To Be (Home), or Not to Be (Home)

For what is likely to be my last entry in this blog, I decided to wrap up Living in My Office with the questions to consider before jumping into working from home. 

My Co-workers. Lazy bums!

For myself, I personally find working from home a lot like doing homework back in school. It can be more difficult to create an environment of productivity in the place where personal distractions often interrupt your activities. This does not mean it is impossible, but it does mean you should lay out a plan for how you will keep up your productivity before you take the leap into living in your office.

 

Do you have the space?

Consider the actual spatial area you need to conduct your business.  Personally, I cannot function in a cramped area.  Even though I only use about half the room I have designated my office, it is fully equipped with a sizable L-shaped desk, a riser for two additional monitors (total of three with my laptop), a color printer and a laser printer, along with a large shelf with room to spare.  That said, I still plan to upgrade desks when the right one comes along.  I want a hutch or similar on a longer L-shaped or U-shaped desk.  I do not have products I need to store or much in the way of files to maintain, but I do want more room to separate my office work from my school work.  If your business requires constant referral to product manuals, sample catalogs, laying out photographs, or anything else that needs some open room to maneuver, take this into consideration when looking for your new home office location.

Will it disrupt the house?

I haven’t mentioned this before, but my husband also works from home.  Unlike my contained office in a specific room, he has things that he shelves and he requires room to pack items for shipping.  He uses our kitchen table and our extra living room.  We have a den for visitors and relaxing.  Both of us tend to eat at our desks, so we rarely need the table.  However, if we had kids or entertained a lot then his packing and materials could be a disruption.  He can stop and start with lots of flexibility and works alone, whereas I have set office hours in which I am expected to be available and have conversations with coworkers.  Which leads us to...

Will the house disrupt you?

Sometimes I listen to music or a TV program while I work, but not often.  And as long as the dogs are quiet, they are welcome to use the dog beds in the room to rest all day.  But if they get to barking, or people stop by, my work may be interrupted.  Generally I just close the door in those situations and leave the household disruptions for my husband to deal with.  He knows I am unavailable until quitting time, and I let him know if something has made my day go longer or if I have to return to working later in the evening.  In a way, he is an excellent personal assistant!

Distractions outside my window, but they are worth the view!

Does your business need licensing?

For many, working from home envisions computer work and a desk job.  But some things such as massage therapy, a beauty parlor, real estate, repair shops, or tax services may require additional licensing in your state.   It is a good use of funds to run any new business past a legal advisor to make sure you are in compliance.

 

Will you have visitors?

In my area, business entrances must be separate from the main home entrance.  I do not have clients, so this is not a concern.  However, the couple we bought our home from are real estate agents.  They used a patio door entrance on the side of the house into the third bedroom to meet the separate entrance requirement.  I decided to use the other bedroom for my office, as I liked the patio for guests to enjoy when they visit.  In addition to the entrance, plan for parking, and ensure your homeowner’s insurance will cover visitors on business.  You may require supplemental insurance.  Lastly, are there activities in your home that may negatively affect the impression your visitors may have of doing business with you? 

Will you hire staff?

Staffing a home office opens new dimensions to your home officing.  Aside from welcoming them into your home, you will need to adhere to human resource laws, administer payroll, time off, raises or corrective actions, and potentially provide for benefits. 

 

Are you ready for technical issues?

Even those employed by a company and working at home may run into difficult to overcome technical issues.  Many of us have experienced short internet outages at home, however what would you do if the connection to your home was accidently disconnected and service would not be restored for several days?  Or your computer crashes?  Are there other places nearby you could work from for a period of time?  Is the local library or coffee shop appropriate for your work? 

***

 

Living in your office is a unique experience that changes the way you see your career. I enjoy it. I think there are many others out there who feel trapped with long commutes, cube farm offices, and unhappy trying to work in a corporate environment. And others may be trying to avoid entering the “rat race” of being an employee in a building. If you are in either of these situations, I hope this blog gave you a few ideas towards working from your own home.

Best wishes!

Jenn

Freelance Virtual Assistants

In this entry I thought I would spotlight how a virtual job can span many industries and skill sets.  The number of freelance virtual assistants is growing.  If you have a skill set that someone else would benefit from, you can probably market that skill virtually.  But to be successful, you will need to apply creative ways to make your skills valuable to others.

Educational background? Search out jobs such as editing children’s books, writing educational articles and online tutoring.

Fitness enthusiast?  Market your knowledge as a personal trainer, weight loss motivator, fitness coach or nutrition counselor. 

Like to work with online content? Help both businesses and individuals market themselves online with services such as website building, social media page administration or ghost blogging.  What is ghost blogging?  Check out http://www.ghostbloggers.net/

Like to talk on the phone? There are customer service, support, and technical jobs with phone systems that can be logged into from home.  In fact, you may work incoming calls from all three types of careers at once, and have a real variety of things to do in your day!

