How to start working from home

With so many “office politics” in many companies today, no wonder many of us want to be our own boss. It seems like such a cosy job, getting up when you feel like it, doing what you want all day, and not having to worry about your boss looking over your shoulder all day. Unfortunately working for your self isn’t like that at all.

I’m not saying there aren’t perks to working for yourself, especially working from home; however you have to be realistic about it as well. Firstly if you want to be able to work from home, then you need to have motivation and self discipline. Without that, you may be tempted to play computer games or watch the television all day. You also need to realise that you may need to put more hours in working from home, than you do if you are working for an employer outside the home. There is always something that needs doing, and if you are the type of person that has the motivation to be able to work from home, then you will always want to get the work done, no matter how early (or late) it is. Next, you need to realise that you will need some funds to start up your own business. That may be savings you have, or you may prefer to take up a business loan. I would suggest that you may want to try savings first, because you won’t be paying on interest with that, unlike if you take out a business loan. Lastly, you need to be able to rest sometimes. I know I said that you need to be motivated and driven, and that’s true, however if you don’t get rest sometimes then take it from me, you will burn yourself out.

Now if you have decided that you are potentially a suitable candidate for working from home, from the information above, then it is time to move onto the next step. The next step is considering what type of work you will be doing. There are two ways to go about this. If you know there is a niche in the market for a particular product or service, and there is a quick, low cost way of getting it marketed, then by all means you can concentrate on that one thing. However, if not, don’t be disheartened, as there are plenty of other ways of looking for things that you can do. First I want to point out, that there are many “work from home” scams out there. You may choose to ignore my advice if you wish, but I would make a point of never paying money into any scheme, especially one that advertises a “get rich quick” product, because I honestly believe there is no such thing in reality. If you do want some small things to start you off then cash-back websites and mystery shopping jobs are a good way to go. Cash-back websites are sites where you do online shopping through their website, and they give you a percentage of fixed amounts back in your account with them. This can be very profitable if you shop online, especially for financial products. Mystery shopping is also good, if you like shopping. With this you go to a particular shop or bank and pretend to buy something (or sometimes the company will give you extra money to make a test purchase) and you have to remember details on how friendly the staff were, what type of marketing material was around etc and report back to the company. You can earn between £4 and £25 per visit, and if you drive then you can get to more place. Lastly if you are qualified at something, and it is possible to do that from home (book keeping, plumbing, taxi driving) then it may be good to invest time into researching these ideas as you will always do best in something you already know!