Business Advantages - Working From Home

It was generally accepted that one had to be in an office to work efficiently, probably until the late 1960’s-early 1970’s when people began to question the old methods and new trends began.

Why was this? In my opinion, it was a general level of questioning things throughout society, not just the workplace but the establishment across the board, eg. fashion,music,films,etc all questioned the old practises and looked for a way to change them to their advantage –this brought good points and bad, indeed some believe it contributed to a lowering of”standards”,whilst others felt it brought liberation. It was into this climate that the punk-rock movement was born, for example.

However, no matter what one feels philosophically about trends or changes the hard fact of the matter is that the business practice has to be effective irrespective of whether or not it is from an office or from home, or the trend would have a very short shelf-life.

This being the case, it is important to examine the advantages/disadvantages of working from home.

Looking at the traditional model, in, say, a factory, as I have experience of being a part-owner of, hence can glean personal experience from compared to working from home, I will outline both examples and then explore the advantages and disadvantages.

Running the factory for almost a decade as we did, we experienced the growth from 3 people(ourselves),to almost 50 people by the time we sold it.

Additionally, the space needed increased from one room to 45000 sq.ft., encompassing manufacturing space, warehousing facility, forklift trucks,lorries,transport costs, health and safety inspections, fire certificates, tax and national insurance for all employees, requiring additional administration staff, and many other cost-centres involved in any business of that magnitude.

Compare this with a small outfit working from home that carries none of the above in terms of space and staff, with no stock on the balance sheet needing to be shifted and immediately you see an advantage.

But what are the other advantages?

Initially, one does not have to be at the office at any certain time, to lock up or open up and this leads to a flexibility of lifestyle, which has been shown to be one the greatest motivating factors in any chosen career; this has to be tempered with careful discipline, as the working environment may be tempting to stray from the workstation.

Also, should one choose the right path or industry, be it as a consultant or otherwise then it is possible to make greater income as there are no huge expenses to bear; of course if it is compared to a working to an office environment, then the advantages may be construed as non-necessity of turning up at a certain time, leading again to flexibility, not having to put up with annoying workmates or office politics and normally putting one’s own efforts to one’s own benefits rather than being part of a team and carrying lazy people.

Summarising; in general, working from home suits some characters but not others but the main advantages are avoidance of costs, flexibility, and if chosen properly, a chance to maximise potential and thus earning power.