The opportunity to work from home: One of the greatest benefits of working for yourself. Or is it?

If you have the space, setting up as a freelancer or starting a company in your own home can save you a significant amount of money on office space and purchasing additional equipment. You get to work the hours that you want, at a pace that you want.

However, there can also be drawbacks involved and there are a number of things things you should consider first if you are contemplating working from home.

Work-life balance. If you’re just starting out in the world of business then for a while at least that company may become your life, the object of your attentions and what you pour all you efforts into. Nevertheless, at some point you are likely to want you social and personal life back and there is a lot to be said for the separation between the home and work environment. At the very least it can help you keep your sanity and maintain that valuable balance in life.

Isolation vs distractions. Working in a shared office space or office building can have the benefit of providing both company and networking opportunities. Equally, these two things may also prove to be distractions. It’s important to balance the need to have your own private space while also ensuring you don’t hole yourself up and lose touch with the world.

Family life. Many people who choose to work from home do so for family or childcare reasons, but take care that family life doesn’t take over from work commitments. It can be a good idea to create a space in your home devoted entirely to your business, and remember not everything can be done while holding the baby. In spite of all the benefits of flexible working hours it can be a good idea to set yourself some kind of structure.

If you work from home and you decide to take on employees, even if you’re just hiring an accountant for the day, there may be certain health and safety regulations that you home will have to comply with.

Working from home, like most things in life, has it’s drawbacks as well as benefits. It may be that you need to work from home for financial reasons when you first start out, or maybe you just want to miss that morning rush hour. Whether working from home is right for you will depend entirely on you individual circumstances, and your style of business.

John Hughes writes for Juniper Accountancy. Bristol Accountants offering quality, fast, efficient accountancy and tax services.