Sometimes in the course of our daily lives, we witness events that cause us to pause for a moment and reflect upon our circumstances. People that are considering transitioning to working at home and people who have made the transition to home-based work may have this type of experience upon learning that a friend or family member has lost a job. They may also have this type of experience upon learning that a local business is closing its doors.
This week I have witnessed some very sad events, as a local business in the town where I live has drastically reduced the scope of its operations along with its work force. One day it was an inn and restaurant, complete with banquet facilities. The next day, it was a bed and breakfast with no banquet services or fine dining. Many staff were let go, including some that had been there quite a while. It all happened quite suddenly, although the circumstances that led up to the drastic changes had been building for quite some time.
The people that own the business are a wonderful family, and they have poured their hearts and souls into running it for approximately forty years. Unfortunately, because of a weak economy and rising costs of just about everything that they need to keep the business running, they also had to pour a great deal of money into the business to keep it going. There came a point where they could not continue to go on doing as they had been, and they had to make some drastic changes in the scope of the operations of the business.
These events have been sad for me to witness, as I have been a part of that business off and on for over five years now and have come to know the family that owns it. All of the things that I have seen happen as a result of the changes that were made make me appreciate my position as a home-based professional. While I am always aware that I am lucky to be a home-based professional, things like this remind me of the specific reasons that I am so fortunate.
Home-based professionals that own their own businesses can usually stay in business as long as they want to if they go about it the right way. While it is not easy to take on the responsibility for securing work for myself and making sure that it gets done, I know that I can count on myself to do those things. I will not walk into work one day and discover that I am out of a job because my work consists of multiple activities and projects that I seek out and secure for myself. If I run out of work, I just have to apply effort to acquire more. By becoming a home-based professional, I regained control over my circumstances. I work when I want, for whom I want, as much as I want, and for the price that I want to charge. It is not always easy, and there are always challenges along the way. At the end of the day, though, those of us that work from home have it pretty good no matter what kind of day we have just had.