It might seem heavenly to run a business from home, meaning no rush hour headaches, no parking hassles and no worries about spending countless hours away from the family. For some entrepreneurs, working from home is the only way they can afford their chosen careers. However, managing a career from home isn’t for everyone since the lure of gathering laundry, the clank of clamoring dishes and the dogs begging to be walked might cause too much distraction and disruption. Three professionals who have cultivated successful careers while working from home share their experiences with Successful Business News.
Danny Gallagher
Freelance writer
Dallas, TX
Q: What kind of work do you do?
A: Whatever pays.
Actually, I do a lot of writing about entertainment and pop culture and comedy writing. I’ve written for places like CNET, Cracked, Maxim, The Onion AV Club, AOL and many others. Currently, I’m a regular contributor to the arts and music sections for the Dallas Observer and writer of funny quizzes for the pub trivia company Geeks Who Drink. I’ve also written comedy sketches for the ShadowboxLive Theater in Columbus, Ohio and recently got to write material for a roast of comic book legend Stan Lee that included a sketch I helped write for Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche, known to Animaniacs fans as the voices of Pinky and The Brain.
Q: How long have you been working out of your home?
A: Probably about 10 years, the last five of which were full-time. I got laid off from my full-time newspaper job and just decided to stay as a freelancer since I enjoyed the work and the hours.
Q: What do you enjoy about working from home?
A: It’s definitely very freeing and free of a lot of the usual stresses of an office environment. Besides being able to set my own hours and playing music or Netflix shows without having to wear headphones, I also get to work in whatever I slept in the night before without having to showering or shave first thing in the morning. The relaxing environment definitely helps with the creative process and allows me to take breaks from my work which makes it easier to create and write since you can step away from it and let the ideas ferment a bit longer. I usually use my breaks to do a little exercise or go for a walk which always gets the neurons firing. Setting my own hours is also really nice although it’s not like I can give myself a day off whenever I want like some people might think because it’s easy for the work to pile up.
Q: What are the cons of working from home?
A: It is ridiculously easy to get distracted when you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder who scowls at you because you’re playing “DOOM Pinball” on your iPhone on their dime. Every time I move into a new place, I make sure to position my desk or office in a way where I can’t see my TV without taking my eyes away from my computer screen. Even ditching the phone or my iPad can be hard if I have a difficult project that requires a lot of time and attention.
The loneliness of working at home can also zap your motivation in ways I didn’t expect when I had a full-time job. I once had a freelance job that had me working every afternoon and evening straight through for 10 hours so sometimes a week would go by where I wouldn’t see another human being if I didn’t have the delivery guy bring a meal to my house. Now I try to avoid gigs like that if I can but either way, I make time to go out and be social and I also have friends I talk to regularly who can help me through the hard parts of my day and my job when I need motivation I can’t deliver on my own.
Q: Top tip for others considering a home-based business?
Stay on top of your taxes. Self-employment taxes are a huge pain these days so when I had a year where I actually made money, I ended up paying way more than I expected. Get a file cabinet and something to collect your quarterly receipts and make sure you stay on top of your quarterly taxes because as much as it sucks having to pay ahead, it’s a bigger headache to deal with it at the last minute.
Sandra Gurvis
Freelance writer, author and content provider
Columbus, Ohio
Q: What kind of work do you do?
A: I am a freelance writer, content provider and author of several books, both fiction and non-fiction.
Q: How long have you been working out of your home?
A: Over 35 years.
Q: What do you enjoy about working from home?
A: The commute! Also, when I’m done working for the day, I just close the door and forget about it. I don’t have to write for eight hours a day, somedays. It’s not about the hours you put in but the quality of the work.
Q: What are the cons of working from home?
A: There are several negatives to working from home. They include:
- Lack of financial security
- No vacation time
- No retirement fund
- No sick days
A: Set aside money for those slow times and learn how to collect your fees from clients or customers. Sometimes, I ask for half my fee upfront, but that depends on the situation.
Katherine Matthews
Freelance writer and editor
Columbus, Ohio
Q: What kind of work do you do?
A: I work with writers who need editors for books, edit a literary journals and oversee a small, independent publishing press. I also teach writing courses at the James Thurber House in Columbus.
Q: How long have you been working out of your home?
A: I’ve been working out of my home my entire writing career of 27 years.
Q: What do you enjoy about working out of your home?
A: The freedom. Of course, the freedom is also the most difficult aspect about it, too. You are your own boss and no one else sets your deadlines.
Q: What are the cons of working from home?
A: The endless number of distractions, whether it’s kids, housework, appointments or anything else you care to insert into that blank.
Q: Top tips for others considering working from home.
A: I have several. They include:
- Work on your time organization skills so you can plan your hours or your time just evaporates
- It’s helpful to accomplish small tasks while you’re waiting. For example, when I sit in my doctor’s waiting room, meaning I have a pocket of time, I try to get something accomplished. That helps me manage working from home.
- Try to develop professional friendships outside your home so you are not isolated.
- Get out of the house sometimes. It’s mentally healthy.
Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer who works out of her home. She tweets as @girlwithapen.
