roninjiro Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 as the title says. i ask this b/c i want a career change; i officially can say i hate welding, wrenching (currently), autosales, cyclesales, and unemployment careers!!! i would love to work at home (probably learn to hate it) via computer. so if you work from home post your experiences and recommendations!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Some-Guy Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 You can do tech support from home............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dtsnlvrs Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Join the Army...oh wait that would entail leaving home, well maybe not you already live in Killeen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 You can do tech support from home............ Ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell SuperDan, cause then he'll never go to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 sell electronics on ebay, thats if you have a hookup on electronics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIM73240Z Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 i work at home, i have an office in the back yard, and have several employees. some times it is nice. you do not have to dress accordingly unless necessary. can have beers while working, or margs, or whatever. the rest of the time is is kind or rough. NO gauranteed paychecks. feast or famine. when it is good, its good. at some time it will pay off. mikelly knows about it im sure. i know there are several more out there as well. find a need and fill a need. good luck to you. i have respect for anyone who tries it on their own and makes it. there is a ton of work to do but it is rewarding. jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vashonz Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I live at work, never have to think about what to wear (poopie suit), have a steady paycheck. But there are downsides, limited choices on what to eat, don't get to spend my $ whenever I want, live at work, no contact with anybody. BTW I'm in the Navy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORPCRIM Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I work from home as well... I do body jewlery design for a company that sells to places such as Hot Topic Piercing Pagoda and a ton of small companies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ledphoot Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I used to own a bodyshop. Which was on the same property as my house so I call it working from home. I learned real fast that if you operate on a small scale ( I had 2 employees and did all the frame work and spraying myself) you will work many more hours for nothing more than operating capital most of the time. I had no time for racing and fishing, and if I did it was bad news because I had no $$ coming in. I'd love to work from home again at "something", but be careful what you decide to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 I work from home. I run a mail order business, http://www.thepetdoorstore.com. The tough part is quitting your real job and trusting that you'll have money coming in to pay the bills. You probably ought to have some money stashed away if you plan on taking the plunge. I quit the most lucrative job I ever had to start this business, and it took 4 months of setting up before I made my first sale, most of that was trying to get the website working. About 3 months in it was getting hard to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. In the end it worked out, but if you've seen me bitching about how much Z parts cost lately that should tell you that at least in my case it wasn't a get rich quick type of scenario. All that said, if I had the choice to do it over again I wouldn't have waited so long to start the biz. It is a very rewarding feeling knowing that YOU are responsible for you, and you don't have to kowtow to some dickhead VP named Jeff or fear for your job on a daily basis, which is what my last job was like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Well, I work outside, which is my home here on 4000 acres in White Oaks, I also have a house in Socorro. I have varied tasks, drilling, blasting, running heavy equipment like excavators, loaders, dump trucks, graders, etc, I run a rock crushing plant and I have a wet washing plant, I weld, cut, fabricate, mechanic, fix tires, change oil, filters, pump water, drive trucks to deliver material and screw off when I feel like it. I typically don't have any employees because this work is so technically related that most people I find can't do it. But it pays the bills, allows for hot rods, is alot of headaches, back aches, muscle aches and an occassional big grin Oh, and I'm in hock for $300K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelToad Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 Working from home is great but a scary jump. I work from home with my own software development business. If you try it make sure you have insurance coverage (look into Health Savings Accounts). Depending on your state, income and tax status, look into incorporating. In any case, set it up as a legitimate business (licenses and all), without that many people look at self-employed as self-unemployed The best thing about working for yourself is that you only have to work half days ...... and you get to pick which twelve hours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 14, 2006 Share Posted December 14, 2006 The best thing about working for yourself is that you only have to work half days ...... and you get to pick which twelve hours SOOO TRUE!!! In the