Dumb Little Man | Tips for Life

Many office workers dream of turning their back on the 9-5. Instead, they imagine a life spent working from home while the rest of the world keeps turning in those endless circles of sleep - rush hour - work - family - sleep....

However, before you get too exited about the prospects of escaping the cubicle, there are some questions you should consider. Working your own home based business can be very rewarding, if you are the right person. This type of work isn't suited for everybody and you might realize why after going through the following questions and scenarios.

• Can You Work Unsupervised And With A Schedule?
  This might be a stupid question for some. However, it is key to the potential success of your entrepreneurial endeavors. Once you make the jump, there won't be a boss telling you what to do and when. While most of us leave the cubicle for exactly this reason, most experience a rude wake-up call when they realize they lack serious motivation after the initial excitement wears off.
  
  Being a self employed entrepreneur requires lashings of discipline. Nobody will be there to pick up the slack for you and if you spend too much time chatting with your online friends, or read your blog feeds instead of working on your tasks, you alone will have to work back to finish your projects - otherwise there will be no income.


• Where Will You Work?
  The idea of working from home isn't enough to get you setup with an efficient home office solution. In the past I tried the freestyle approach to working and can honestly tell you that it didn't work for me. Doing the rounds from couch to veranda, bed to office table, kitchen table to couch might sound like a cool and fun way to work, but really it isn't. I consistently ended up chasing my tools and was much less productive.
  
  Carving out a home office setup mustn't be hard, but it is key to working efficient.


• How Will You Cope With The Lack Of Interaction?
  Some of us are social butterflies. They feel most comfortable in a group of people, making the cubicle environment an ideal scenario to feel connected. Not everybody is carved out to work alone and if you consider yourself to be a social person, you might want to think some more on the idea of working from home.
  
  Yes, you can stay in touch with others via email, chat, blog comments and forums. However, it is often lonely work, because you have to stay on task to get the job done while cubicle workers can play the social game at night and on weekends.
  
  Therefore it is even more important to find a good balance. Balance will allow you to have fun too while building your own business empire.


• How Strong Is Your Support Network?
  Family, spouses, friends and colleagues can be the make or break of any home business venture. Unless your family understands your motivation and why exactly you are going into business for yourself, it might be very hard to work in peace. If you have kids this is ever more important.
  
  Kids don't understand why daddy has to work, instead of playing soccer with them unless we find ways to explain what it means to them if we don't. The same goes for other family members and friends. It is essential to your business success to have open communication channels without neglecting your business, your family or your friends.
  
  Open discussions help to dispose of any uncertainties.


• Are You Realistic About How Long It Takes To Be Successful?
  Success is a matter of perception. While you might consider yourself a success, others might think differently. It doesn't matter what they think. What matters is what success means to you and how it affects your business.
  
  To me, the first signs of success in a home business is when we can say goodbye to our job. This alone makes all the long initial working hours worthwhile.
  
  It pays to be realistic on how long it really takes to build a successful home based business. Most people underestimate the time frames and overestimate their abilities.


• Is Your Passion Big Enough?
  How much do you really want your own home based business? Is your why big enough to make this a worthwhile venture? It is often hard to judge upfront how long it will take to make your business work. If you have the passion and a real burning desire to build your business no matter what it takes, then you are in a good position to get started.
  
  It is also wise to prepare for diversions and road blocks. They happen and are natural part of business. You will actually learn more from adversities than from successes. By keeping an open mind, you will empower the entrepreneur within.


• So, What Is Left To Do?
  My advice would be to follow your gut and go for it. To be on the safe side, start your business while you still work your job. It will be more work and harder to juggle, but if your business grows slower than anticipated, or you fail, you still have a job to fall back onto and income to pay your bills.

If you like to share your own ideas or tips on what questions to consider before switching from cubicle to home office, feel free to contribute in the comment section.

Monika