Working from Home
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Its the utopian ideal for most of us, wake up in the morning and take a slow leisurely breakfast before starting work in your own converted dining room / loft / spare reception room - no more commute and no more vending machine coffee, or what they try to pass off as coffee!
The reason? We all strive for a better work to life balance, to reduce stress and achieve a sense of control over our lives both financially and perhaps more importantly, to have control over our time.
Working from Home
Working from home is not as far fetched a dream as you might first think, but it requires a medium to long term plan of action that will ultimately free you from the shackles of working for someone else.
The biggest barrier to working from home is financial. How can you even contemplate giving up your unchallenging but financially stable job and work from home with perhaps a mortgage and bills to pay, maybe even a family to look after?
The answer is actually far more obvious than many of us first realise.
The Idea
If you could work for yourself what would you want to do? Having an idea of what you can see yourself doing as your preferred job is the first and undoubtedly the most important step. It could be something you had an interest in a while back, it might be buying a franchise - a template of an already successful business model, or it could be as simple as wanting to make money from your interests and hobbies. As a general rule, if you have a genuine interest in what it is you want to do, you will have a better chance of success.
Confidence
Perhaps its the case that a lot of us reach the ideas stage but never follow through with our plans. Having the confidence to start working from home is without a doubt the biggest hurdle you will have to overcome. Our ideas get clouded by financial worries and the ever popular 'what if I fail?' self-doubt.
But again, the answer is more simple than we first realise and can be summed up in a single word, vision. Company Directors constantly talk about it, sportman claim to have it and scientists never get out of bed without it!
For those of us who want to start working from home, the vision comes with a goal: how much would you need to earn to meet your financial commitments (the goal), how much would you need to earn to achieve your ideal level of fiscal security (the vision)?
Taking the First Step
Ok, so you have an idea (or perhaps two or three ideas) of ideally what you would like to be doing working for yourself, you have a vision of how much you would like to earn and you have your first goal - how much you would need to earn to start working from home full time. What next?
Whatever your idea is, the great thing about starting out on this path of self-achievement is, working from home can be done alongside your full time job, giving you the additional security of your regular full time income while making a start with your own business.
If you are new to working for youself, a really great place to start is at your local Business Link for advice, suggestions and most importantly free support while you put your plans in action.
Internet Retailer have helped dozens of working professionals, full time parents, students and high street retail businesses help generate a second or even a primary income with their easy to use web shops and unlimited support and advice based on real world retail experiences all included in the service.
Whatever your plans are to start working from home, the sooner you start the earlier you might achieve the utopian ideal of late morning breakfast and an unhurried stroll to your home-based office!