Working From Home

[teyris]

Does anyone work from home? How did you start, did you start your own business or join a work from home website?

Just wondering what your thoughts were....

Thanks

[bluebug]

The work from home websites are scams. You are better finding an employer website which advertises a particular job.

I occasionally work from home depends on what projects and companies I'm doing work for as I work in IT. Other people in IT work from home all the time as their employers prefer it as they are more productive and the employer saves the cost of office space. Those people have to go to conferences that are abroad every couple of months.

One of my siblings and a friend both work from home doing secretarial work/admin for different businesses. in my sibling's case their employer wanted to save money by closing offices so everyone works from home. In my friend's case it is a small business that needed someone to do full-time secretarial and admin work found though word of mouth. They didn't want to spend money on offices as their work - training courses - is done on customer's sites or nearby to the customers.

The other people I know work from home work in law, accountancy including bookkeeping, recruitment, secretarial and marketing. In each of these cases they have to be prepared to travel to meet clients as and when the need arises. They aren't allowed clients in their homes due to home insurance, lease and/or restrictive covenants on their properties. Some started their own businesses while others work for someone else.

In short if you can do something mainly computer and phone based you can easily work from home. However it doesn't always mean you do less work as if you have clients especially those in different time zones you need to be able to answer the phone at all times. Everyone uses a mobile phone for work as that way they can separate their working from domestic lives. You need to have a good broadband connection and alternative if the main one doesn't work e.g. nearby coffee shop, mobile broadband, plus be able to sort out other computer issues quickly.

[Angel_of_the_North]

If you have a trade or craft, you can do OK. But it's worth joining a trade association (eg FSB, Chamber of Commerce, or one for your profession). Most home working websites are rip-offs as far as I can tell. Basically you become self-employed (either schedule D or start a Ltd company). You need to register SE with HMRC or register a PAYE scheme if you go the LTD Co route. You need to get an accountant and prepare to spend half your life doing the books and jumping through HMRC's hoops and the rest searching for customers - you might actually get to do some work and earn some money. No more paid hols or sick pay - EVER. Stay as an employee if you can. It's very hard to get benefits after you've been self-employed.

From experience.

[Rapunzel]

I'd agree with what Angel says to a degree but after many years as a wage slave I dance to the beat of my own drum these last six years and so much love it. My husband is also self employed and both in the final approach toward retirement now...but I don't think we'll ever let go completely. Both built a reputation locally and in demand. Yes no more sick pay or paid holiday but provided you have already made provision for your retirement then you may enjoy it. We don't wake typically until just before nine then spend an hour laughing at Eamonn Holmes and taking in the proper news. No commute, work until six, dinner in the oven then back to work, yada yada.

Best of all ? Don't have to be gussied up in office appropriate attire all day; No posturing bosses standing over me, stealing my work or belittling my contribution; no office crone to scrape off my shoes; no underperforming minions to manage; if I've done well and worked hard I can take a day off to go shopping /meet friends. It's the best thing I ever did.

Good luck if you give it a whirl

[CarolineC57]

Yes, I've been self-employed working from home since 1999 (which is when I got my first "official" diagnosis - ME/chronic fatigue syndrome - which I now believe to be thyroid-/adrenal-related).

I was a university lecturer, but I just couldn't keep going at the pace I was expected to work at as I was so exhausted. Once I got my diagnosis (I'd been ill for a long time, but the doctors said there was nothing wrong with me), it gave me the opportunity to try something different. I packed in my job and started working as a freelance university-level tutor. I already had the contacts from my job and my studies, so I was able to secure quite a few assignments from them. It meant that I could cut down on the workload, and keep control of my workload rather than being asked to do more and more, which is what had happened when I was employed.

I was lucky, though, in that (a) I already had those contacts to get the work and (b) my husband had a good job so my earnings, which became much smaller, were just needed as a "top-up" anyway. Had I been on my own, for example, I couldn't have done this as I wouldn't have been able to earn enough to live on.

As my health has worsened and I'm able to do even less, I now can't do face-to-face teaching as I forget what I'm saying mid-sentence. I've therefore started to do online tutoring only - supervising student projects via email and online learning platforms. Again, my contacts helped me get this kind of work. Like Rapunzel, I don't have to bother getting dressed up for work or anything now - many days I just work in my PJs!

In fact, I'm about to branch into something new. Much of my online teaching work has now dried up (universities are in trouble and are taking the work in-house again to save costs). I'm just starting up some online publishing businesses - one is horror fiction (my little hobby!) and one is for study guides and personal/professional development ebooks. Funnily enough, my first horror fiction book is out today! I'm nearly 60, the government won't let me retire for another 6 years, so I thought it was a good time to try something different.

[Rapunzel in reply to CarolineC57]

Hey CarolineC57 you can retire when you're ready ! Don't let the government dictate that...I bliddy well won't.

Best for your book launch, shouldn't you be out signing copies and swilling fizz ?

[CarolineC57 in reply to Rapunzel]

Ha! No *physical* book to sign I'm afraid, as it's only an ebook - but it does seem to be selling well and I'm over the moon about it.

Yes, I sort of class myself as semi-retired (on health grounds) now. But I was one of those caught in the state pension changes - I was expecting to get a state pension at 60, then they suddenly changed it to 66 (same for the bus pass - my husband got his at 60). As they won't pay me anything till I'm 66 I'm just trying to earn a little extra "pocket money" now.

[SAMBS]

Hi teryis, are you asking because of potential medical implications of doing so, or just thinking of doing it?

I was the ubiquitous office slave in a variety of businesses.