Facts and Myths of Working From Home

With the rise in popularity of working from home, there are of course going to be many myths that pop up and float around about it. Regardless of what you may or may not have heard, the simple fact is that millions of people are making home-based businesses work for them, proving that the vast majority of the myths are false. Perhaps you'll prove them wrong, too.

You'll Get Rich Quick

Starting a home-based business is not the same as buying a lottery ticket and hoping your numbers come up. A home-based business is like most businesses. It takes a lot of hard work and no small amount of time to build sufficient income to make a full-time living. Unfortunately, the world of home-based business is full of all kinds of get-rich-quick come-ons and overpromised-but-underperforming "opportunities." If you focus on working hard to create a business where you can do what you love, serve your customers, and make money at the same time, it will most likely be for the long term and not overnight, however, so will your happiness and success.

You Can't Make Any Money

Money magazine commissioned a study of the earnings of home-based businesses in 1996 and found that 20 percent of home businesses reported gross business incomes between $100,000 and $500,000 a year. Most recently, the research firm IDC found the average income for income-generating home office households to be $63,000 a year. So yes, you can definitely make good money by working from home. The key is to provide something people will pay for and then pour your heart and soul into it. It should be something that you enjoy doing, since that is usually a main reason that people choose to work from home in the first place!

If You're At Home, You Must Not Be Working

Most home-based business owners feel the effects of this myth from time to time. Because you're working at home, and not in an office or store or workshop, you're not really working at all. But as anyone who works at home will tell you, nothing could be farther from the truth. That fact still doesn't stop your friends and family from calling and visiting you. If you find that people don't believe that you're working when you're working from you home, try setting regular business hours and let all your friends and family know what they are. It's also good to set up separate phone lines for your business and your home, and be discipline enough to answer only your business line during your "business" hours. Don't fall into the trap of running people's errands during your workday. Don't be shy; be polite, but firmly let your non-business callers know that you're busy and that you'll get back to them when you take a break or after work.

Although these are just a few of the many myths about working from home, it just goes to show you that you can work from home easily if you choose to, and still be successful with some hard work and discipline.