Working at Home
by Jonni McCoy, MiserlyMoms.com
Working at home can be a
great way to supplement family income. Many people who have tried it believe
it is the perfect solution to being at home with the kids and bringing in some
income.
Others, however, have found it difficult to
balance the work and home responsibilities. Let's explore if it will work for
you.
Before getting started, there are a few things
you need to know. For example, make sure you know how many hours you could
devote to a job. Some jobs are not very specific as to how much time it will
take, but rather they are "job" specific. That means the employer
wants a specific job done by a specific time and he can't tell you how long it
will take you. This is often the case with word processing, transcriptions,
manual editing, etc. In this type of job, be honest with yourself. Carefully
evaluate the work and make an honest assessment of your work speed. Make sure
you allow for those last minute changes that come naturally to this type of
work.
The key to making this work for you is to
realize that no one is going to hand you a job at home. You need to
create a service and find clients on your own. Many people are
discouraged by this, but hard work is the key.
When assessing your work load, make sure you have
that undivided time available. Often we are at home with small children and we
are bored. We then think we have time available for productive work. In
reality, we usually have just a few minutes here and there. The key to knowing
the difference is what the "concentration factor" of your time is
while you are at home. How much undivided attention can you give the work?
I have taken on work at home while my children
were small. Each time I ended up doing the work after everyone was in bed and
into the wee hours of the night. That was the only time I could concentrate on
my work without interruption. And if we take a job and end up telling the kids
to leave us alone so we can work, have we forgotten why we are at home in the
first place?
If, after deciding that you have the undivided
time and attention, the next step is to make sure you understand the expenses
involved with the job. Is there any equipment necessary to do the work? If the
job is editing or word processing, do you have the same type of computer
and version of software that they are using? Are there weekly meetings that
they will want you to attend? Do you have reliable child care for that
meeting? Will you need any special training in order to do the job? Who will
pay for the training and your child care during that time? Will you need
office supplies? Will the profit (after taxes) afford these expenses?
Understanding the tax requirements that working
will bring is essential to make this work. Most likely you will be an
independent contractor rather than an employee. Self-employment brings an
extra tax that you will have to pay when you file taxes. Allow for this
expense. You may also need to file estimated taxes throughout the year for the
extra income not included in the W2s (consult your tax advisor and/or CPA
regarding income taxes and independent contractor status).
If working at home still sounds good to you,
choosing a career is all that's left. Some ideas for jobs include word
processing, cake decorating, calligraphy, sales of home products, answering
service, aerobics instructor, accountant/bookkeeper, mystery shopper,
catering, antique repair, baby gift baskets, balloon delivery, and hair
stylist. Places to find these jobs vary. Start by checking ads for jobs in the
newspaper or that may be posted in stores. Create a flyer for yourself and
your business and deliver it to the companies that could use your services.
One last thing to consider is support. Getting
support while working at home is helpful since you may feel lonely. Support
groups exist for work-at-home moms, offering tips for making it work and a
forum to ask questions. There are some newsletters and other resources listed
on our website (http://www.miserlymoms.com/MOMwlinks.htm)
to help those that have chosen this avenue. I hope it "works" for
you!
There may be some helpful job leads on some of
our website links for work-at-home moms (http://www.miserlymoms.com/MOMwlinks.htm)
There are some suggested books on how to start a business on my website (http://www.miserlymoms.com/MOMbooksshb.htm)
Jonni McCoy
Miserly Moms
www.miserlymoms.com
