The johnny2k.com Forums

[johnny2k]

Introduction

Editor's Note:
At this time, johnny2k.com is undergoing a major renovation. During this process, the primary mission of this website will also be in a major state of transformation. Yes, johnny2k STILL believes in the effort to help people "work(ing) from home". However, the shift in the direction of this website will be radically different. While I still believe in the concept of working from home, my focus has changed course.

In a way, part of the change has come from the trend that since I first started this website, many people today are now taking advantage of the opportunities to work from home, and I feel my initial mission was accomplished. Working from home is now a very acceptable occupational and/or career choice. Many people are doing it successfully, and many more people would like to. The advantages are now to the point of being contagious. It's now a viable option in the opinion of many people. The times have changed!

I am not going to completely eliminate this subject, as I still feel strongly about helping people that are already doing it (working from home) or that want to. In order to do that, I'm including the text from my original area about working from home in this forum, in this topic. Even though many things have changed - for the better - this area will still remain to be a good reference and/or starting point for many people. And now for the introduction to this topic, closely resembling the original text found on johnny2k.com.

Have you considered the idea of working from home?

If you ask your auto mechanic about how to do a by-pass heart surgery, you would probably learn just enough to be dangerous. And if you ask your heart surgeon about the transmission in your car, you probably won't get very good advice on that subject, either. So, if you seek advice about working from home from somebody that has never done that, the information you receive won't be very reliable.

However, I know that most people will go to their family, friends, or their next-door neighbor for advice. Please do yourself a favor; talk to someone that IS working from home first. Oh, and by the way, the more successful they are, the more weight you should give to the information in your final decision!

Assuming that you follow the advice just given, let's start with this fact: I am working from home now, and have done so in the past. I have a great amount of experience with working at home, and I have learned a great deal from both my failures and my successes. Even if I don't have enough knowledge to guarantee your success (does anybody?), I can at least share some important knowledge that may help you make an informed decision.

johnny2k.com is dedicated to assisting people who want to work from home, or that are already working from home. We realize that not everybody working from home has a computer. And we also know that people working from home that do have a home computer don't always have the knowledge to utilize the internet as a tool. With this in mind, please understand that this area, the WORKING FROM HOME RESOURCE CENTER, isn't limited to just the people that are computer-techies!

Whether you want to sell hand-crafts, run a catering business or you are interested in telecommuting, we feel that the information in this section will help you make an informed decision.

The best way to proceed through the WORKING FROM HOME RESOURCE CENTER, is to follow the navigational paths I have on the bottom of each page. (In this forum, just continue down to the following post.) This path will step you through each heading sequentially. Once you have gone through all of the posts in this topic, it will be easy to return to the posts later for further reference with a Table of Contents at the end of this topic. It won't hurt to refer back to this area from time to time, because there will always be new information on the johnny2k Is Home Forum.

_________________
Help johnny2k.com stay online - Visit the "Powered By the Lord" store!

[johnny2k]

What Is Best For YOU?

I remember, way back when I was just thinking about working from home, I thought about all the cool things that I could do when not tied down to the 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM routine. Things like golf, when no one was out on the course during the week. What a great thought, deciding for myself when I would take a vacation. And the best day dream was thinking about all of the money I would rake in.... . . . . HELLO!! WAKE UP! Time to quit dreaming. Slap yourself if you have to! (This is important information, and you need to soak this in.) Your career, if you should decide that you want one, should not ever be determined by the hype you see, hear or read.

We've all been bombarded by the late-night cable TV infomercial blitzes. I'd be willing to bet that you have heard the guy talking about all of those great things you can have - financial freedom, time, being the boss, riding in a limo, and working from home. Those are things that if heard over and over enough times, we will begin believing it. The problem is, it is just hype. It is made to sound like that to make you believe you will have those things only if you do their program. And the ads are made to skip over the all of the important details, such as the steps you must take to get to that point of success.

