Why Do People Start Home Businesses Anyway?

I know that is a rhetorical question. If you didn’t already know why someone would start a home business, you wouldn’t be here on my blog reading this. With that question, I just wanted to point out some of the every day benefits that I’ve had since I cut the financial life support cords of IBM and went out on my own.

First of all, I have to say that it was sort of hard for me to get used to setting my own schedule. In the beginning, I really took advantage of being able to sleep in when I wanted(like everyday). My business was making pretty good money when I quit my job so I was not worried much about being able to make it. So I had to learn a whole new way of life.

Not wanting to incur the extra expense of leasing a private office and warehouse, I dedicated the largest room of my house for business use only. This way, I could also see my wife and kids all day long. The issues this presents alone are enough to discuss later in a separate post, but it is nice to have The Fam around all the time. For one, I know my children very well. Accordingly, I’m not able to relate to the parents I see on television who are baffled as to how little Johnny could bring a gun to school and kill fellow students. Or the other parents who were just completely blown away when they finally found out that their kid has had a serious drug addiction for 5 years. They obviously don’t even know the poor saps or they probably would have been able to prevent the problem in the first place. So, if you have a family, this is a real advantage to being able to run your business from home. Now, I also realize that I’ve actually just dissuaded some of my visitors from owning their own home business, but take it for what it’s worth.

One other major advantage that I have mentioned before is the ability to set your own schedule. A quick example: Last Hurricane season(I live in South GA) Katrina did some major damage. My church asked for volunteers to go over to Waveland, MS to organize the disaster relief effort there. Most of our church members were in no position to volunteer as they were tied to their full time jobs and not able to get away. I’m not in any way bragging, but I was able to enjoy this benefit of owning my own home business and volunteer to help out. As a result, I had one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life helping out people that I had never met before and may not ever see again. If I was still working for IBM, I would not have had that opportunity.

Now, the last everyday benefit I’d like to mention has to do with taking time off for some fun. Every now and then, I’ll get a little flustered with my home business and the way things are going and decide that it’s time for a break. You can do this with a full time job, but with many employers, you won’t have a job to come back to after you decide it’s time for a break. Your employer usually makes that decision for you.

The last time I needed a break, my wife and I packed up the kids and went around to all of the nature and history museums in town that we hadn’t been to see. We spent the whole day doing it. I did get a few calls for my business, but I was able to let my voicemail get it and then I got back to them when it was convenient. We really had a lot of fun and I was able to get right back to work the next day without feeling the frustration that I had before.