That might very well be. But there are also many people whose dream of working at home has turned out not to be the stuff of fairy tales.
Mostly, this is because they were not prepared to operate a business from their home. If you operate a business from your home, the first thing you have to do is think of it as a business, not as simply another room in your home. You should have a separate office, a designated computer that no one else in the family is allowed to use. In short, you need a place of business, even if that place is just off your living room.
When you are setting up your home business, try to think of what you would do if that space was not located in your home. If you were renting an office, what paint would you choose, what kind of furniture, lighting, phone, office equipment, carpeting. Just because you have decided to work from home does not mean your office shouldn’t operate or look like an office. While it should be comfortable place, you probably don’t need an oversized couch and a flat screen TV for when you want to take a break.
At the same time, don’t make it so austere that you don’t want to be there. You should invest in a comfortable computer chair and a computer desk. Good lighting is essential, so don’t skimp here. Don’t make do with an old milk crate when what you really need is new shelving.
One of the first things any new business owner should do is get organized. Make a detailed list of everything you need for your home office. A big complaint of people who work from home is that they can never find anything they need. That creates unnecessary stress. Buy that filing cabinet even if it’s ugly and use it. Oftentimes people who work at home find keeping organized one of the biggest challenges.
Where to put your office is another consideration. For many people, they don’t have a choice, and usually target a spare bedroom. Some more modern houses have a designated office, which is usually separated from the high-traffic areas of a home. Apartment dwellers have added challenges for finding office space and may not have a separate room. Do as much as you can to make give your office is own space and its own personality.
If you are serious about your home business, or it expands far more quickly than anticipated, it might be a good idea to tack on an addition to your house or convert a garage space or basement space into an office. Especially if there are children running about, having an area away from activity is vital—and less stressful.
Because computers have problems and office equipment breaks, it’s a good idea to know ahead of time who to call if something happens. It’s probably a good idea to have every file backed up at all times and have an old back-up computer available as well. In today’s world of internet businesses, many business owners would be completely lost if they didn’t have immediate access to another computer if their main one was disabled. Little things, like good lighting and keeping files organized can relieve a lot of stress and make working from home the dream you always envisioned.