Jane Jerrard - Working from Home: Earn a Living Where You Live

Working from Home

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Working from Home

Earn a Living Where You Live

Jane Jerrard

CHICAGO 2013

2013 by the American Library Association. Any claim of copyright is subject to applicable limitations and exceptions, such as rights of fair use and library copying pursuant to Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. No copyright is claimed for content in the public domain, such as works of the U.S. government.

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs: 978-1-937589-11-0 (paper); 978-1-937589-05-9 (PDF); 978-1-937589-27-1 (ePub); 978-1-937589-28-8 (Kindle). For more information on digital formats, visit the ALA Store at alastore.ala.org and select eEditions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jerrard, Jane.

Working from home: earn a living where you live/Jane Jerrard.

p. cm.

Includes .

ISBN 978-1-937589-11-0 (alk. paper)

1. Telecommuting. 2. Home-based businesses. I. Title.

HD2336.3.J47 2013

658'.0412dc23

2012023896

Cover image Iriana Shiyan/Shutterstock, Inc.

Contents

Many of todays workers (and would-be workers) idealize the work-from-home lifestyle. Different people are drawn to different aspects of home-based workit could be trading in a daily commute for a more flexible lifestyle with more personal time; the independence of working alone; or the comfort of leaving your business casual outfit in the closet and working in your pajamas.

But the reality is that working from home is not all free time and cozy flannel. There are always downsides, and this way of living is definitely not for everyone. For one thing, working from home is likely to mean more time on the job than working in an employers office; the increased productivity that is generally seen in telecommuting employees comes from more hours spent on the job.

Whether you would simply prefer to work from home or your circumstances leave no other option for making money, getting started on your goal is the toughest part. Thats why we devote space in this book to helping readers figure out what types of work to seek and how to find it. We cover both here in detail and recommend specific resources. You also get a realistic look at what it is like to work from home, as well as suggestions for practical steps you can take to ensure success in your home-based job.

Much of this advice is necessarily general, because it is meant to apply to any work that can be done from home, from data entry to dog walking to DJing to digital consulting. We cover part-time work, freelance work, and businesses on the side as well as full-time career employment.

After reviewing the basics of all home-based employment in is about starting and running your own home-based businessincluding some fundamentals to consider.

Whether you are eager to exchange your cubicle for your kitchen table or want to follow your passion by starting your own business, this book offers unique guidance, ideas, and insights that should get you started on your path toward reaching your goal, which happens to be at home.

Working from Home

The Basics of Working from Home

If your goal is to make money without leaving the comfort of your own home, youre living in the right time. Today more than ever, employers are more apt to allow their workers to telecommute. After all, its more cost-effective for companies to hire staff who work off-site than to support an office. At the same time, more entrepreneurial spirits are starting their own businesses from their homes.

So the odds of realizing your goal are in your favorand you can improve those odds by preparing yourself with some solid information. This chapter and the next lay the groundwork for those seriously considering working from home, providing an overview of telecommuting and self-employment.

A Popular Trend

It is difficult to find specific data on how many people work from home, because many statistics include employees who are allowed to work occasionally or regularly from home but are primarily located at their workplace. However, in the 2008 U.S. Census 5.9 million people said their home was their principal place of work. That number included 3.1 million who ran their own business, so at that time some 2.8 million employeesor just over 2 percent of the employed populationworked at home for their employer.

This percentage is even larger if you consider those who occasionally work from home. According to WorldatWork, a nonprofit organization that monitors human resources issues, in 2010 a whopping 26.2 million employees worked from home (or remotely) at least one day a month. Thats 20 percent of the entire U.S. workforce. As for people who run their own businesses from home, that number varies as well, but it could be as high as 38 million, according to U.S. Census statistics.

In a 2008 survey by staffing company Robert Half International, a whopping 72 percent of employees indicated that flexible work arrangements would cause them to choose one job over another. Thirty-seven percent specifically named telecommuting.

There are many good things about working from home. What I like most is that its quiet and I can concentrate much better than I can at the office surrounded by my cube mates. A close second is that I get to sleep almost two hours longer than I would if I were traveling to the office. More reasons: I dont get caught up in office politics or office frenzy. I get to run a load of laundry while Im working and take my dogs out during the day so they dont have to hold it for twelve hours. I can make doctors appointments and other personal calls without everyone knowing my business. And I dont get colds very often, because no one is coughing on me.

Diana Wellington, marketing manager

Employers are now more accepting and even enthusiastic about their workers getting jobs done remotely. WorldatWorks 2008 survey of 2,288 U.S. companies showed that 42 percent of respondents allowed employees to work remotelya huge increase from just 30 percent the year before.

Telecommuting Savings

There are multiple benefits and savings associated with hiring workers remotely, according to Herb Cogliano, CEO of national IT contract staffing company Sullivan & Cogliano. Companies have access to less expensive labor pools, he points out. This doesnt mean just offshore, but if youre based in Boston, or L.A., or New York, you can hire a phenomenal worker who lives in, say, North Dakota, and pay a lower rate than you would for someone in your major metropolitan market.

Even the U.S. government values the cost savings of having employees supply their own workspaceand the increased productivity that results. For example, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office more than half of the approximately 10,000 employees work remotely full-time, and the rest do so part-time. Internal audits show that those patent examiners who work remotely put in an average of 14 hours more work each year than their office-bound counterparts. And the agency estimates that it saves nearly $20 million in office space costs.

The Telework Research Network estimates the following benefits to organizations that employ telecommuters: