One way or another you have come to the conclusion that the
daily commute to corporate America just isn’t going to cut it
anymore. Or maybe, you have already been able to stay home with
your kids for a while, but now need some extra income.
One way or another, you have decided its about time to become a
work at home mom or WAHM.
This is an exciting journey and there are many decisions to make
along the way.
One of the first decisions you are going to have to make is
whether you would be better off with a work at home job or a
work at home business. Either one of them could be the right fit
for you, so let’s take a moment to explore the advantages as
well as the disadvantages of each.
Let’s start with a work at home job. There are lots of options
out there and some of the advantages and disadvantages may not
apply to some of them, but in general you’ll find the following.
Hands down the greatest advantage of a job is that you’ll
receive a regular paycheck. If you put 40 hours of work in, you
know you’ll get paid for those 40 hours. With most WAH Jobs you
can also count on getting about the same amount of hours. It
allows you to plan your day and week around your work schedule
easily. You do not need any upfront investment. Please stay away
from work at home jobs that ask you for any type of fee. They
are scams. Don’t waist your time and money. The last advantage
of a job I would like to mention is that you’ll get instant
rewards with a job. You work one week, you’ll get paid the next.
No need to keep yourself motivated to keep working. You’ll be
rewarded by your paycheck at the end of the week.
Now don’t run out and get a job quite yet. There is a backside
to all this as well. You will still have a boss that tells you
what to do. You can also lose a job on a moments notice. You are
not building any residual income that would allow you to slow
down after you put some time into it. Unless you are putting
money into a 401K, you won’t get paid once you stop working. A
job also allows you less flexibility. Your boss and colleagues
are depending on you work.
This being said, lets move on to a work at home business. Yes,
just the idea of it seems daunting, but there are thousands of
work at home moms, that start profitable businesses every year.
With some planning and determination you can do the same if you
choose to do so. Many of us have grown up in households of
jobholders. A business seems to be this scary, risky entity. It
really isn’t though and there are so many great resources on
this site and elsewhere that will guide you along the way. Take
a good look at the advantages and disadvantages of owning your
own business and make a decision on the facts and what you think
would work best for you and your family. Please do not let fear
make this decision for you.
Lets take a look at the advantages of a WAH business. You are
going to be your own boss. You call the shots. This gives you a
large amount of freedom on how you run your business, how you
treat your customers etc. It also allows you a large amount of
flexibility. If you’d rather work on your website today instead
of writing a sales copy, go for it. As long as you keep things
balanced and get everything done that needs attention, you can
allow yourself a lot of flexibility. You can also move at your
own pace. There isn’t anybody (other than your bank account)
that you are slowing down if you decide to spend the day at the
park with your kids instead of taking inventory. You are also
the one that determines how much you make. The harder you work,
and the better you get at this, the more money you will make. At
a job you get an hourly wage or a salary that’s reviewed about
once year. With a business it is up to you to generate as much
income as you would like. Your own business also allows you to
change with times as your interests or markets change. You may
start out as the owner of a dating site, but then become much
more interested in wedding planning.
Don’t get me wrong, owning a business does have its
disadvantages as well. You usually have to invest at least a
small amount of money and most definitely a lot of time upfront.
This is not an instant reward kind of thing. You may be working
for months without seeing much of a monetary reward. You’ll have
to be prepared to live without much of a paycheck for a while.
If you are currently working, you may want to consider keeping
your job for a while and building your business in your spare
time.
No matter what you decide, I would like to congratulate you for
taking the first steps to becoming a work at home mom. Always
keep in mind that the reason you are doing all this is to be
able to spend more time with your kids, to get them out of
daycare, to bring home a check to help with expenses or whatever
else your reason may be. It isn’t always going to be easy to
balance family life and work life, particularly when they start
happening in the same house. But keep the reason why you are
doing this in mind and you’ll get through it. And don’t forget
to have some fun along the way.