You’ve finally had enough of the daily grind. You’d love not having to hold down a “real” job and you’re envious of those who earn their living working from home. You may have found yourself dreaming more and more about giving up regular employment.

I hate to burst your bubble, but unless you’re one of those people actually making your living working from home, you probably aren’t aware of the many challenges involved. I’m not working at home full time yet, but I have already figured out the bitter truth: it ain’t all watching soap operas scarfing down bon bons! I still have to work hard for the money I make.

So is working from your home really for you?

First of all, you have to decide what you’re going to do to earn money as a home business owner. You need to think about your interests and talents as well as how much income you need. There are many opportunities for home based businesses and being computer literate opens up even more possibilities, such as owning an online t-shirt shop.

If you’re the type of person who is nervous when you’re in control and waffles in making decisions, working at home may not be for you. With a job, making decisions and scheduling your time is already decided and planned for you. As your own boss however, these responsibilities fall squarely on your shoulders and you need to be comfortable in these areas. The decisions you make directly affect your income.

Working at home successfully also depends upon your time management skills. There will be no time card to punch…. no boss looking over your shoulder and telling you what to do or how much time to spend on a specific task. You are the one in charge and will need to decide how to divide up your working hours so that the majority of your time is spent on completing money earning activities. Keeping your attention focused with the phone ringing or neighbors wanting to chat is one of the most challenging aspects of managing a home business. This task is even more difficult if you have small children at home that you must tend to. It may be an ambitious undertaking, but it is possible with lots of patience and a bit of planning.

Organization goes hand in hand with time management. There are many organizational tasks facing the home business owner… setting up your work space, using a planner to do both long range and daily planning, maintaining a supply of needed materials and having a bookkeeping system in place are just a few. For a work at home parent, you’ll have to be prepared to manage and organize your family as well as your business.

You’ve got to be flexible. Kids get sick… cats puke on the carpet…. gum gets tangled in children’s hair… those are just facts of life and you have to be able to deal with situations as they arise. You may wind up canceling a night out with the girls in order to meet that deadline you’re behind on because your daughter sprained her ankle while turning cartwheels. On the flip side of the coin, if the sun is shining and your fishing pole is calling your name, you have the ability to shuffle your schedule and spend some leisure time away from work.

The nice part about setting up a home business is that it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing situation. I started designing t-shirts 2 years ago, but I still hold my teaching job. Why not follow my example and try setting aside a few hours here and there to see if working at home is really for you? Doing this will allow you to try your hand at business ownership before making the major commitment of quitting your current job. Who knows? You may wonder why you didn’t start a long time ago.