After weeks of frustration at work and a freakish amount of time spent perusing home office photos on Pinterest, you’ve decided: it’s time to quit your job and work from home.
It feels great to have made the decision now you can stick it to The Man, spend some quality time with your new pajama pants, and potentially grow rich beyond your wildest dreams working for yourself. You must be an expert entrepreneur who knows exactly what they’re doing!
Oh no, wait, that’s not quite right…
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Assess your financial stability before making the decision to quit your job and transition to remote work. |
| 2. Consider your personal motivation and readiness for the challenges of working from home. |
| 3. Research the availability of remote job opportunities in your field before making a career change. |
| 4. Develop the necessary skills and expertise for remote work to increase your chances of success. |
| 5. Plan and prepare for the potential challenges of maintaining work-life balance and staying motivated while working from home. |
Make Sure You Have Enough Emergency Money
This is your safety net. You should have enough money in the bank to cover at least a few months’ worth of living expenses if something goes wrong. This will help you avoid taking on debt when unexpected emergencies happen, like someone getting sick or your car breaking down.
You may be thinking: “What’s so bad about being in debt? I know lots of people who are always doing it and they’re fine!”
Well, being in debt can be good for short-term emergencies (like covering your rent for a month), but it’s not so great when it becomes the norm and prevents you from saving money for longer-term goals like buying a home or starting your own business.
Building a successful freelance career involves various factors, including pricing strategies. If you’re wondering why do US freelancers charge higher than others, our in-depth article explores the reasons behind the pricing differences and provides insights to help you determine your rates effectively.
Don’t Quit Your Job On A Whim
If you’re ready to make the leap, it’s important to do it right. Don’t quit on a whim. Think about it for a while and make sure this is something you really want to do, because if you quit without having something else lined up and fail to find one right away, your situation could quickly become dire.
You might be faced with a lot more time at home than planned and that’s not always ideal when trying to work from home.
In addition, if you’ve never worked from home before or don’t know anyone else who has done so successfully, spend some time researching what it means to have an online business before making any big decisions (or small ones).
Consider The Additional Costs Of Working From Home
The bottom line is, you need to consider the additional costs of working from home. The first major cost is your internet bill. If you don’t already have a high-speed connection, this could be an extra $50-$150 per month depending on your location and plan.
Next up is office space: You’ll need somewhere quiet to work with minimal distractions (if anyone’s going to be sleeping in the same room as you at night, it will probably help if they’re also asleep).
Unless your home has plenty of spare rooms that are reasonably soundproofed and suitable for an office environment, you’ll have to take out a small business loan or use some other method of financing to purchase and set up a dedicated office area within your home.
Which can easily run into thousands of dollars depending on what kind of furniture and equipment you want/need for working efficiently and safely at home (think ergonomic chairs, desks with built-in storage capabilities and lighting systems).
Decide What You’ll Do From Home
Think about what you’d like to do. Think about what skills you have. If the two don’t match up, consider whether or not there’s room for growth in your chosen field. If so, then it’s probably a good fit.
You should also make sure that your computer equipment is up to snuff if you’re planning on doing any kind of work from home (and especially if you’ll be working with video).
You’ll need a good microphone and camera; they don’t have to break the bank, but they should be decent quality. The same goes for software: try out different programs until one works best for your needs and personality type!
Last but not least: make sure your attitude is right before making any major career changes! Once again this might seem obvious at first glance but it can easily get overlooked when we’re feeling overwhelmed by stressors outside ourselves (like money problems).
A positive mindset will help us cope with these situations better than negative ones would.”
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Get Your Finances In Order
When you quit your job, you’re going to have to take a hard look at your finances. If you don’t have enough money saved up in an emergency fund, or if your credit card debt is getting out of hand, that’s something that needs to be taken care of right away (and it’s also why I recommend quitting when you do).
If there are any expenses that can be cut out or reduced while working from home (like commuting), those should be eliminated as well.
