Homepreneurs, the Myths and Facts

Check out the great article below, by Amanda Gome!!!

*/Homepreneurs, the myths and facts /*
Thursday, 10 May 2007

By Amanda Gome

When I told people I had left a big corporate to start SmartCompany

I was asked many times whether I would be “working from home”.

The patronising tone was always a shock. For the past 10 ten years

I had been researching and writing about the quiet revolution occurring

in the workplace and had observed highly innovative companies

starting or working from home.

The revolution was kick-started by the growth in the service industry

in the 1980s and gathered pace through the 1990s as big corporates

downsized, forcing people out clutching retrenchment packages. Aided by

technology, they make up many of the 110,000 people who start up

businesses every year.

Yet the home-based business sector of the economy continues to be

misunderstood. People think of home-based business people as cottage

industries or trades people.

Worse, they consider them drop outs, unsuccessful, “mompreneurs” or

women with a hobby earning enough for a trip to Noosa. Sure, some are

home-based business hobbyists. Many of these will never make enough

money to file a tax return.

But many of the almost one million home-based businesses are successful.

By far the most misunderstood group at home are the “homepreneurs”.

Homepreneurs employ at least one other staff member and usually aim to

grow. They also make up a sizeable part of the workforce: of the 1.2

million small businesses, about 30% are homepreneurs.

Homepreneurs fall into two groups. First are the business builders who

are at home as a temporary measure before being forced, by staff

numbers, to move into larger offices.

Business builders can end up running global businesses. RMIT

University’s Kosmas Smyrnios, who researches high-growth companies, says

more than half start from home, usually because of the low cost.

The second group are business lifestylers – and are committed to staying

at home unless forced out. They still work extremely hard, employ staff

and want to be successful but their lifestyle is very important and they

build their business around it.

Yet myths abound about this sector. Here are the top nine facts about

successful homepreneurs.

*1. Most homepreneurs are ambitious males who want to run successful

businesses:*

Many people believe home based businesses are run by women running

cottage industries or e-Bay businesses. But ABS figures show that only

17% of home-based businesses are run predominantly by women. There has

been huge growth in the home-based business operators (57%) aged 30–50,

particularly males. Ross Cameron, who has researched home-based

businesses, says this is the age when men get retrenched and set up a

home business. Many are in classic white-collar areas and include

management consultants, copywriters, finance brokers, lawyers,

accountants, IT nerds and management consultants.

*2. Most homepreneurs work very long hours and run established businesses. *

Many people assume home businesses are hobbies. Some are. But ABS data

shows the majority of people are home work more than a 35-hour week and

one-third employ staff. The majority of home businesses are also more

than five years old. While some – the business builders – move out after

a few years, most do not want to move from the home base.

*3. Homepreneurs are technologically very savvy. *

Many people still carry the picture of the cottage industry or tradesman

working from home. But ABS data shoes us home-based businesses are more

likely to be computerised than non-home-based businesses. In fact, this

is the reason they can operate from home.

*4. Homepreneurs are more likely to be extroverted.*

Doesn’t make sense? Think about it. If you don’t have the skills and

personality to network as a homepreneur, you will fail. Executives in

big corporates who have been put out to pasture for no longer fitting in

with the corporate culture often make lousy homepreneurs because they

take their problems with people in the workplace with them. Homepreneurs

also need to make new contacts.

*5. Homepreneurs are comfortable parting with money.*

Homepreneurs watch every cent; that’s partly why they are home – because

it is cheap. But they must also be comfortable paying for the best

technology and the “appearance” of being successful to overcome the

“home” image. There are also a huge amount of unexpected costs that

arise, which are a surprise to the corporate refugee who has never paid

for a color printing cartridge in his life.

*6. Homepreneurs are chasing opportunities.*

The assumption that people start home-based businesses out of necessity

because they can’t get a job elsewhere is not true of homepreneurs.

People in this group are opportunity entrepreneurs. While they are

seeking greater personal freedom, they also are pursuing an idea and the

chance to make something of their lives, says Jane Shelton, managing

director of policy group Marshall Place associates.

*7. Homepreneurs are an extremely attractive target for marketers and

advertisers.*

Many advertisers ignore the home-based business market because it is so

diverse and difficult to reach. But Shelton’s research into the home

worker (which also includes people working from home that are employed

by large corporations) shows they are a very attractive target. She

estimates there are 2.8 million home workers and 45% belong to a higher

socio-economic segment. They are twice as likely to be managers and

administrators with professional qualifications and six out of 10 are

big spenders, with almost half owning and trading shares. They also seek

a constant supply of information on business opportunities and

investment decisions.

*8. Homepreneurs are big risk takers.*

Home is often seen as a soft option. It is anything but. A whole new set

of challenges present themselves. Homepreneurs must overcome solitude,

develop sales, marketing and networking skills, learn to multiskill and

juggle plus overcome the shock of having to do everything such as buying

the stationery until they hire that first employee.

*9. Homepreneurs dress for success.*

Forget the image of the SOHO office with the business owner in tracky

daks. Homepreneurs are extremely disciplined and become expert at

shutting the front door in well-meaning friends’ faces. They start the

day in cafes with their laptops or newspapers, dressed for work.