Working from home

dame

Hi all,

I'm currently making some changes and am interested in seeing if working from home would be possible. Does anybody here work from home or know anyone who does? How did you get set up? What sort of work is it? Do you earn enough to keep ticking over?

There are some internet sites that claim to offer packages to start you off working from home (such as http://b-secure-4-family.org/ ). Has anyone ever signed up for something like this? Was it all just a gimmick and waste of time and money or did anyone actually set themselves up with enough of an income to live with through using something like this? I have to say I'm very sceptical about sites like that but would love to get opinions from anyone who knows about this type of work and any information on reputable firms I could contact.

Thanks in advance,
dame.

BuffyBot

Pretty much anything advertised like that on the web is a load of tosh.

From my experience people who work from home normally a) have a skill that's particularily well sought after and can be performed remotely, and therefore the company will let them do their work from there or b) an existing employee of the company who is trusted enough to be let work from home.

Mr. Presentable

Set up my own company, work from my back bedroom with three phone lines, a fax, two PCs and a Broadband connection. It can get a bit hectic!

The hardest part, for me anyway, was the discipline to get out of bed and to work for 9:00.

Oh, I'm in IT.

kittex

I used to be a journalist, so worked from home alot. I have friends who are graphic designers and web designers who work from home. As BuffyBot says, you need a skill you can sell. Many consultancies start from home working.

If you want to do your current job from home, then obviously speak to your employer about sorting it if possible.
Those websites, you'll find are scams, encouraging you to buy something like cleaning products and then saying you can make your money selling them to businesses or people locally.
There are some legitimate research roles that you can do from home, but they are thin on the ground and more word of mouth. Depends on your skills, qualifications etc.

Edit:

nipplenuts wrote:

The hardest part, for me anyway, was the discipline to get out of bed and to work for 9:00.

For me it wasn't getting out of bed, but out of my pyjamas. I'd be in them for 2 days sometimes. Gross.

professore

nipplenuts wrote:

Set up my own company, work from my back bedroom with three phone lines, a fax, two PCs and a Broadband connection. It can get a bit hectic!

The hardest part, for me anyway, was the discipline to get out of bed and to work for 9:00.

Oh, I'm in IT.

I find there's nothing like a few annoying customers with threats of legal action to motivate you !!!

galah

used to work from home as a freelance translator. Discipline is a killer, and so are "desperate" people with children, who decide they can dump their kids or pets on you, since "you're at home anyway". Not great.

Apart from that, it's obviously nice to be your own boss, but I do like the security of working for a company - at least you'll get your pay at the end of the month...

dame

Yes, I thought they looked like scams alright.

I'm an engineer and have never seen anyone do that from home so far (unless they have years of experience, contacts, chartered status etc and set up a consultancy.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind doing something completely different though.

brightkane

Dame had you any luck?

I am looking to do something parttime from home if possible

brightkane

Dame had you any luck?

I am looking to do something parttime from home if possible