Monday, April 28, 2008

Is Your Work At Home Based Business Opportunity Causing You Too Much Stress?

Most people want to work at home due to the home based business trends of reducing the amount of travel required and the lack of a boss breathing down your neck. When first examined, it may appear like the perfect opportunity, working your own hours and not having anyone tell you what to do. Unfortunately, amidst all of this home business paradise, there will be some stress involved and if the stress begins to overtake the amount of fun you should be having while working at home, it may be time to step back to see what has gone wrong.


One the most stressful aspects of running your own home based business is sporadic paydays. During the time spent working for someone else, chances are you received a regular paycheck once a week or at least once every other week. You knew about how much to expect and when to expect it. If overtime was offered, it meant extra money and again, you knew when it would be given to you. Chances are there was also a health care plan you could join at a reasonable cost as well as retirement benefits. Paid vacations are another benefit usually enjoyed by employees and in some cases sick days and personal time.


When you are considering your home based business opportunity, all of those things are going to go away. When you are working at home you are earning money and most times you will get paid once the job is turned in and approved. However, each week the amount of your check may be a little different. Sometimes it will be more, other times it could be less. If you are working with different companies, the income may come at different times and although all the different streams of income can add up to a tidy sum, there will be some stress involved if one or more of the streams is running a little slow.


It will be a rare home business opportunity in which the pay is made on the same day of the week by all of the different clients or customers and until you learn to adjust to this new style of income schedule, it can be a stressful environment. Additionally, taking some of that pay every time you get it and socking it away for taxes can also put a strain on the family budget. However, if the right plans are not made it will make income tax time much more stressful than it needs to be.


Insurance concerns are high on everyone's list and while there are many programs offering affordable insurance for home based business owners, they may a different opinion as to what is affordable. You will also need liability insurance in case someone is injured on your property or if you cause damage to someone through your actions or inactions.


For most home based business opportunities, a regular, structured income can relieve a lot of the stress, but that is something you will have to design on your own. The income will come but not in one lump payment and getting used to it can take a few months of struggling until it finally sinks in.

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