?
Can you network?
Working from home and building a business requires lots of
networking. While in a traditional job work just comes to your desk every day,
when you work from home you have to bring in your own clients and customers.
Luckily, modern networking isn’t too difficult, thanks to social media.
But it does take time and skill to see results, and you have to be
committed to marketing yourself and your business if you want it to grow. Are
you ready to start networking?
Do you have a backup plan?
The fact of the matter is, working from home may not be a
good fit for you. It’s been my experience that you’re not going to know for
sure until you do it. But every smart girl has a backup plan just in case
things don’t work out, so before you commit to working from home, make
sure you know what you’ll do if things go south. Hopefully you’ll never
have to implement that plan, but you’ll have peace of mind knowing it’s there
if you need it. What’s your backup plan?
No comments:
Post a Comment