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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
Did you know that more than 50% of businesses in the United States are home-based? This rise of the home-based businesses is something we had coming for a long time now. With the job market as it is, finding employment can be difficult even with the top qualifications and experience. Founding a company seems like a lesser challenge compared to that, and there is no better place to start it than your home. Growing your business from home allows a lot of flexibility which is not available when renting or buying office and warehouse space. Although working at home has its challenges, there are some substantial benefits too.
In This Post:
Minimal risk
Renting or buying an office space, warehouse or a store carries a lot of risk. What if you don’t get enough customers? What if the place you choose is wrong for your business? What if the utility bills turn out to be too high? These are just some of the unfortunate outcomes that can happen. On the other hand, if you run your business from home, you don’t have to pay for the space because you’re already living there, so the risk is minimal.
Endless opportunities
When running a home-based business, you have great opportunities, not only for choosing your field of work, but also for learning and selling:
- You can do something you are passionate about (e.g., arts and crafts, writing or cooking).
- You can expand your knowledge with books and the web.
- You need minimal investment to test products and marketing strategies.
- You can use social media to offer your products.
Tax advantages
Running a home-based business has certain tax advantages. It allows you to write off property tax, operating expenses, part of the depreciation of your house, health insurance, bills and use of your car for business purposes. However, you will need to ask advice from your accountant before writing something off, because there are some rules that need to be met.
Saving money
Besides the tax advantages, there are plenty of other ways a home-based business requires less money than renting or buying an office space:
- Office-appropriate clothing
- Utility bills (water, electricity, phone)
- Gas and fare
- Lunch
- Production equipment and materials.
The web makes everything easier
The almighty web has changed every aspect of our life, and how we do business has gone through the biggest change. For example, you can set up a website, and use blogging as a free marketing tool. Similarly, social media platforms offer simple, free or cheap ways to advertise your products and establish a brand. There are websites that offer free stock photos that you can post on your social media pages.
Being your own boss
There is no need to try to make the truth more pleasant – bosses can be awful. And this is one of the main reasons why people decide to start a home-based business in the first place. However, this perk doesn’t come without its cost. Being your own boss requires self-control and discipline. Also, you will suffer the direct consequences if the business suffers, but on the other hand, you will be rewarded if the business succeeds.
Managing your own time
To be honest, long hours at work are not something you will avoid when working from your home, but you can choose when those hours will be, and make time for eating, cleaning your house or spending a few hours with your family. You are also free of spending hours in traffic every day.
Increased productivity
Did you know that an average worker is productive for only three hours during an eight-hour workday? If you are working from home where you can manage your own time, you can increase that with some self-discipline. Instead of sitting in the office browsing the web, you can do some work around the house or take care of some long overdue chores.
Turning up the creative volume
Launching your business gives you the opportunity to do something you have always wanted and make money by enjoying your hobbies. It also gives you a creative freedom unparalleled to the one you have when working for someone else. You have the freedom to choose your own projects and your approach to each of them. A traditional office environment often “smothers” one’s creativity by asking for everything to be done “by the book” and thus prevents the development of fresh new ideas.
Launching a business is always a big step that carries a lot of risks. However, if you decide to base your business in your home, you can minimize those risks, and make the whole process more affordable, simple and rewarding.