The reason why I'm starting this section like this, is because you need to know that what you will be reading in the WHY WORK AT HOME pages won't be hype.

I finally made the decision to start johnny2k.com when I realized that economic and social realities were driving apart families, and I figured that I could help a lot of people find a way to deal with the new situations. The information I am freely giving to you in this section is what helped me make my decision.

Everybody's situation is different, and I have also taken that into consideration when developing these WHY WORK AT HOME posts. What works for me may not work for you. What is best for me and my family may not work for you and yours.

Therefore, I'm not going to try to HYPE you into doing anything. All I want to do is provide the information for you to chew on, and help you decide what is best for you.
_________________
Help johnny2k.com stay online - Visit the "Powered By the Lord" store!

[johnny2k]

What Are Your Benefits?

Your Benefits are Defined By Your Reasons

When talking about the benefits of working from home, we also need to discuss your reasons for working from home. In fact, without something to motivate you to step out of the box, you probably won't.

So, why are so many people deciding to work out of their home? In many cases, there may be multiple incentives. In the following list of most common reasons people go the home working route, there's a good chance many home-based workers would say they were motivated by more than one of the reasons.

Common reasons why a few million people chose to work from home:

Tired of the commute to work, especially in big cities

Wanted to have at least one parent home with young children rather than letting someone else raise the kids

Child care was too expensive, didn't make working outside the home very profitable

Lost or would be losing their job because of corporate downsizing or lay-off

Self-employment was a better alternative than working for someone else

Felt they could make more money by working from home

Having people looking over their shoulder was annoying, much more productive working when not being "watched" (by Big Brother?)

To do something for a living that they enjoy, such as making use of a special skill (writing?) or turning a hobby into a business

These are all good incentives for working from home, and it's likely that one or more of them applied to you. There may even be a few more that I didn't think of.

Though the above reasons are usually the motivation for making the change in work location, there can also be other reasons that will spur the desire to work from home, mostly due to your own individual situation.

Family-Oriented Incentives

You may have read in johnny2k's Previous Experience about our own personal challenges. After my wife began experiencing fainting spells, I found it difficult to balance my personal life with my career. I couldn't just leave my wife alone, to lay there with a cut or broken bones, or whatever could have happened, when she passed out. The emotional stress was difficult to endure, for both of us. There were additional affects cascading through our lives that we won't go into here.

There were other options that we considered, but working at home was the option that we felt the most comfortable with. We understood the financial risk of starting our home-based business, having very little in savings and having very little income to count on in the immediate future. Yet we chose the working from home path over the other alternatives. We were motivated by the desire to live our lives together.

Family-oriented incentives are not limited to staying home with your children. There is always the possibility that you may feel it would be in your best interest to stay home to care for someone that is disabled or elderly.

Inability to Leave Home to Work

For many people with disabilities, getting out of the home to go to work can be an extremely overwhelming task, yet many of them are able to do it. And I am overwhelmed by their courage and reluctance to let their challenges stop them from being productive.

Recently, I actually heard someone say, on a national news broadcast, that it wouldn't be a good idea for the disabled to work from home. The person said that getting out of the house is good for people with disabilities so that wouldn't become anti-social. There is some validity to that argument. However, I also feel that the disabled could actually see a benefit by not being as dependent on other people if they work on their own from home.

If leaving home to work is a great challenge, the disabled person might also be more productive working from home without the additional struggle of going to work outside of their home.

Working from home ideas may open some great opportunities for the disabled, and should be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Benefits From the Employer's Perspective

Are teleworkers a good thing for employers? Can outsourcing a project to a contractor be more efficient than doing it in-house?

The answer is, "Absolutely!" to both questions. Here is a summary of benefits for the employers:

Lower employment taxes when outsourcing work to a contracted home-based worker (self-employed people have to pay their own employment taxes).

Lower cost of facilities when hiring telecommuters (teleworkers) or home-based contractors. Less office space is needed. Some employers actually provide the equipment to the teleworker and still come out way ahead.

