What are some of the disadvantages and advantages of working from home?
Filed in archive Startup by Greg Balanko-Dickson on April 9, 2007

I have been operating this business since 1991 and have for the entire period run my business from my home. I have to also say that I have not been embarrassed or shy about being a home based business.
For me it is a lifestyle choice. I get the opportunity to see much more of my family than I would working outside the home. I see way more advantages than disadvantages to operate my business from home.
I had a client that was doing $800,000 a year from the basement in his home, so it can be done.
There are both advantages and disadvantages of working from home:
- Quick and easy to go to work: I can slip into the office
to get a few minutes of work done. It is also very easy to get stuck in the office doing this or that. - Access to family: My wife and I see each other often throughout the day and I get to have lunch with my eight year old most days. There are times when they want my attention and I simply cannot give it to them due to a deadline or commitment I have made.
- Low cost: I have all the same costs (separate telephone line, fax, computer network etc.) as a regular business -- however, I do not have to pay the landlord rent!
- Productivity: I am able to get a lot of stuff done that simply would not be possible due to traveling time and not wanting to tear myself away from my family.
- Discipline: In the beginning i found that i had to be very disciplined to go to work. I got up, got dressed and was always in my office at 8 AM each day. These days I have to make the choice NOT to work -- to force myself to walk away from the computer.
- Flexibility: I often take breaks to catch up on the news, pet the cat or help my son with something like his homework or simply give him a hug. My office also looks out on my back yard and I can see the school yard across the street. Probably the best is that my office is right next to the family room -- which doubles as a meeting, planning room. I often use it with my clients to create road maps and work on project plans.
Bottom line I love working from home! It does have its drawbacks -- which are also the primary advantages as detailed in the six points I mentioned previously.
At the end of each day I now close the door behind me -- closing the office at least mentally. If I am tempted to walk back into the office the closed door makes me stop and evaluate whether I really need to -- go back to work.
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