Every day there are thousands, if not millions, of people who desire a work at home career, selling widgets on ebay, or some other online store. Sure there are plenty of perks for working at home, you can spend more time with your kids, have a shorter commute, not deal with an overbearing boss, but with all the comfort of home, there are some pitfalls.
First there is a question of what to sell. Selling products online sounds great and all, but do you manufacture clean red widgets that you can peddle in your online store? Maybe you know a manufacturer of clean red widgets that will sell them to you at a deep discount. If that is true, then you're off to a great start, but for most of us we are starting at zero. Do some research on manufacturers and drop shippers and determine whether or not you can turn a profit on your fancy red widgets, if not it's time to cut bait.
Second, working at home is a big leap. Working a typical 9-5 (or 8-7 in most cases) has a steady paycheck involved, and is essentially guaranteed income. We all have bills and most of us have enough that the lack of that steady income stream could set us back immensely. Working online there is no guaranteed income, you have to work extra hard to ensure you maximize your income. Whenever possible stash away extra income to provide yourself a little insurance for when times are lean, and believe me those times come often.
Third, working at home is a lot of work, and requires a lot of long hours, typically more than the standard job. Since you are the only employee at your clean red widgets company, there will be a lot of nights where you have to put in long hours in order to get orders placed and products shipped. Sometimes customers can be a pain, and you will need to deal with them without the safety net of a boss to escalate them to. You are the boss now.
Lastly, since you are working from home there will be a lot of people who will take advantage of your "free time." Grandma Millie needs to be driven to the doctor? Don't be surprised when you are the one who needs to take her there, and while it's very nice that you take care of your grandma, you are losing money and not getting work done. Your family wouldn't expect you to drop your real job to take her would they? People who don't work at home have no idea how much work is involved and assume you are just relaxing all day.
In all, starting your own business at home is great but be sure it's what you really want. Selling widgets online isn't all relaxing on the couch and watching TV, there is a lot of effort, planning and stress involved. If can be a wonderful thing if you can pull it off, but just beware, it isn't a bed of roses.
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