Internet Marketing & Home-Based Business

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Working from home presents many dangers to the solo entrepreneur. I’m going to outline seven of these dangers, hoping that you won’t make these mistakes. You see, I’ve recently moved to working from home full time. Before this, I did a combination of on-site contractor work and working from home. Now that I am at home full time, I’ve come across some trouble spots that could affect your business.

Read these, think on them, and see how these dangers fit into your own situation. If you haven’t yet made the transition to moving from your office to your home office, these items are of special importance.

1. You will be able to wake up when your body is ready to do so. What’s better: Getting enough sleep every night, or sitting at your desk at a certain time?

2. The TV calls. That television is just sitting there, calling you to it with movies, your favorite DVR’d shows, or your gaming console of choice. It’s there and it’s hard to resist. What’s the harm in a little indulgence? NOTHING. Well, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your daily cashflow. I watch TV or play a little bit of my current video game when I’m eating or just taking a break to clear my head. And I do that whenever I need to, not on someone else’s clock. Honestly, what’s the harm in goofing off in front of the TV if that’s what you need to do to maintain your own personal efficiency.

As a side note, I once knew a guy that — I swear — had the word “efficiency” confused with the phrase “work constantly without stopping no matter what.” Now that’s a seriously messed up outlook. If you need to give the TV some attention to give yourself a break and maintain efficiency, do it.

3. Hygiene. What’s the point? When you don’t have to be anywhere, why shower or brush your teeth? Until you can’t stand your own smell, is there really a point? OK, a couple of things come to mind: Cavities, fungus growing in weird places on your body, and burning holes in your clothing from your stench and the aforementioned fungus (also bacteria). Basically, you will become gross.

Don’t worry, though. You can shower and brush your teeth whenever you want. I usually wait until mid-morning. I get up, take some coffee, goof off, work some, then clean myself up. It works. Don’t neglect your personal hygiene, but keep in mind that you can do it whenever you want.

4. You will be tempted to buy things with all that gas money and lunch money you no longer have to spend. Those two things add up to a lot. What are you going to do with that extra money? Go out to eat every day anyway? Blow it on a new $60 video game each week, and then buy a bunch of candy just because you can?

No. Although all that is tempting, you should instead invest that money in your business. Either just save it as operating cash, or spend it on marketing.

5. You’re going to have time on your hands. Crave interruptions and useless meetings? You won’t find any here. When you work from your home office, you don’t get distractions or time wasters. You just get your work done and then live the lifestyle you want with all the “free time” you create by cutting out the nonsense.

6. Your stress levels will decrease to unheard-of levels. Never before has your stress been so low. This can cause some people to panic, as they are used to being in a state of “near-stroke” all the time. If you find yourself panicking, don’t worry. Just take a moment, watch some TV, take a nap, and forget about it. You’ll feel better. Not having to deal with all the crap associated with the modern workplace can drastically reduce your stress levels. Your body may react…strangely, but don’t worry. It will pass. There is hope, and you can learn to live with your decreased stress levels. People do it every day. You can, too.

7. What are you going to do with all that earning potential? That’s right, now that you are working from home, you can remove that earning cap previously placed on you by your corporate overlords (aka your “Boss”). How much you earn is up to you, and how much you pay yourself is also up to you. There are no limits except those you place on yourself.

If you haven’t yet broken free and started to work from home, make it your primary life goal. It’s so much better on the outside. It really is.

Here I am in my new office, and let me tell you…it’s cozy. To a degree. My posture will be better writing here, due to the semi-ergonomic setup, but there’s not enough light, and it’s a bit cramped.

You see, I’m in my bedroom closet. My previous arrangement (writing with my laptop on the edge of the bed if it wasn’t in my lap) was taxing on my back. This seems to be much better. I’ve got my laptop on top of my two-drawer filing cabinet. It was already in the closet. I just push the clothes over against the wall, open my laptop, and I’m ready to go.

This is temporary until I get my new office in a few months. Well, until we get a new place in a few months. I run my office out of my home, and right now there are six of us in a three bedroom house. There’s no room for an office, so I make do. One of the criteria I’ve got for whatever place we end up getting is a dedicated office.

Some of this closet stuff is already getting in the way of my left leg. So I’m going to have to fine-tune this arrangement.

If you think that you don’t have the room to start a company that is to be run from your home, think again. If you have a laptop and a lap, you can do it. Sure, it’s not the best workplace arrangement, but it will do. Besides, if you run your company efficiently, you won’t have to work much. By the way, that’s one of the topics I’ll be exploring in the coming months here on Cube Escape — Working as little as possible to get the most amount of cashflow. Remember, cashflow should be the goal of any solid business venture.