NOT Your Father’s Home Based Business
- 6 Comments
- November 10th, 2008
A common perception of home-based businesses is that they are temporary situations. One belief is that the business owner is just killing time pending getting a “real” job. Another belief is that home-based businesses are startups and as soon as possible the business will move into a “real” office.
But a recent survey says “au contraire.” Running a business from home tends to be a long-term choice that business owners make. Of the home-based business owners surveyed, 70% had operated from home for more than 5 years, and 30% had been running a business from home for more than 15 years.
Why do these business owners want to work from home and not intend to change their circumstances? Freedom and independence was the most frequent answer.
This came from a survey by COSE.org (Council of Smaller Enterprises), a 17,000-member organization of small businsses. COSE surveyed 400 home-based businesses and 400 non-home-based businesses to get to the results.
Now, I wasn’t in the least bit surprised by these results. Working from home
long-term is fairly common based on what I’ve seen. Technology makes it possible to work just about anywhere today. Overhead can be kept low, making running the business low stress. And society no longer looks down on a business run from home — there are lots of alternative working arrangements today. Once you’ve learned how to work from home, and have the self discipline to get your responsibilities done, the freedom is too attractive to give up.
Here are some of the other major conclusions:
- Almost half of the home based businesses had employees – And 17% have 3 or more employees. Of those with employees, almost 98% had an employee actually working alongside them in their home offices.
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Home based businesses are born of desire, not desperation – Losing a job was the catalyst for starting the business in only 21% of cases. The main reason (41%) for starting a home-based business was no longer enjoying working for someone else. The second main reason (30%) was deciding they could do it better on their own.
It’s an interesting survey. You can download the home-based business survey results here (PDF), or watch the slideshow version below.
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YouTube Channel
Indeed things have changed. It used to be considered a stepping stone until the business evolved. Now with the cost of overhead, child care and more; it has become more appealing and acceptable to remain operating from home.
ReplyIt’s definitely more appealing – and much more enjoyable and satisfying in my opinion. And I myself do not see this as a passing fad . . . but more a wave of the future.
ReplyGreat information! I also chose working from home due to freedom, independence, and comfort.
ReplyWow. I’m surprised. This is really a vital information and I can in fact relate to this.
ReplyGreat information. It is inspiring to see that home based business is thriving.
ReplyThis is good to know!
I think home based businesses/jobs are here to stay. With the exception of teachers, fire fighters, police, maintenance workers, gardeners, etc, I think more and more people will be working from home, or running a business in the coming years. Though the cost of fuel is down for the time being and people can afford to fill their tanks again, we must still conserve energy. More and more parents are finding ways to be home with their children at least part-time, even if they need to hire an assistant. With the economy the way it is and rising unemployment rate, I think more and more people will at least try their hands at entrepreneurship and do it from home.
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