PrintEmail

How idyllic to work where your longest commute is from the dining room to the spare bedroom - and there's real coffee on tap all day, the winter sun pours through the window into your office, you can work in your casual wear and call all the shots.  No wonder more and more people are taking advantage of the huge advances in technology and the new focus on family commitment and lifestyle creation to jump the corporate ship and work from home.

But the undoubted benefits of having a home business go hand-in-hand with a variety of unique challenges.  While working solo is very productive if you are disciplined enough about your work habits, it can be a serious drawback both socially and professionally.  Successful home businesses recognise the problem - and take positive steps to maximise the advantages and overcome the challenges it poses.

Social isolation

While in the early stages of working from home it can be difficult to turn away friends who come visiting, a home business can be a lonely enterprise.  Without the daily exchanges taken for granted in a workplace, from puerile water cooler gossip to management meetings, it is easy to lose touch with what is going on in the world, with trends and techniques, and with other people's opinions.  There is also no longer a social group of workmates to which you automatically belong, and it can be hard to meet new people.

Professional isolation

Professionally, too, many home businesses are isolated.  Without regular exposure to fresh ideas, current trends and formal training, it is easy soon to fall behind in your area of professional expertise.  One of the reasons for this is that it costs relatively more for an individual to subscribe to all the recognised publications, to attend relevant events or invest in individual training.  There is no-one who offers a second opinion, no chance to learn from a colleague by osmosis, no legal, marketing or other department to come up with ideas or provide feedback.  Home businesses can die from professional isolation!

Invisibility

Another aspect of this isolation is the "invisibility" of many home businesses.  Unlike a business with even small premises, home businesses often have no overt presence.  Though some announce themselves with a sign outside their home or a pavement sandwich board, council regulations can curb or prohibit these forms of advertising and neighbours often object.  Many operators prefer to safeguard their privacy or may not welcome unexpected visits even by prospective customers. 

Overcoming isolation

So do home business operators sit engrossed in their work, lost and lonely, holed up in their homes, battling to draw customers or make friends?  Not a bar of it!  But the way they go about overcoming the challenge of isolation is different to the way their corporate counterparts or small business brothers and sisters do.

As with any challenge, recognising the problem is already half the battle won.  It's important not only to recognise if and how you are becoming isolated, but to define what you want to achieve.  Depending on your own personality, life situation, significant others (including life or business partners), the nature of your business and your long-term goals, solutions could include steps such as: