• Marketing Mag Website

  • Marketing Network

Network Network

network

business and careersresource

brought to you by
brought to you by

Working from Home

this article
  • Page 1 of 2
  • 0
  • 22

Advertise with us

Had a gutful of cubicles and constant scrutiny? Longing for independence from the corporate world, but not sure you have what it takes to go it alone? Grant Arnott opens the door to the virtues of being a ‘home-preneur’.

I had a dreadfully long commute this morning. A pair of thongs dumped directly in my path forced me to divert left, adding a full two steps to my journey from the bedroom to the computer.

Welcome to the world of the ‘home-preneur’, those who have elected to divorce themselves from the traditional workplace environment and establish a home-based business. I’m a very recent addition to this rapidly-growing club and, I must confess, something of a short-timer as I don’t intend to work from the lounge room forever (I find the politics infuriating, for starters!).

With technology enabling high-speed connectivity and peripherals such as printers, scanners and faxes becoming cheaper, there are fewer barriers to entry to starting a home-based business. A phone line and a few power points is all it may take to build your corporate empire (workstation optional).

Home-based businesses make up a very large proportion of the total small business population in Australia. Currently almost three-quarters of all small businesses are home-based, compared to 58.3 percent in 1997, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That accounts for more than a million people doing it at home. Interestingly, 70 percent of all home-based business operators are male. Approximately 60 percent are aged between 30 and 50 years, 30 percent over 50 and 10 percent under 30.

Setting up at home has obvious appeal. Minimal overheads… no attire dictated… no one watching when you clock on and clock off… none of the distractions associated with a busy office environment… the list is endless. It’s not all pyjamas and beanbags, however – being successful as a home-based entrepreneur requires a high level of self-discipline and focus.

“You need to earn the freedom you’re presented with by having the discipline to put your head down when necessary,” says Samantha Leader, editorial director for www.flyingsolo.com.au, a website dedicated to providing useful resources for the solo business operator. “It’s hard work being responsible for all areas of a business. But as it presents you with the ideal opportunity to model your work in a way that suits you entirely, it makes it all worthwhile.”

Speaking from my own experience, it becomes a very different thought process moving from working for a company to working for yourself. Instead of budgets, benchmarks and KPIs being imposed by management, it’s down to the home-based operator to ensure every day is structured toward achieving those goals. Setting clear goals is fundamental – thinking well into the future and planning for contingencies is essential.

Marketers should be well-versed in all of these basic business rules. One of the factors that concerns many marketing professionals who’d love to start a business at their residence is the stigma associated with working from home; however, the advent of technology enabling home offices to be every bit as ‘wired in’ and productive as their corporate counterparts will soon see that apprehension vanish.

Craig Reardon is director of The E Team, an independent e-business solutions provider specialising in affordable off-the-shelf technologies for websites. He has worked from home on and off for 12 years, and has never found it an inhibitor to his business.

“Having been in business once before and suffering the ignominy of paying landlords rather than myself, I decided to set up at home,” he says. “It keeps my overheads and hence my customer prices down, plus clients are now far more accepting of home-based businesses than they once were. Your location or set-up doesn’t usually alter your skills or effectiveness. In fact, I’ve found that sensible clients value the savings of your working from home rather than see it as potentially being unprofessional.”

It’s an inevitable scenario threatening larger agencies and marketing departments – the home-based consultant able to deliver same quality service at far below market rates. Clients need never know that behind the slick façade afforded by flashy branding and a cool website sits a person in PJs tapping out campaigns and strategies at the kitchen table.

Be the first to have your say...

To have your say, login at the top of the page or register free and start commenting.