Work at home careers - what are the long term realities?

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Work at home careers sound deliciously tempting when you're stuck in rush hour traffic yet again, musing over how to deal with your incompetent boss and just dreaming of the freedom and control that you'd have running your own business.

Like most things in life though, work at home careers sound glorious until you actually sit down and think about the long term realities of what's involved. If you're planning to work at home you've got to accept that you're not going to get any paid holidays, not even public holidays; you're not going to have any paid sick days; there'll be no days off if you've got a deadline looming, and most importantly you'll have no health or dental insurance and no 401K plan.

That means you only get paid for the number of hours you work, you'll have to set up your own insurance schemes and look after your own IRA (individual retirement account).

You're also wholly responsible for bringing work in. Not only do you need to be able to do the work your business carries out, you need to pitch it, sell it, account for it and guarantee it. If something goes wrong it's your head on the block.

This can all lead to a situation where you're working early mornings, late nights and weekends just to get the work done. You're coughing up massive fees for insurance, you've got to file your own tax returns and you've still got to find time for family.

Work at home careers can take their toll and you need to be sure that your home business idea is worth the expense and the stress that working at home may bring.

However, don't let the prospect of having to pay for your own health or dental insurance put you off doing what you really want in life. Following your dreams was never going to be the easy choice. Get some professional advice from a small business center, talk to other self-employed people working from home and find a way to follow your heart. People rarely regret something that didn't quite work out; they do regret missed opportunities.

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Work at Home Careers