It’s important to make sure that all of the bills are paid on time before moving into this new phase. If possible, create a business checking account and/or credit card so that everything has its own place where it goes every month with no worries about forgetting something somewhere else along the way!
Think About How Working From Home Will Affect Family Finances
The main reason for this is to make sure you can pay your bills and buy food. You need to consider how much money you will be spending on work-related expenses such as gas, internet and phone services, or software.
You should also include the cost of a new computer if you don’t already own one. In addition, think about job-search expenses like printing resumes, paying for job-search sites (such as LinkedIn), and possibly travel costs if you want to meet potential employers in person.
Spend Some Time With Family To Make Sure They’re Ready For This Change, Too
If you’re thinking about quitting your job to start a business from home, it’s important to make sure that your family is on board with this decision. You don’t want to surprise them with the news or have them feel left out of the decision-making process.
Asking for their input and support will help ensure that everyone feels good about this change in your life. If they aren’t supportive, you might have second thoughts about going through with it and that could be more stressful than working full-time!
Take A Hard Look At What You’re Good At And Enjoy Doing, Because That’s What You’ll Be Doing Most Of The Time
Before you quit your job and work from home, it’s important that you take a hard look at what you’re really good at and enjoy doing. That’s what you’ll be doing most of the time.
A few questions to consider: What are my strengths? What am I passionate about? What do I like to do, and what don’t I like to do? Am I good at something or not so much? Most importantly, how can I build on my strengths and weaknesses to create a profitable business that supports me in my lifestyle goals?
Once we’ve identified our strengths, we need to see where they might fit into our ideal business model. Then it’s just a matter of putting together all of our skills and interests into one cohesive plan that will make us successful in whatever field we choose.
Be Prepared To Do A Lot Of Cold Calling And Have A Lot Of People Say No
All of this might sound overwhelming, but it’s actually quite manageable if you’re prepared. The first thing you’ll want to do is develop a script for cold calling and making sales calls. This will help you communicate your message as clearly as possible and make sure that every prospect receives the same information from you each time they speak with you.
The second thing is to make sure that whatever process your company uses for following up on leads and converting them into sales is streamlined and efficient; this should include having automated follow-up emails, and phone scripts designed specifically for closing deals over the phone (and not just “sales” in general), etcetera.
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Write Up A Detailed Business Plan (Even If You Don’t Need One)
It doesn’t matter if you need a business plan or not; I’m going to tell you why it’s important, then walk through some basic steps that will help you create one if needed.
A business plan is a written document that outlines how your company makes money and how it plans on doing so in the future. It can help investors decide whether or not they want to invest in your company, but it’s also an incredibly useful tool for entrepreneurs who are just starting.
In addition to explaining what your company does, it should include an overview of the market for your product or service and evidence of why there is demand for what you’re offering (or why there won’t be).
Fortunately, creating a business plan doesn’t require expensive software or consultants it just requires a little time and effort on your part.
And once it’s done? You’ll have valuable information at hand when dealing with potential customers and partners down the road like when negotiating terms of service contracts with clients who want their drivers to pick them up at airports instead of taking public transportation themselves!
Buy A Domain Name And Set Up Your Website, Even If It Won’t Be Used For A While
You need to have a domain name to get a website, so you might as well buy one now. It’s not that expensive you can buy one for as little as $10 and it will make setting up your site much easier in the future.
Set up an email address with the same name as your domain name (or something similar). If people have trouble remembering what your business is called, they’ll never remember how to get in touch with you!
A simple way around this problem is to use the same first few letters of both words when creating an email address (for example: [your-businessname]@[yourbusinessname].com).
Figure Out How To Deal With Taxes; It’s Not As Simple As Just Setting Aside Some Money For Tax Time
One of the biggest factors to consider when deciding whether or not to quit your job and work from home is how you’ll deal with taxes.
