Working From Home: Is It a Good Idea?

One of the things I get asked quite a bit by small businesses owners is whether or not it is a good idea to work from home.

I am a so called “homeworker” myself, and whilst it does have its advantages, it also has just as many if not more disadvantages. If you are a single parent, or a partner with the childcare responsibilities then yes it can be an excellent idea, and could potentially be able to provide that individual with crucial time with their children during their most vulnerable period in life.

However if you do have the children at home around you, then you are rarely able to make a telephone call to clients in peace, as there will always be children in the background. In addition to this, your productivity is likely to suffer substantially. This is not due overly to not wanting to do the job in hand, but more precisely because you are constantly having to divert your attention away from your job and towards your children. I feel I must also state (before I get lynched!) that I am in no way against working single families, and the flexitime system imposed on businesses across the UK by central government.

Working in the office can be just as disturbing as working at home from young parents or the carers of someone who has a serious, life threatening condition. Productivity in these cases can fall by as much as 45% of their normal output.

On the plus side, working from home does mean that you are able to put more hours in if you need to without having to worry about the boss watching over your shoulder. You are also always given the choice of when you have your lunch, and what you have, as being at home, you’ll never have to worry about the bad food in your company canteen.

If you are a single parent, or even part of a couple that has childcare responsibilities, then by working from home you are able to spend more time with your children as a result of being able to work from home.

It is well known and can be easily proven that working from home can cost an employer the equivalent of the individuals salary on an annual basis to make up for any shortfall that they encounter as a result of allowing a member of staff to work from home.

In essence, there are both positive and negative points to working from home, and I have listed but a few of them here.

What do you think?