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6 Questions to Ask Yourself before Investing in a Home-Based Franchise Business

Guest post by: Mary Tomzack

Article Overview: As families continue to face rising commute costs, grinding traffic jams, and drab or dispiriting office environments, they are increasingly looking to home-based franchise opportunities as a possibility. However, while certainly attractive on the surface, working from home is simply not for everyone. There are several key questions you must ask yourself (and answer honestly!) before deciding to invest in a home-based franchise opportunity.

6 Questions to Ask Yourself before Investing in a Home-Based Franchise Business

As the pressures of traffic jam morning and evening commutes, rising fuel costs, and dispiriting office environments takes its toll on hardworking families, home-based franchise businesses are getting a closer look. And with the rise of more effective personal communications technologies, from social media to instant messaging to smartphones, the dream of rolling out of bed and shuffling to your home office, coffee mug in hand, has never been more achievable. But before you start daydreaming of taking meetings at your dinner table and filing reports from the grill in your backyard, you'll need to think critically about whether you are right for a home-based franchise business. Choosing between home and office is not as easy as you'd think, but the following questions will help you work through the decision-making process: 1. Am I self-motivated? Are you like Mary Cunningham, who can work just as well at home as she does in the office? You will need to be able to set both short and long-term goals, and be able to cross those off the list every day. 2. Do I have a reason for wanting to work out of my home other than just saving money? If money is the main priority, it’s unlikely that in the long run you'll be able to save significantly simply by working from home. If the office is where you get the majority of your work done, you should try to increase productivity while at work. Do not consider your office a “luxury” - it's your zone of work and therefore extremely important to your overall effectiveness and, ultimately, earning potentail. 3. Am I multi-talented and resourceful? There may be certain things you take for granted in an office, such as a receptionist that does all of the filing, faxing, etc. Although these tasks may seem small and somewhat menial, they are crucial to staying organized and on top of the daily requirements of any successful business. 4. Am I comfortable working alone? Sometimes people who live and work in the same place get a claustrophobic feeling. You should be able to feel confident working alone. Ways to prevent this feeling would be to consider entering your home office really “going to work.” Just like you would when heading into an office populated by others, you should shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc. and so forth everyday before heading into your home office. This will help establish a routine and a tangible boundary between your lazy Sundays in pajamas and your productive work days in a shirt (or blouse) and slacks (or skirt). 5. Does your house have the necessary space and facilities for operating a business?This is very important; do not just use the living room sofa as your permanent office. You need your own space that is just for work, with a desk, computer, fax machine, printer, storage, etc. There should be a door between your office and the rest of the house, so that if your family is at they house, there is a clear boundary between when you’re working and when you are not. 6. Will your family support your decision to operate a home-based franchise? Although you will technically be “at home” every day, that does not mean that you are always free for chores, appointments, etc. Your family must be able to see that when you are working, it is the same as when you go into the office, and you should not have to constantly be leaving the office and breaking up your day. Set hours for yourself so that both you and your family know when it’s time to lay down your work for the evening.

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Article Tags: franchise business, franchise from home, franchise opportunities, franchise opportunity, home franchise, homebased franchise, working from home



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