In recent days, I have written about how important it can be to match family life with a home business—exploring ways of evaluating whether your family is supportive of your business and whether your home business fits into your family life. As I was writing these and chatting with a few others, I realized that lifestyle is an important consideration overall for anyone wanting to start a home based business. We have to be willing to look at how we like to work, the sort of home life we have, and other lifestyle realities in order to find a business that is a good match with the other areas of our lives.
For example, if you like a tidy house and need to keep things quiet during the day or live in a neighborhood that is not particularly kid-friendly, then starting a home day care business might not be a very good fit. Additionally if you need to have a great deal of flexibility, not work weekends, or you travel a great deal then you will want to take these realities into consideration when you are figuring out what sort of home business works best for you.
As a writer, I find that my home business can be incredibly flexible and fit around family life—I can work early or late and have the space to do other work during the day if I need to. It is also a good fit with my skill sets, talents and temperament. I could not do something where I needed to be in one place all the time or was tied down to a phone or computer for set hours—it just wouldn’t fit. While you might be drawn to specific businesses for various reasons, it is important to take a good hard look at your current (and intended lifestyle) to see if it will support and mesh with the type of business you hope to start. A good fit is a must!
Also: Starting from Scratch
Do You Have a Business-Friendly Family?