What’s your opinion about working form home

[joe_smith]

In my opinion doing a full time job from your home sounds pretty cool but does not have a good credibility. I feel that doing a job in an office or working in a specific office place is the real thing. You should not make your home place also an office place. You may share your thought of view on the above mentioned topic.

[OmnivoreInk]

You should not make your home place also an office place.

I have to disagree.

It all comes down to a couple of things.

If you have the type of business that can be run out of your home, and a large enough home to accommodate a properly-set up office... there's no reason not to do it!

For Moms with kids there might be some boundary/daycare issues, but other than that...

If yours is the type of business where you have to have clients in your office, then yes, I think you should have an office in a building - you don't really want clients to know your home address - but for all those businesses that don't require that... go for it!

[litekepr]

I thoroughly disagree that people shouldn't have a home business. I've been running my business from my home for years and do not have any problems. The majority of my clients are in other states and countries and they couldn't care less where I work. Actually the fact that I work at home works to their advantage because I'm very easy to reach by phone or email. One of my favorite clients is the landscaper I hired to mow my yard. He never understood the services I offered until I started working from home - so I was there when he mowed and we got to talking about his company and it gave me the perfect chance to help him. He also likes that he can review business info with me while his guys are working on my yard

If you have a business that can be run from home and have limited client traffic (the city or county can have issues with that), then definitely go for it. My spare bedroom has been taken over by my office, which kind of confused the appraiser who appraised my house. Other than that, it works great. I used to share an office with my brother and can use my father's office for meetings if I don't want a client to come to my house. And, I don't have to pay office rent etc and to some extent my home expenses are tax deductible - although I haven't worried about that yet.

Shri

[OmnivoreInk]

If you have a business that can be run from home and have limited client traffic (the city or county can have issues with that), then definitely go for it

The US government, in its never-ending attempts to squeeze as much money out of us workers as possible, has certain restrictions for home offices - if you want to deduct the room for tax purposes. (If you don't try to deduct it, it doesn't matter.)

I'd advise anyone who does deduct for a home office to look into it very carefully. The entire room must be used as an office and nothing else, or it will be disallowed . (At least, that's what it was like a couple of years ago. Of course the IRS does have a tendency to change rules every year... but I doubt if they'd loosen up on the requirement. Tighten it, if anything.

I've always worked from home - but never been able to go the "itemized deduction" route even if I'd wanted to.

I speak only of what I know about the US. Inhabitants of other countries should of course consult their own tax codes.

[lukas]

Probably you should have a separate place and good work environment, its very essential to have work focused atmosphere and also you should enjoy whatever work you do.

[TheAnonymousMan]

As I have worked from home before I have the following summary in my experience:

Advantages: No need to get up and spend half an hour getting ready in office clothes, it's more relaxed as you're going at your own pace, as long as you're motivated you can get more work done (other employees can be a distraction) and you can decide when you start and finish.

Disadvantages: You miss out on feeling apart of the Corporate environment (it's important to belong), you can become lonely when you're home alone working all day, it's easier to become distracted by forums, chatlines, MySpace and Instant Messaging as some Corporate Environments block these, you can miss out on working hours due to household chores, TV or extended lunch breaks if you have no reason to go back to work.

Personally I like having a bit of both, I'll work in an office environment 5 days a week and then work at home a couple of times a month on other projects, it's a refreshing change but I wouldnt want to do it all the time. If you have strong motivation, long term ambition and do not become lonely easily I would recommend working from home, as long as it's beneficial to your work and bottom line.

I've also found working from home can have in impact on how much you can relax. As lukas said it is important to be able to relax at home and work at work but when you work from home you do not get the luxury of being able to leave your work at the office. This is why you may feel like you never leave work if you work at home. Although if you have a large home you may able to separate work from play easily.

[tony_blayer]

Well work for home is good for a short period of time. Cause there is no creditability in the job. Also no fun... makes one lazy...

for example, working whole day for a week from home. Is nice.

[Kevin Lee]

In my opinion doing a full time job from your home sounds pretty cool but does not have a good credibility. I feel that doing a job in an office or working in a specific office place is the real thing. You should not make your home place also an office place. You may share your thought of view on the above mentioned topic.

Canadajobs.com's article "Working At Home? Five Things You Can't Be Without" says those working from home need the following things:

1. A Designated Space
2. Investment
3. Discipline
4. Support
5. Commitment

http://www.canadajobs.com/articles/view ... cleID=1211

At the end of the day, you can spend a lot of money to make your office space look credible and professional, but if you can't back it up with your "actions" then what difference does it make? Look at Toronto Mayor, David Miller. He spent $2.3 million renovating his office...does that make him a better mayor ?

A startup's money could be better spent elsewhere. What's wrong with just using Starbucks or any other coffee shop as a meeting place for your clients. I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather get ripped off and pay $2-3 for a bottle of water than spend hundreds or thousands of dollars leasing an office space.

[TheAnonymousMan]

Interestingly enough on another thread, we have had the following link posted:

http://www.sitepronews.com/archives/art ... 0620b.html

Point number 2 exclaims that people working from home have "limited" resources. As a website designer, the only difference working from home as opposed to in an office are the other people around you. Now if you do work from home why not pick up the phone and call other colleagues when you need to? I'm sure you call people in the office just as much as you see them so there's only the real life difference here.

Even Guy Kawasaki had his doubts about using a remote or virtual team to create his latest project, however he changed his mind after version 1 was released. Check out http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/06/by_ ... bers_.html for more details on this. This article makes Point number 3 at SiteProNews look irrelevant.

Looks like working from home, or at least in a virtual/remoate team (as long as you're EXTREMELY organised to get the work done) gets the thumbs up from Guy Kawasaki.

[litekepr]

Another advantage to having a home office is the low overhead expenses. My monthly office costs would be increased by 300-400% if I had to rent an office. THis allows me to pass those savings on to my clients and also decreases the financial stress of being in business. I appreciate the savings that a home office gives me and none of my clients mind.

Its not for everyone and I understand that. I have friends who work from home and they have lots of distractions. I get far more work done since I work from home, although I do work much longer hours, but that's my choice at this point. I wouldn't want to work until 10 or 11 pm and then have to travel home, but this arrangement makes it work for me.

Shri

[ltrahan]

I worked from home for about 4 years and liked it well enough. 5 minute commute to work, casual office dress code (boxers and t-shirt for at least part of the day), everything was handy - my back yard looked great since I could take a 20 minute break each day to take care of it.

But it had it's disadvantages:

- TV (even CPAC wasn't boring enough to keep me focused)
- Telemarketers
- My Guitar
- Longer work days. It was too easy to work long work days and I found myself working until 10 or 11:00pm.
- No personal interaction unless you count the water or gas meter reader who came by once a month.

I found that I was lacking work/life balance and really missed the interaction and sharing of ideas that came with being around other people.

2 years ago I rented a small office from one of my key suppliers. It has been great - even though I now have a commute and actually have to put pants on! It is great to shut off my computer and go home at night.

So I see both sides, and, I think it really depends on your business and what kind of personality you have.

[darius]

It really depends on your business and your motivation.

Even if you are working from home, I think you need a dedicated business space, even if it is just a corner of a room that is used for nothing else.

[litekepr]

Well work for home is good for a short period of time. Cause there is no creditability in the job. Also no fun... makes one lazy...

That's one opinion - thankfully my clients don't feel that I lack credibility and the majority of the people I know personally who work from home are certainly not lazy.

There are some unmotivated, lazy people in any business and people who lack credibility is any business or location.

Credibility should be more about the quality of the work that's done instead of an address.

Shri