subject: Working from Home is the trend for the future [print this page] Working from Home is the trend for the future
Did you know that over 60% of new business are started from the home and out of the 4.5 million small to medium sized businesses in the UK around 2.1 million are based at home. This is due to the evolution and availability of new technology, mainly the growth of the internet. This has changed the way businesses work meaning people can pretty much work anywhere making telephone calls and doing all or most of the work via the web.
28% of UK employment is home based businesses with a combined turnover of 364 billion. Now every week 1400 new businesses are started from home which is 60% of all new businesses.
If your thinking of starting up a business based from home there are many advantages and also disadvantages'. Allowing your employees to work from home encourages a better work/life balance which can lead to improvements in health and well-being. Other benefits include:
Savings on office space
Savings of travelling costs
Working around childcare responsibilities
Working the hours that suit you
Wider range of applicants to recruit, disabled people, single mums
Increased staff motivation with less stress
However like most things there is always the flip side, here are some of the disadvantages:
Difficulty of managing home workers and monitoring their performance
Possibility of deterioration in employees' skills and work quality
Tricky to maintain staff development and upgrading skills
Possibility of increased telecommunications costs
Risk of communication problems
Isolation and loneliness
Can be harder to maintain team spirit
Home working doesn't mean employees have to work only at home, often splitting time between home and the workplace is the most productive solution. This will help with some of the disadvantages I mentioned above.
This shift of working from home is having a great effect on the building trade which has suffered recently due to the recession. Many of these new home based businesses are having office extensions, garage extensions and offices built in gardens. You have to really be self motivated when working from home and not get side tracked by mundane household chores.
I believe that home based businesses are the trend for the future. I myself have worked from home for the past year and have found it very fulfilling. I do find that it is lonely at times and I miss the interaction with other people, but the pros far out way the cons.
If you're looking for some extra working space at home and are thinking of getting a home extension or turning your garage into a office then check your local building companies. Many of the better companies are keeping up with the times and will have a website with pictures and testimonials of past work.