In many cases, the telecommuting workers aren't required to live in the geographical area of the company, thus diminishing the effect of a local labor shortage.

Short-term or temporary projects can be done by telecommuters or contracted home workers without the burden of higher unemployment taxes or additional training expenses that vaporize when the project is completed.

Outsourcing short- or long-term projects to a home business could eliminate the need to purchase or lease special equipment.

Employee moral could be enhanced by offering telecommuting positions (at virtually any level from line workers to upper management).

Benefits to Society

Teleworking and outsourcing home-based businesses - people working from home - are emerging as a new influence on the global economy. Because of the abilities of the internet, the numbers of home workers is expected to grow faster than ever before.

It is a debatable topic when discussing the social impact of massive numbers of people evolving to a work from home environment. I can imagine that sociologists would argue that the lack of having people around, or the solitude of working alone at home, would be detrimental to society. Maybe it would be best for us to leave this one alone for now..

However, think of the environmental good from all those home workers NOT commuting into the city! Home workers may not save the planet, but less commuting will definitely decrease air pollution in the cities.

What could be a huge benefit to society may be when considering the current high prices at the gas pump, and an emerging global energy crisis. Home working begins to look like a tremendous opportunity for many more people! [NOTE: Please keep in mind that this was written in the year 2000. A pretty profound premonition of things to come, if I may say so!]

YOUR BENEFITS

Just remember the fact that the benefits aren't going to be there unless you choose to find your reasons, and make those reasons your motivation to overcome any of the obstacles that will face you!

Then, and only then, will those reasons for working from home become your benefits.
_________________
Help johnny2k.com stay online - Visit the "Powered By the Lord" store!

[johnny2k]

Are There Any Disadvantages?

In the previous section, "What Are Your Benefits?", we mentioned that without a reason to work from home, there wouldn't be motivation to "step out of the box" and obtain the benefits of working from home.

Challenges or Disadvantages?

In this section, we discuss the disadvantages. However, the actual disadvantages only occur if challenges are not overcome.

Challenges will always come along, no matter your pursuit. Have you heard the people at work complain that they can't advance their career because of this or that? Are they disadvantaged, or are they unable to overcome an obstacle?

In compiling a list of disadvantages, which I'll let you do pretty much on your own, substitute "disadvantages" with "challenges I'm unwilling to overcome". But, wait, before you start that list, go back and decide what your benefits are, or should I say, your reasons. Then,and only then, you can decide what you won't do. Because, really, your only disadvantage is what will happen to your effort level if your "Benefits/Reasons" list is not long enough, or if the benefits are not important enough!

To help you get started, let me give you some examples of disadvantages, or challenges.

Not enough capital to start a business or savings to pay bills before income is received

Don't have the discipline to put in a hard day's work if working from home

Lack of experience, have never been self-employed

Already making a great deal of money working (for someone else), can't afford to quit job

Already run a successful business (self-employed) outside of the home

Think all work from home opportunities are hype, and that teleworking jobs are all bogus

Afraid that upper-crust, arrogant, and self-anointed to run your life from cradle to grave royalty will lose the ability to control all those self-reliant risk-taking hard-working home workers or small business owners.

_________________
Help johnny2k.com stay online - Visit the "Powered By the Lord" store!

[johnny2k]

Making Your Decision

Writing the text for this page is the easiest thing johnny2k has had to do for quite a while.

Making YOUR Decision is not always an easy thing to do. Go back to the previous two pages, and make your lists if you haven't already done so.

If your Benefits appear to outweigh your Disadvantages, then you need to proceed onward. But what if the Disadvantages seem too overwhelming, impossible to overcome? If that's the case, if all of the benefits just don't seem to inspire you to overcome those challenges, then you aren't ready to work from home.
_________________
Help johnny2k.com stay online - Visit the "Powered By the Lord" store!