It’s possible that you won’t have to pay taxes on any money you earn working from home, but it’s also possible that you might end up with a big tax bill at the end of the year. If this is true for you, then it’s likely that there are extra steps you need to take in order for everything to run smoothly in regards to your finances.
Here are some things for you to keep in mind:
If all of your income comes from one job (i.e., being paid through an employer), then no additional steps will be required beyond what they already do as far as withholding taxes and reporting them on W-2 forms go.
However, if your earnings come from multiple sources (i.e., self-employment), then make sure they’re handled properly so they can flow through into IRS filings correctly! For example: if I make $400 worth of earnings by selling goods on Etsy (self-employed) but also get paid around $10k by my employer every year; what happens here?
Do I still owe taxes because technically those two incomes together surpass $400? Or does one cancel out another so that nothing needs filing at all?”
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Set Up Your Office Space Before You Start Working From Home Full Time; Otherwise, The Distractions Will Get You
Before you start working from home full time, set up your office space so that distractions are kept to a minimum. Having too many options will only make it harder for you to focus on the task at hand.
Here are some tips for organizing your work area:
Make sure that it’s a dedicated space, not a bed, not a couch, not a kitchen table, not a dining room table, and not the living room or bathroom (unless you’re feeling adventurous). If possible try to reserve an entire room in your house just for working from home so that there is no chance of any other activity taking over.
Set Up A Business Answering Service So That Customers Can Call-In Hours Or You Can Take Calls After Hours
If you’re going to consider working from home, it’s important to set up a business answering service. If you don’t, customers will not be able to reach you after hours. You could set up an answering service for as little as $10/month that has options for accepting calls via cell phone or landline.
Or if your budget is very tight, there are free services available online that allow people who need help with their computer problems or other technical issues to leave messages 24/7 and receive an email response when someone is available.
There may even be a local tech support person near you who would be willing to meet in person at a coffee shop once or twice per week for an hour at no charge (or perhaps a small hourly rate).
This way, your clientele can meet face-to-face while getting personalized attention from someone who understands their needs and doesn’t require payment until they are satisfied!
Working from home as a freelancer brings its unique set of challenges and opportunities. To make the most of your freelance journey, check out our insightful tips for freelancers who work from home, covering productivity, work-life balance, and creating a conducive home office environment.
Conclusion
This article has not covered the benefits of working from home, which are numerous, but it does indicate some important considerations for those who may be thinking about making the transition. Quitting your job and working from home is not something to be taken lightly.
It can be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made if done right, but you also need to make sure that your finances are in order before making such a big change.
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources for further reading on the topic of quitting your job and working from home:
Want to Quit Your Day Job and Work from Home Full-Time: This blog post provides insights and practical tips for individuals considering transitioning to full-time work-from-home arrangements.
Ready to Quit Your Job? Here Are the 17 Questions to Ask Yourself First: The article discusses 17 essential questions to consider before making the decision to quit your job, helping you evaluate if it’s the right move for you.
How to Quit a Job Without Another One Lined Up: This informative piece provides guidance on how to navigate the process of quitting your job without having another job already secured, including tips on financial planning and maintaining professional relationships.
Frequently Asked Questions
I Have A Full-Time Job And A Family. How Do I Make This Work?
If you have a full-time job, we recommend that you start working from home after your workday is over. This way, you can be home with your family and still make money from home.
How Much Money Will I Make?
It depends on how much time you invest in your business. If you work hard and put in the time, you can earn enough to pay for most of your bills and expenses.
What If I Don’t Have Anything To Sell?
You can still make money from home. Focus on services that you are good at and enjoy, like tutoring or pet-sitting.
What If I Don’t Feel Comfortable Talking To People?
You can still make money from home. Focus on services like blogging or data entry that don’t require you to talk to anyone.
What If I’m Not Tech-Savvy?
You can still make money from home. Focus on services like writing or graphic design that don’t require much tech knowledge.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.