Associated Press:
For many of the millions of Americans who lost their jobs over the past year, the next step is starting a business. And many of these enterprises are being launched out of the entrepreneurs’ homes.
Owners of new home-based businesses find there are pros and cons to running a company out of a spare bedroom or den.
The upsides include a more flexible lifestyle and huge cost savings.
Among the drawbacks: having to work alone, without a dedicated support staff, and keeping work and personal lives separate.
Joanne Hakim, who recently started her company, The Pen Is The Sword, in her house in Norwood, N.J., finds that a home-based business can be isolating after the experience of being surrounded by many co-workers.
“I took for granted the interaction that I had with colleagues every day,” said Hakim, whose business includes copywriting, editing and design. “You fail to realize the importance of stimulation in your life.”
But, she said, “you don’t have the constant interruptions that you do” in a workplace with many other people.
The transition can be easier for other owners. Charlene Li, who runs her new business, Altimeter Group, out of her San Mateo, Calif., home, was used to not having face-to-face contact with staffers or clients, since many were in other cities. She had a different challenge: She no longer had an information technology department to turn to for help.
“I’m a pretty techie person, but I still had a hard time figuring out how to set things up,” said Li, who has a consulting and speaking business.
One of the great advantages of launching a home-based business is the extremely low startup costs – aside from a PC, printer, fax machine and office furniture, the expenses are minimal. Hakim said that if she had to rent an office and start furnishing it, “that would involve an expense that I probably would not be ready to take on.”
Photo by bartt.