You Don’t Have to Be Lucky to Work from Home

Often, when I tell people what I do, one of the most frequent responses is, ‘You are so lucky to work from home’.  While I certainly feel fortunate, luck has very little to do with it.  Thanks to technology, today anyone who wants to work from home can.

I understand where they are coming from. When my children were small, I would have given anything to be able to work from home.  Back then, if a Mom wanted to work from home they sold Tupperware, Mary Kay or even Creative Memories.  And while it certainly was an option, they were multi-level marketing operations that required huge amounts of sales to make any money.  Some people were great at it. I wasn’t.

Times have changed. Technology has made it possible to do what used to be in-office only tasks remotely.  Many employers now start their businesses planning on an entirely remote workforce.  Matt Mullenweg explains in the video below why his company, Automattic has a 100% distributed workforce.

You’re not limited to finding a company that allows employees to work from home either.  When I said luck wasn’t a big part of the equation for me, I meant it. I created my own business, taking my knowledge and skills and crafting them into something new. It offered other businesses the opportunity to take advantage of highly skilled support when they needed it, without employee overhead costs. 

It was a somewhat novel idea in September of 2007 when I launched. Today it’s becoming more and more common. In fact, work from home businesses are becoming as normal as traditional jobs. A 2018 study found 52% of small businesses were home-based and that number is expected to rise steadily. 

Yes, there are risks associated with starting your own business, but these days every job comes with risk.  It’s no longer common for someone to hold one job with the same company until retirement.  The security of employment isn’t so secure anymore.

Is a work from home business or job right for everyone?  Certainly not.  But for those that it does fit, you don’t have to be lucky to work from home. You just need to want it enough to do what it takes to get there.