07.31.02
A Telecommuting Crossroads: Work From Home or Time For a Real Job?
All new home-based business owners and freelancers
experience the same emotion: ‘telecommuters remorse’.
It’s that pit-of-the-stomach feeling you get when you finally quit
your brick and mortar, 9-5 outside job to follow your dream
of being your own boss; it arrives at the end of the honeymoon phase and
reality hits like a cold December wind. Gone are the weekly
paychecks and job security. You’re on your own now - for
better or worse.
Though I have worked from the comfort of my home office
since 1987, until the past year I was a telecommuter for
a large Fortune 500 company. The best of both worlds were
at my fingertips - a comfortable salary, retirement plan, paid
sick days - in addition to the flexibility and opportunity to
work from home.
Alas, all good things must end and in May of 2000 I was a victim of
downsizing. When the aftermath of shock and panic subsided, I dug my
heels into finding an alternative telecommuting position. While
fervantly researching available options, I discovered what path I
was to follow next. In my teleworking hunt, I ran across scam after
scam preying on those of us, desperate, for whatever reasons, to
work from home. Knowing there must be hundreds of thousands of
others like myself searching, I decided to create a website and
newlsetter for “legit” WAH opportunities. And in the Spring of 2000,
‘Moms@ Home Working’ was born. I had found my calling and
passion.
While my start-up costs were relatively minor for a new business,
I knew that it would be six to nine months before I saw any
income. The newsletter would need to build up a significant readership
before any paying sponsors would come on board. Diligently,
I pounded out a newsletter every day and slowly watched my
numbers rise. Sure enough, six months later, my first paid
ad appeared! What a feeling that was! Someone actually wanted
to promote their business with me!
It is now seventeen months since the “birth” of M@HW and I’m
very pleased to announce that the business is steadily growing,
But,like any business, there are peak times and then there are times
that are incredibly slow. When I reach a slack period, I
question my ability to hang in there. I find myself scanning the
classifieds daily in search of a “real” job. I even have gone as
far as to respond with a phone call or to fax my resume. A dark
cloud of doubt seems to continually hang over my head during
these slack times.
And then… I’ll check my email and am deluged with advertising
inquiries or will see one of my articles that I have written posted
on another site or best of all…a reader will write to share her news
of landing a WAH job through a posting in the newsletter. Then it
all becomes crystal clear: success cannot be measured in just
monetary terms. I love what I do - I am helping others like myself
who want to work from home to be with their families and still
provide an income. My salary is not half of what it was several years
ago but I am happier (most days) than I ever was working for
someone else. In my heart of hearts, I know that I could never return
to the corporate world. I love setting the pace, playing by my own rules and
I have
found my “perfect balance between work and family”!!
Barb Niehaus, mom of 4 kids ages 7-13, is publisher
of Moms@ Home Working, To receive WAH jobs every day
at no cost, mailto: momsworkingathome-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Visit Barb’s site at:
http://www.moms-home-work.com