The Big List of Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home - The Pros and Cons of a Home Office

So, you want to work from home. What a great idea! Whether you are fed up with your job and can’t wait to start your own home based business, or if you’re just looking to work from home a couple of days a week you’ve come to the right place.

As you read through this article you’ll get a better idea of how working from home could increase your company’s productivity and lower their costs at the same time as improving your health, your family life and even your career. Of course we’ll look at some of disadvantages of working from home as well so you can make the right decision for you and your home situation.

People working from home often boast about how they can plan their days from start to finish. They enjoy greater personal freedom, allowing them time to focus on getting fit, playing with their kids or perhaps just sorting their stamp collection.

But there’s more - let’s have a look at the financial as well as personal advantages of working from home.

Financial 'Pros' of working from home

• Save money on travel. How much money do you currently spend on your commute? In 2009 CISCO surveyed 2000 of their telecommuter emploeyees around the world and found that on average each employee saved 5,000 USD in fuel expenses alone from working from home in 2008. So whether you’re driving your car into work or taking the train, you’re likely to save an awful lot of money every month by working from home.

• Save money on work clothes. Unless you’re still going to meet with clients face to face you’re unlikely to be needing expensive suits. You will also save the time spent ironing those shirts!

• Spend less on child care. Its important to be realistic here - you will still need childcare even if you’re working from home (ever tried to work on a spreadsheet with a hyper active three year old tearing around the house?). But your new, flexible working schedule will allow you to drop the kids off later and pick them up earlier, saving up to two hours of childcare a day depending on how long your commute used to be.

• Save your holidays. Working from home allow you to be more flexible with your time. This means you can plan around dentist appointments and school plays without having to take a whole day off.

• Save on everyday items. You know that cappuchino you always buy on your way to work, and the sandwich you pick up for lunch at the corner shop? You won’t need to spend money on any of that when you’re working from home. Yes, your grocery bills might go up slightly when accounting for home made lunches, but your overall food budget should benefit from working from home.

• Save Money on Rent. If you’re looking to start your own company and wondering whether you should rent an office space or set up your office at home - working from home will be the cheaper option. Apart from the rent itself, consider the bills, and overhead costs involved with running a separate office. If you can manage to fit an office into your home, you won’t need to worry about most of these and you can plough all these savings right back into your business.
• Save Money on Tax. A Home office could save you some money on tax compared to running a separate office. You will also be able to deduct expenses for office supplies and ony other costs that relate to you business. Check with a local accountant to find out the tax rules where you live.

• Gain a competitive advantage by running your business from home. Because your day to day running costs will be lower, you can afford to be more competitive with your pricing as well as service levels. You can choose whether to pass on the savings you make to your customers in the shape of discounts or lower prices, or whether you wish to feed the profits back into the business.

• Better Earning Potential. Assuming you have a sound business idea, running your own company from home could offer you a better earning potential. Your earnings will be directly proportional to your performance - so if you work harder you can afford to give yourself that well deserved promotion whenever you wish.

• Anyone can do it. A home business allows anyone to create a new income for themselves, including those who frequently have been shut out of the traditional job market - parents with young children, students, disabled and retirees just to name a few.

'Personal’ Pros of working from home

• Save time on Travel. Did you know that British workers spend nearly a whole month travelling on over crowded trains and slow moving traffic every year simply to get into the office? Imagine what you could do with all that time!

• Spend more time with your family. Teleworking will allow you to spend more time with your partner and you’ll get a chance to see your kids grow up, as opposed to sending all that time in an anonymous office with a boss and colleagues you don’t like.

• Reduce your stress levels. When you have control of your own time, you can plan to do the grocery shopping in the middle of the day and catch up with work later in the evening when the kids have gone to bed. All in all, this control is likely to reduce your stress levels.
• Improve your health. With more time for daily exercise and healthy eating and no more shared germs on the train and in the air conditioned office, you’re likely to enjoy a overall improved health.

• Job Enrichment. Running your own home based business means you’ll have to get involved with everything from sales and marketing, to product development and taking out the trash bin. In short, you’ll get to know your business inside out and will learn new skills.

• More time for you. You will find more time for yourself, your hobbies and interests.

• Increased productivity. No commute means there is more time to do the actual work, which is great news especially if you’re running your own business.

• Personal Freedom. You won’t have to worry about any stiff corporate cultures, laughing at your boss’ bad jokes or the rigid work schedules set by the company you work for.

• Possible feeling of Isolation and Cabin Fever. If your colleagues are also your friends then you might start your first week working from home by emailing them for the latest gossip. Don’t forget to socialise and network, to stay in touch with your business and meeting people.
  
  
• Lack of Training. If you’re in the very beginning of your career, then working from home might mean you’ll miss out on ‘on the job’ training that appears naturally in an office and you might be overlooked for promotions.
  
  
• The last one to know. Working form home, you will be the last one to hear about the latest gossip and more important news like redundancies and down sizing news. You’ll miss out on the chats by the water cooler and coffees in the canteen meaning you might not hear about important office politics and news that might affect your job or future in the company.

• Home Work Life Balance. Some home workers have difficulties switching off after hours, meaning they have problems separating home life from work hours. After all, if your PC is in your living room, then it easily becomes a bad habit to check the inbox every five minutes even if its after 5PM.

• Hidden Costs. Don’t forget the hidden costs of homeworking. Heating, electricity and stationary ar the obvious costs, but don’t forget initial outlays to get set up like chair, desk, computer and phone lines as well as insurance. In a recent study, 7% of home workers admitted their cost were greater than when they worked in a shared office. The key is to set up a budget beforehand so you don’t get stung by surprising bills.

• Catching Up. Working from home requires excellent time management skills, and people prone to procrastination will find themselves working into the small hours to play catch up.

• What will others think? Nomatter how hard you work, you can’t compare working in the city with a home office from a status point of view. Some people will always believe you work from bed in your PJ’s, nomatter how many sales you’ve made that month.

• Unsuitable jobs. Not all jobs are suitable to do from home. If you are required to attend frequent meetings for example, or if you’re resonsible for other employees training and development you might be better off just working a few days a week from home.

• Your Home Interrupted. Don’t forget that working from home will have a significant impact on others living under the same roof, both in terms of space and interrupting others schedules and activities.

• Is your home suitable? Could you bring clients home to your address, or would the area or your home give an unprofessional impression? You can’t expect clients to tip toe around toys or laundry hanging out to dry.

• Lack of support. When working from home you won’t have the support systems like IT and post instantly available.

As you can see there is a range of both pros and cons of working from home and no one but you and your family can decide whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages for your situation. Taking the plunge can be terrifying, but with careful planning and budgeting it could turn out to be the best thing you’ve ever done. Good luck

This article was written by Linda Bliss. I am earning money online by writing here at HubPages.com. Would you like to earn money online too? Read the success stories and sign up today to get started!