beginning anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninjiro Posted December 15, 2006 Author Share Posted December 15, 2006 good to hear the pros and cons. i want to really pursue this early as i am 21 next month and really dont want to wait decades later to do it. i guess i need to start savin up b/c i do have a wife and child to care for <-----makes me nervous to do this>. btw great site jon! btw, jimbo what do you do? hunt you do a lot, how long have you been doing that kind of stuff on your property? right now i guess is a good time as any to get a business plan going, huh? QUESTION FOR ALL, WHAT WAS YOUR START UP COSTS?thanx a bunch, i will regularly check on this thread for any late comers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwik240z Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I work from home. I run a mail order business, http://www.thepetdoorstore.com. The tough part is quitting your real job and trusting that you'll have money coming in to pay the bills. You probably ought to have some money stashed away if you plan on taking the plunge. I quit the most lucrative job I ever had to start this business, and it took 4 months of setting up before I made my first sale, most of that was trying to get the website working. About 3 months in it was getting hard to convince myself that I was doing the right thing. In the end it worked out, but if you've seen me bitching about how much Z parts cost lately that should tell you that at least in my case it wasn't a get rich quick type of scenario. All that said, if I had the choice to do it over again I wouldn't have waited so long to start the biz. It is a very rewarding feeling knowing that YOU are responsible for you, and you don't have to kowtow to some dickhead VP named Jeff or fear for your job on a daily basis, which is what my last job was like. Do you give discounts to list HybridZ members? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 hunt you do a lot, how long have you been doing that kind of stuff on your property? Well, my dad was into mining back in the early uranium days, then he switched to copper and finally ended up here in the 50's. Basically I've been doing this kind of thing my whole life as a kid and recently since my dad passed in '02. I'm a registered professional engineer with over 15 years of experience, which means nothing, but I like doing that better than what I normally do. I still get to do some here and there, so it's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 I think the biggest thing you have to know initially is, aside from whether or not your business model is a realistic one, do you have the determination and discipline to do what needs to be done... day in and day out. My GF started caring for kids out of our house several years ago. I was working a temporary job, that I knew (denials from my company aside) was going to die a messy death. GF got fired, decided to watch some kids for some cash flow while she waited for a decent job to pop up. I got layed off when my store was suddenly closed... and we were looking at bills and about $150 a week income. We managed to hang in, get some more kids to watch, get me re-employed, and scrape through. Over the next 6 months, the daycare grew so much we needed a larger home. Tough thing to consider when your real job is pretty marginal, and the home business needs a new location, just so you can have the space to earn the money to pay for that new location. We scraped through again... and kept growing. We grossed about $40,000 the first year, combined. We grossed about $85,000 the second year... but my GF had a minor stroke, and my job was about to get terminally marginal again... and the stress of running a large daycare with no office or organization skills was killing the GF. I made the decision to quit day job and come home to work. Of course, we felt we had to add clients to cover the lost income... next thing I knew, I was working 5:00AM twenty hours to 1:00 AM the next morning, allowing my GF to sleep in a little and get to bed a little early. Lessons learned: It takes commitment, up front and all the way through. Very few things from your old life remain "essential". You need to be able to cut the fat from your budget and your schedule. Working from home allows you to take some short cuts, but you have to be able operate like you are in an office with a zealous boss watching over your shoulder. New clients, regulatory or licensing visits, and your regular customers all deserve and have the right to expect some degree of professional standards in your work, presentation, and dress. Just as important as sacrificing to get jobs done or income rolling in is the ability to recognize when you need to set limits, arrange for down-time, family time, sleep, ect. Last but not least: learn to properly evaluate your product or service, and bill accordingly. The most common mistake I have seen from people who are newly (or even not so recently) self-employed is: not setting the proper value on their service and product. It takes valuable time and skill to do what you do, and people pay you to do it because they dont have the skills or the time. Dont figure your real material costs, and forget or underestimate your immaterial costs. Sorry for the book... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 15, 2006 Share Posted December 15, 2006 Do you give discounts to list HybridZ members? I hadn't thought about it. My profit varies wildly from item to item. PM me or email me through the site with what you're interested in and I'll see what I can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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