A good starting place for many looking for legitimate work-from-home opportunities is Rat Race Rebellion.  http://www.ratracerebellion.com/  Jobs show pay ranges and industries for easier searching.

Who hires virtual assistants?

1-800 Flowers.com

U-Haul

UnitedHealth

Amazon.com

American Airlines

Apple

Best Western

Hilton

Jet Blue

Marriott

Quest Diagnostics

Good luck!

Do Your Homework

This week I thought I’d circle back to talk to those who think they would like to work from home.  I will be honest here…I did not purposefully seek out a work from home job.  The opportunity to do so came about by unusual circumstance while I was updating my resume in W231 – Professional Writing Skills.  We did a cover letter, resume, and were asked to find a job we thought we’d be able to tailor our resumes toward and apply for. 

Well, I looked internally into my company, found this very interesting position that happened to virtually office, applied, and was hired by the end of the summer.  I was ready for a change and a challenge, and one pretty much was out there waiting for me.  So remember, do your homework!

 

Now, doing your homework applies to finding the virtual jobs too.  There are a lot of shady advertisements out there looking to make money by writing too-good-to-be-true job descriptions.

 

Many years ago I moved a great distance and had to find a job very fast.  One job in the classifieds read something like, “Do you like to play with toys? Are you a child at heart? Come join our team! Unlimited income potential!”  I called the number in the ad for more information, and they simply told me there were ongoing interviews at 8am the next day.  I was given an address, and showed up dressed appropriately with my resume and portfolio in hand.  Asked to wait, I heard people in the back offices cheering and laughing.  I looked around at the equally curious faces in the waiting room.  The laughing group greeted us enthusiastically in the lobby and I was quickly introduced to my new liaison.  She was going to show me this wonderful way to make money and have fun. 

She directed me out into the parking lot, and to her car. This happened with all the other liaisons partnered each with a new potential worker.  We were going to the distribution site, or so I was told.  It ended up we were going to her “preferred neighborhood” to walk door to door, peddling duck print umbrellas and oversized Disney storybooks from her truck to the people in the hair parlors, repair shops, and small office suites along the way.  I just laughed to myself as I watched her show two old men the merits of having a duck print umbrella, and gracefully bowed out from this new business venture by heading home before lunch. 

So again, do your homework, and ask the right questions about any potential new job:

·        How long has the company been in business?

·        What are their annual revenues?

·        If it is a new company, does their business model look promising?

·        What does the company DO, exactly?

·        Is it a Fortune 500, or 1,000 company? If not, do they have any as clients?

·        Where is the headquarters?

·        Is the position seeking an employee, or an independent contractor?

·        Discuss a pay range

·        Research for publications, clients, awards, or other public information on the company

It is wise advice to “trust, but verify”.  Avoiding scams is a very high priority for anyone seeking the opportunity to work outside of an office. The fastest growing industries remain computer sciences and technologies, the medical field, and the financial sector.  In all three of these, there are legitimate jobs that can be done virtually.  Focus your education on the right sort of work from home fields, make note of the virtual classes and group projects you successfully completed already in your college career, and I am sure doing your job search homework will reward you with opportunities to work independently from home.

A Sticky Situation

I’m going to go a little off topic, yet not really since it happened during work hours and at my “office”.

Niles and Be

                               Earlier this year, my husband and I moved to Florida.  I have two horses, both of which a good friend elsewhere in the state kindly kept for me while we searched for a new home on a couple of acres.  This plan took longer than anticipated, so shortly after closing on the property we rushed to get it ready not only for us but for my horses as well.  Over three hectic weekends we removed ample amounts of palmettos and scrub brush, trimmed up low branches, fenced in a perimeter and made about half an acre habitable for the horses to come home.  They arrived last week. We finished off their new living quarters with a nice shelter and hay feeder this past weekend, and figured things were safe enough to continue with the finishing touches in our spare time.

The New Paddock

Well, a couple of people warned us about this one solitary sappy little pine tree that was growing in the paddock.  It was oozing goo down its sides like a sticky volcano.  We just didn’t have time to address that situation yet.  The horses arrived Thursday, and that day and Friday passed uneventfully.  Saturday we kicked the horses out in the backyard while we built them a shelter, and they still did not get into any trouble.  Sunday I took them for a nice short ride each.  Monday had a rainstorm overnight, but the shelter kept them and their hay high and dry.  So that leaves today, Tuesday.
 

