A Recipe For Quitting The Day Job And Working At Home
Posted July 25, 2007 in Business, How-To
Work at home doesn’t mean what it used to. Back in the olden days (yep, even older than me) there was this thing called the cottage industry. I won’t bore you with definitions, but suffice it to say that it has nothing to do with cottage cheese – unless, of course, you be making the cottage cheese in your back yard.
The Cottage Industry
You see, the cottage industry has a long and rich history. It’s all about working at home. In the olden days (the really olden days), that meant shearing the sheep and making your coat of wool. The textile industry is one industry where people did a lot of work at home. In fact, even during the mass movement toward industrialization, there were large factories that outsourced work to people in their homes. Those home workers comprised a large part of the overall workforce and came to be called the cottage industry.
The Internet has spawned a whole new system of cottage industry and many more opportunities for people to work at home. Many of those people are self employed entrepreneurs who just prefer being on their own (nothing wrong with that). Many others, still, are working for someone else from their home. And that’s the beauty of it. Even employees have greater flexibility and freedom than the factory workers of old.
The Benefits
Work at home opportunities range from freelance writing to medical billing, from assembling products to building websites, and a huge host of other types of jobs as well. There are as many Internet entrepreneurs starting their own websites and businesses online as their ever were in the brick-and-mortar world. The beauty of being an Internet entrepreneur is you can start your business from home and keep it going from there as well. You can home school your children while you work at home. You can take care of household chores in between working for your clients. Ergo, more flexibility and freedom to design your own lifestyle.
Tips, Tricks, And Advices
If you’ve ever even thought about working at home, starting your own business, or stepping out of the rat race even for a split second, let me encourage you to make that step. But don’t be foolish and just jump out there without a safety net. If you still work for the man, don’t tell him to screw off just yet. Wait until you’ve got your feet firmly planted on those dreams. Here’s a short list of things to do to prepare yourself for your own personal freedom while still working that day job:
- Start small - Do a little work on the side in the evenings while still working to see if you can handle the pressure of client commitments and juggling responsibilities;
- Do something you enjoy – Since you’ll be working two jobs for awhile you should make sure at least one of them is doing something you really like, and if you plan to work full-time in your own work-at-home job then you better make sure you enjoy doing it
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – It may not be Easter, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think like a bunny rabbit. Don’t just eat cabbage from one garden, honey. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else. Never, ever give up on your dreams.
- Don’t spend your work-at-home money – For at least the first year you will be working at home on the side. Your day job is still your bread and butter. Use the extra income you make by working at home to put back into your business to grow it some more. Spend it on advertising, buying equipment, paying part-time help, or whatever you need to grow the business.
- Be sure to plan – Don’t just muddle through. Set a goal and pursue it relentlessly. A good rule of thumb for quitting your day is to earn the equal of your daytime job income for at least three months in a row – even better, six months in a row. If you can do that then you know that you have a consistent level of income and if you stay on track and keep marketing then it should grow from there.
The Old Man
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The Old Man works from home managing blogs on behalf of NameCritic and owns Articles.pn, the article directory with social networking benefits.
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About the author: Allen Taylor is the operations manager for Blog Content Provider. He works from home managing blogs on behalf of NameCritic and owns Articles.pn, the article directory with social networking benefits.
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12 Comments
Shane
July 26th, 2007 at 5:47 pm#4 – great point. It’s easy for new entrepreneurs to treat the cash they make as “spending money”. I think everybody knows somone whose done this and struggled to get off the ground.
It’s not pocket money … it’s Cash Flow!
All this talk of cottage cheese is giving me a craving for lasagne.
My Melange
July 26th, 2007 at 8:20 pmJonathan,
Congrats! on the new blog. I hope to tune in for many great ideas that I can use for my own business purposes!
Good Luck! :)
Stephen Web
July 26th, 2007 at 8:36 pmGreat tips, starting small is key for those transitioning to a full-time work at home career.
Iantrepreneur
July 27th, 2007 at 6:30 amgreat post – it looks like I have another good source for trackbacks!
and I agree start small and do something you like to do every day, especially something that will never bore you – as I too am releasing a new blog! :)
melo villareal
July 28th, 2007 at 8:59 amThe Old Man -> I like the way you wrote the article// very clear// makes everyone encouraged to do their own Home Based Business.. hope to see more of your articles..
The Old Man
July 28th, 2007 at 7:11 pmThanks Melo. Now go get ‘em!
Jon
July 31st, 2007 at 7:43 amNice article.
Good luck with the new site too.
Theres a couple of places people can look for good information about working from home (and online).
Peter Drucker talks about the next “big thing” and it on the internet. (http://6figureincomeschool.com/forbes.html)
The trick is finding your “ideal” work at home job. To me that’s a good product, a good margin and a way to automate it.
Freelance Website Design
August 9th, 2007 at 10:12 amGreat post! That jump can be hard, but once its made and made properly, its a beautiful thing :)
How to work at home
April 12th, 2012 at 7:37 pmI actually stepped out on faith and left my job after I had my son with no back up plan. I understand that many people aren’t able to up and leave their jobs like that but the tips that you’ve provided is definitely the smart way to prepare to work at home.
Dave
April 13th, 2012 at 4:24 pmMy favourite point was #1…only because that is what I personally struggled with and I know many others who do as well! I wanted to hit a homerun and succeed instantly without putting in the work and effort necessary to get there! Start small, there really is no rush…and patience, persistence will bring success! Also, doing something you enjoy and know a bunch about really helps you in your aim to succeed.
mark stone
October 7th, 2012 at 8:36 amJust stumbled on this new money making idea, its working great guns for me at the moment! http://bizpowersystem.com/lagomera
Zieopp
December 12th, 2012 at 4:03 amI have a recipe for working at home, it’s delicous ……wow93.com……..