Disadvantages of A
Home Based Business

There are disadvantages to running a business from home:

• Your income may be irregular, fluctuating between craft shows and/or wholesale orders.
• If you do receive large wholesale orders, you may be under pressure keeping up with volume production, working day and night in trying to fill orders.
• A home based business can absorb all your time and energy. There is a risk that as you devote everything to your business, other parts of your life are ignored. You may become a workaholic. Managed, that energy can make a business a success. Ignored, workaholism can bury people in their work, isolating them from family and friends and causing stress and burnout, in some cases family break-down and business failure.
• Space may be cramped or inappropriate for an ideal production environment or for growth purposes. Your inventory storage and work area may spill over into your living space.
• Distractions and disruptions due to the nearness of family or friends may interfere with concentration and interrupt production. Discipline in managing time and stress is important with working from home.
• There is a lack of fringe benefits such as health, dental insurance, paid vacations, and unemployment insurance.
• In order to maintain proper control over the business, you must be conversant and deal effectively with various business roles at the same time, as well as producing and selling you work you must also be a general manager, performing all the jobs from advertising to negotiating contracts, filling orders to shipping the final products, and keeping track all the paper work and your records including bookkeeping.
• Unless you do a lot of craft shows, home-parties, or seasonal boutiques you may face loneliness and isolation especially if you only concentrate on wholesale orders.
• Business activity could create difficulties with neighbours complaining about loud noises, strong odours, obvious customer traffic, tying up neighbourhood parking places, etc.
• Disadvantages also include the lack of physical fitness. Try to stay fit. Keeping fit will keep up your energy level. It will also help you to reduce stress.

Advantages of Running A Home Based Business
Discover the advantages of running a home based business.

The Prepared Entrepreneur
Though the rewards for working from home far outweigh the problems, there are a few pitfalls awaiting the unprepared entrepreneur.