Fact or Fiction: A Home Business = Freedom?
January 4, 2013 5 Comments
For many, the idea of owning a business is synonymous with freedom, flexibility, and riches. In another post, I’ll explore this notion, as I can argue both sides of that statement: I’ve seen many business owners become consumed by their business, to the point where the business owns them. They’re miserable.
But that’s for another day.
Today, the question is whether it is possible to have a small at-home business that provides a meaningful level of financial and personal freedom. By meaningful, I mean something that generates the equivalent of a full-time income, with the possibility of scaling beyond that should there be a desire.
Home business = freedom to do more stuff like this?
My wife and I have been discussing this question for months, as we wonder what benefit it would be to our children should she stay home with them, and nurture a home business. (Nothing better than seeing a great mom loving her children and kicking booty.)
Is it truly possible to start, run, and cultivate a home business that provides family freedom?
I believe the answer is a resounding HECK YES. I know people who have done it.
You may be wondering: if that’s true, why isn’t it more common? I believe there are many reasons, but one is that the majority of people are not willing to put in the time and effort to build the foundation required for success. That’s good news for anyone thinking of starting something — less competition!
(By the way, it took us years to build MindFire, our team, and our know-how in order to become what we are today [and we still have a long ways to go]. There are few true overnight successes.)
As we’re thinking through home business possibilities, the following are considerations we have in mind:
- Little to no overhead: the lower your overhead, the lower your risk, and the fatter your margins
- Few to no employees: managing and leading people is a wonderful experience, but can be difficult and time-consuming. No employees means greater freedom (but can also mean more work)
- Little to no customer service: dealing with customer issues is sometimes draining; outsourcing customer service is possible, but can lead to a decline in satisfaction. There are other ways to provide value without having to do customer service
- Generates passive income: making money while you sleep is fantastic, which requires that you find a way to decouple you and your time from the thing(s) that generate(s) income
- Provides a learning opportunity for the whole family: we’re considering homeschooling our children. Imagine the possibilities of engaging them in a small business to learn to read, write, and do math?
- Leverage passions: there’s nothing worse than having to do something you dislike. But what if your home business is inline with your passions? Each day becomes a glorious opportunity to learn something new.
These are just a few of the things we’re considering.
What do you think? Is it possible to have an at-home business that brings freedom to spend more time with your children and family?
If you’ve taken the leap and started a home-based business, we’d love to hear your feedback and insight. Leave us a comment!
About David Rosendahl
Akathisia: Life In Motion -- David Rosendahl 
I’ve been self employed for 7 years and can attest that it is possible. It’s certainly not an easy task, nor is it necessarily a lifestyle you can really choose to live. It’s really a mercy that I’ve had the opportunity to live this life. It’s allowed me to grow in many meaningful ways. When I started many years ago I was full of ambition and wanted to be a self made millionaire, but through the ups and downs I’ve become much more humble. I’ve lost the desire for fancy cars and a nice house. I’ve seen that ambition ruin so many people during my course.
I’ve realized that the money I earn is not by my own skill or effort, but by God’s mercy. With a job it’s much harder to realize this because the income is consistent. But when you’re really in need and a new client falls on your lap at the right moment you realize there’s much more going on behind the scenes.
We’ve certainly taken advantage of the freedom self employment offers. We lived in Taiwan for a year, traveled Asia, and have been overseas for months at a time on several occasions. We spent 5 weeks driving across America and back. We regularly go on 1-2 week road trips and visit parks and attractions during the week when nobody’s around. I’ve learned not to live for money, but to live for life.
Scott, what an amazing story!
I’m curious — what is/are the business(es) you’ve started? Would love to hear a little about your story since we last connected.
Also, on the point about being self-employed and not having a consistent income: I hear you. There were many times in MindFire’s life that it was very (very!) difficult, and it would have been easy to give up. We’re blessed to have the business we do, and I’m very grateful for it.
Thanks for the comment and I look forward to hearing about your business.
-dr-
I wrote a product price comparison engine which has been the foundation of my income. I also wrote a handful of affiliate sites over the years with varying success. On top of that I do some client work building sites for other self employed individuals and medium sized businesses.
That’s great Scott, thanks for sharing. What’s the URL to your price comparison engine? Would love to check it out. Thanks for stopping by and let’s keep in touch!
I wrote a product price comparison engine which has been the foundation of my income. I also wrote a handful of affiliate sites over the years with varying success. On top of that I do some client work building sites for other self employed individuals and medium sized businesses.