Mid afternoon I am deep in conversation with my developer, going over a roadblock hindering a site deployment and discussing my options.  She can’t do much for me, as she doesn’t have access to the settings I need configured.  Only someone in a department that isn’t responding can help me.  They are currently working on another priority.  I’m going to have to write a pointed follow up, and copy some people that I only bring in when I can’t get action any other way.  I hate doing that, but it is part of project work.  Sometimes your wheel needs to squeak.

 

Frustrated, I look up from my computer and notice my mare is vigorously rubbing her neck on a tree.  At first, it doesn’t dawn on me which tree she’s cozying up to.  Then I look again at the tree, and realize it’s the same sticky pine she’s brushing her hair with.  Oh no. No, no, no.  She snakes her head around the little sapling, and I can see from my desk chair that her mane is clumped together with fresh sap.  I politely disengage from chat with my coworker, and explain I need to step away from work for a bit. 

I try tapping the window while I hurry my feet into sneakers, but she’s ignoring me.  She’s massaging that little pine all down her back as I’m moving toward the door, grabbing shampoo and the pump house lock key as I go.  As I open the gate to the paddock, her eyes are guilty and she approaches me with her head down.  I tell her in polite, gentle tones, “you are a complete moron,” as I softly clip the lead rope to her halter.  Two soapings and rinses later, and I think I had more success with the hair pulling out in clumps than I did with shampooing the sap out.  The horse enjoyed her hearty massage though!

So back to the original sticky problem.  I need to get the rubbing tree out of the paddock.  I've never removed a tree before.  I don't exactly have great options for tools yet either.  We have a bow saw.  

Guess who learned to use a bow saw?

Hey hey hey, good bye!

I see my horse out there sniffing where the pine tree use to stand.  Sorry gal.  How about a peppermint and a nice bath instead?

 

Niles and Be, doing more appropriate things

Technical Difficulties

A typical Sunday night, and I sit down to check through my emails, both personal and professional.  This is what you do when you work from home.  The office stuff never gets left behind at an office, forgotten Friday afternoons until Monday morning.  Even when I am away from my home I am hooked in with my smart phone.  My husband has learned the difference between the email ding and the text message pop.  Early on in this work-from-home thing, he used to ask about what the different noises on the phone meant, but that hasn’t happened for a while.  I sometimes cringe at the dings, so that probably tipped him off.  I’ve become Pavlov’s dog in reverse; if the bell dings after reasonable hours, I associate it with more work.  It’s not that mind work, quite the contrary.  But I do like to enjoy a little time away from it as well.

However, it is not enjoyable when the systems I rely on for work decide to take a little time off from doing their jobs.  This Sunday, my internet decided to go down in the middle of the early evening.  Not cool.

I know my network pretty well.  I set it up, same as I have in the previous several places we've called home. I named my network, secured it, gave the devices access, share files between them, and have two printers hooked up (everyone needs a laser and an inkjet, right?).  But the actual service coming in through the wall from the provider is beyond my control.  It makes me feel at best uncomfortable, at times even vulnerable.  So much of my duties and responsibilities rely on that provider to provide.  I don't want to call the call center.  I don't want to read off the lights blinking on my modem.  I don't want to be treated like a simpleton.  I'm not!  I'm IT! Or at least, I use to be.  Now I'm quasi-IT.  When service goes down, it's no longer "our" service, like it was when I was corporate IT.  Now, it's "the service", provided by a big phone company that will ask me the stupid questions like "have you powercycled your modem"?

I use my internet connection for both work and home.  This particular night, I needed to access my online classes for school as well as check in on work email.  I pulled out my smart phone, thankful my online course system is more compatible with Apple products than in the past.  As I’m logging into my classes, I pull wires on the DSL modem and count off minutes to let the thing reset itself.  Once I secure my assignments through my phone, I think more about how my situation could affect my work.  I now live in a rather remote place.  The DSL is the only reliable high speed internet service we have here.  I contemplate what a day of working out of the library or Starbucks would be like, and realize it would not be ideal.  Even worse would be several days, while I wait for the provider to send out a tech.  I probably should come up with some contingency plans. 

Back when I had an office, the contingency plan for emergencies was connect at home.  We had some massive winter conditions, or the occasional server issue flair up, and those I could remedy by simply connecting in from home and working there.  If something happened when I was at home and for some reason I could not connect there, I could go to the office.  Things offset each other nicely.

Pulling the wires and waiting worked, this time.  The internet came back slow, and then eventually picked up speed to normal operation.  Today I realize I need to create another “disaster recovery” plan for long-term service provider outages.  I can only do so much from a smart phone, and some of the things I do on my team are very specific to me.  I think the first thing to do is scope out where the free public hot spots are around my new location.

Otherwise, Plan B is currently drive an hour to my mom’s house and set up shop on her dining room table ;)