I just wrote about the idea of having a home based business and being able to work from anywhere in the world. How nice would that be?
It’s funny though. I was just thinking about how, when I was growing up as a child – the news, books, documentaries, and movies always made it seem that many people would be working shorter work weeks, fewer hours with higher incomes and that many people would be working from home.
I do believe that over the last decade or so that this has become a reality for more and more people.
The internet and advanced communications technology has made it possible for many people to work fewer hours in their place of business, work from home, work abroad and to make good money while doing so.
I think that women have probably had the most luck at taking advantage of the way things have changed with how we work.
I mean, if a woman wants to have children she often must take some time off to recover from giving birth and to care for her new born child. There are still many countries that do not guarantee maternity leave and that a job will still be waiting for a woman when they return from caring for their newborn. I could be wrong but I think even in the US – at least in some states, Maternity leave is not guaranteed. Maternity and or paternity leave is guaranteed here in Canada and that does make it easier for people to have a family and go back to the workforce when their child is a year old.
Women who don’t have maternity leave or who opt to stay at home while their children are young were traditionally left income- less. With the cost of living going up and up it’s hard for any family to not need two incomes.
I know several women who have used the internet to generate an income. Either through coming up with a fantastic website that generates a good income through advertising, or by creating small e-businesses that they can work from home. Some of these women have been inventive too and have come up with new products- often related to children or child care and have started out by selling these items over the internet.
Other women have worked out a deal with their place of employment whereby they are able to do most of their work at home and perhaps only go into the office once a week or less, yet still make the same or almost the same income as when they worked 40+ hours each week in the office.
Prior to the internet – say 15+ years ago, this just wasn’t possible. Yes men and women were still finding ways to make income from home and were being creative entrepreneurs, but there were fewer of them out there than there is now.
How has the internet changed your life? Do you work from home or generate some extra money through work on the internet or through your website or blog?
I would definitely love to work from home as a full time job. Right now, my online work brings in a little bit extra every month – enough for a nice night out on the town once every few weeks 🙂
If I remember correctly the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act provides for up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave. I think it only covers those who work for larger companies. In some cases those working for private or smaller companies received a lot more time. A few of my friend did.
I took the maximum provided at my job four months. My company paid for it, some of them don’t.
I worked from home full-time about two years ago. I went back to work out of the home to gain experience working in a non-profit setting.
Eventually I plan on opening a non-profit Health & Wellness center that focuses on healing through natural ways. I’m back in school earning my Masters & eventually my PhD in Traditional Naturopathy.
I’m back to working for myself full time. I’m a nutrition & fitness consultant. I also have my own natural skin & hair care business. I also design & make jewelry.
My businesses are doing well. It’s taken a lot of work to get them to that level so I’m very happy.
It’s always been my goal to work for myself. I was able to turn that dream into a reality.
I work from home one day a week and I LOVE it! Our parking is being torn up so we have limited parking and to help out, they are letting us work from home. That, and a compressed work week, allow me to be home 4 out of 7 days a week. I love being at home. 🙂
I’d love to work from home, but I will be teaching this fall and I absolutely have to be in the calss with the kids to do that 😉
But, the internet has allowed me to stay afloat as I am back in school as a single mom. I get a little income from one of my websites that does alright with Adsense and I blog for compensation. It’s meant I can go to college and be a mom and not have to leave the house to make the moeny we need.
In Portugal work from home is just a mirage. We have to work full time because the income is not that big.
Since March I’m blogging for money and I realized that if I had time I could have a good income that would allow me to stay at home. My problem is: what if this blogging for money things end? I can’t live with only one salary and I would be in big trouble because there are lack of jobs.
My dream was work from home and follow my kids, but…till now it’s just a dream that hasn’t come true…yet.
The internet sure has changed my life, I started out selling stuff on eBay and though I never wanted to stay there, it got me started on the way to where I am today, writing sales copy and marketing products.
The internet has lowered the barriers to so many people who want to get into business, you don’t need staff or an office, etc. The secret to getting started is to get started! Simple as it sounds, we all go through a stage of fumbling around, trying to make our first dollar, things will improve if you stay focused and keep working at it.