More and more people are choosing to work from home. It offers some great benefits. Flexible working hours, no travel costs and a comfortable working environment to name a few. So how can you jump on the bandwagon and reap the rewards? There are lots of different industries out there that allow you to work from home. So you’ll have to decide what it is your business is going to be about. Once you’ve got that winning idea it’s time to start right away. Here’s a couple of hurdles you may face at the start.
Social life
You may well find that working from home comes with its costs. Loneliness can be one of them. Even the most robust people can feel alone at times. It’s great when you are consumed with work and aren’t thinking about it but when work finishes, you will find yourself still at home by alone or with the same family members you see every day. Finding a hobby or sport will be a great way to combat this. Take your mind off work and socialise with new friends and get some exercise.
Websites
There are lots of great companies out there that can develop and design user-friendly websites. There are also pages that allow you to design and set up your own. However, if you are not so tech savvy then it might be an idea to get help. A confusing webpage for your product may send your customers crazy and they won’t be invested in you as a company. A website will be a great place to sell your product and blog about your experiences. Creating an online blog is a great way of keeping customers up to date with what’s going on which will reinforce a trust between them and your company. Websites are also a great way of showing the world who you are. Tell them about yourself and let your personality shine through.
Online security
Sticking tape over your camera so that the FBI can’t watch what your doing might be slightly far-fetched. But it really makes you think how dangerous is this cyber world. This can be a worry for anyone and any business. You don’t want to put in all that graft for an online hacker to sneak their way into your accounts and steal all of your money. Make sure you deal with official companies from the start.
Big deals can still be secured online. You won’t have to leave your home or office to go to a business meeting just to sign a piece of paper. Click this link to find out more about eIDAS. Online banking is now more secure than ever and payments can be made in various ways. If you’re worried about virus then Microsoft isn’t going to be a great place to start your company. Think about switching to a Mac as the security is much stronger.
Marketing
When you’ve got a product so good that people can’t wait to get their hands on it then you really won’t have to worry about marketing at all. Focus first on making your product the best in its field. Blogging about your product will be a great way of generating a buzz around it. Social media has opened up a new platform for marketing altogether. And it’s free! So start downloading apps and signing up to everything you can.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn are the top few to start with. These sites all have massive opportunities to connect with millions of customers. Another benefit of opting for social media as your main source of marketing will be how targeted it can be. Finding your target audience has never been easier. If you build it they will come.
You may also have heard the phrase ‘S.E.O’ and been wondering to yourself what does that mean. There’s nothing much to it at all. It stands for Search Engine Optimization and does exactly what it says on the tin. The higher up your website is on a massive search engine like google the better. That way when people search for your product you will be the first company name on the list.
Discipline
You are your own boss now. There’s no one telling you what deadlines you have to meet or when you can or can’t take your breaks. That means your going to have to get organized and smart. If you decide to sleep in till twelve o’clock every day and finish at three then your business is going to take some serious damage or it may not even get off the ground to start with. Choosing to work from home gives you the freedom to do what you want in a sense but you have to create some sort of timetable and schedule for your working week and stick to it like glue. Decide how professional and successful you want your business to be then go for it.
Taxes!
So no one really likes paying taxes. When you work for a big company it’s usually all sorted for you and you don’t even have to think about it if you don’t want to. When you work for yourself though it’s a different deal altogether. You’ll have to keep track of your income and how much tax you will have to pay at the end of the working year. If you don’t put money aside for tax you could be facing some serious problems. Going to prison for one. This is where you’ll have to get even more organised than ever. Start a spreadsheet and keep track of everything going in and out of your business so you don’t get caught out.
If you’ve read through that and are thinking those aren’t problems at all then get your idea and get going now before someone else does it. You could be earning a small fortune before your first year is out and you haven’t even had to leave your living room. So hand in that resignation letter put the feet up and get to work.