Joys and perils of commuting to the kitchen
Many businesses are of necessity started up in the home often on the dining-room table. For some, it also represents an opportunity to achieve a better fit with family life But working from home is not for everyone.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of self-employed people working from home has been steady at just over 12 per cent of the total self-employed workforce for the past five years. This does not surprise Liz Tucker, a health and wellbeing consultant specialising in small businesses. “For every new home worker, there will be one moving on,” she says. “Some people start in the front room and then expand out of the home, or the business fails and they return to conventional work. In other cases the stress of home working can contribute to marriage breakdown.”
But some entrepreneurs run expanding businesses alongside happy families. According to Mrs Tucker, being well organised, setting clear hours of work and having a discrete workspace are the keys to success.
Matthew Crane took voluntary redundancy a year ago and began working on four new enterprises from a study at the top of the house. “We have two boisterous young boys, so it was important to have a separate office and phone line from day one,” says his wife, Dawn. “Even then, school holidays were difficult, until a friend offered us ad hoc access to his company's office. Matt also joined the Institute of Directors and held meetings there, so he could be out when the children and I were busy at home.”
Mrs Crane says mobile technology, such as a laptop and bluetooth mobile phone, is a sound investment but notes that being able to work anywhere, any time does not mean you should. “There are times when it gets all-consuming, and if it cuts into weekends too often, I protest. A balance is a must.”
A year into their new life and Mr Crane's lead business, Monty's Bakehouse, which supplies premium savouries to fast food, delicatessen and catering outlets, is expanding. Working from home became impractical, so he has moved to an office three miles away. “Towards the end, Matt's home office was like a cluttered cupboard and I spent the whole time taking deliveries,” says Mrs Crane. “The business was getting too intrusive.”
The need to keep work and home life separate is also emphasised by Caroline McMichael, whose husband, Bruce, set up his freelance journalism and editorial business from home in 2003. She says the transition from the traditional working model was challenging, especially at the start, and remembers that the house felt cramped and everyone had to keep quiet. “We only had one car, so it was vital to get our heads together every Sunday night and plan our whereabouts in the coming week.”
Forward planning is a priority for Kim Docherty, who has run her first aid training and health and safety consultancy from home in Truro, Cornwall, since 1996. “One of the first things we did was switch from a wall calendar to a big desk diary which contains all the family's business, social and school activities,” says Mrs Docherty. “It is also important to stay abreast of mundane tasks, because it is very easy to lose track of vital administration like bills when you are busy. So we have tried to make Friday our admin day to ensure we stay on top of it.”
Mrs Docherty's two children sometimes answer business calls. “We have always been very up-front about the fact that the business operates from home,” says Mrs Docherty. “What our clients get is excellent training, and our children have good telephone manners.”
Mr McMichael, by contrast, works from an office in the garden. Once his freelance business was established, the family moved to Shropshire, where they discovered that the council supports barn conversions for residential dwellings on condition that half the property is used for commercial purposes. Last summer the family moved into a converted barn and Mr McMichael started working in an outbuilding.
Mrs McMichael says: “We are gaining the benefits and avoiding many of the downsides of home working. He can pop out for a game of croquet when the children come home from school and check his e-mails in his dressing gown.”
Mrs Tucker says: “At the end of the day, most of us would rather not work, and for some the distractions of home life are just too great. I think you can tell if it's right for you after six months. At that point, look at your family and look at the business, then decide.”
你不一定适合在家工作
许多企业不得不从创业者家里的饭桌起步。对有些人来说，这还意味着一个更好地与家庭生活协调一致的机会。但在家里工作并不适合每一个人。
英国国家统计局（Office for National Statistics）的数据显示，在所有自雇者中，在家工作的略多于12％，这一数字5年来一直保持稳定。对此，莉斯?塔科(Liz Tucker)并不吃惊。塔科女士是一位精通小企业健康福利问题的顾问。“每增加一位在家工作的人，就会有另一位在家工作的人决定放弃，”她说，“有些人从客厅起家，而后发家壮大、搬出住所，或者生意失败，又回去做传统的工作。在另一些情况下，在家工作的压力成为婚姻破裂的因素之一。”
但一些创业者在扩大企业的同时，也过着幸福的家庭生活。塔科女士认为，良好的管理、明确的工作时间和不受干扰的工作空间是成功的关键。
一年前，马修?克雷恩(Matthew Crane)接受自愿离职，并在自家楼房顶层的书房创办了4家企业。“我们有两个淘气的小男孩，因此，有一个独立的办公室和独立的电话线从第一天开始就成为很重要的一点，”他的妻子道恩(Dawn)说道，“但即使如此，学校放假的时候还是有问题，直到有一天，一位朋友让我们不定期地借用他的公司办公室。马修还加入了董事学会(Institute of Directors)，并在那里举行会议，这使他得以在我和孩子们在家忙的时候搬到外面工作。”
克雷恩太太认为，诸如手提电脑和蓝牙手机等技术是很不错的投资，但她同时指出，可以在任何地方工作并不意味着你就应该那么做。“当碰到工作侵蚀一切，或是经常挤掉我的周末时，我就不干了。平衡是必须的。”
开始新生活一年后，克雷恩先生的主要业务，即面向快餐店、熟食店和餐饮网点供应高级点心的蒙蒂面包店(Monty’s Bakehouse)在不断扩张。继续在家里办公已经不现实了，因此他搬到了一个3英里之外的办公室。“到最后，马修的居家办公室就像一个乱七八糟的橱柜，而我把时间都用在了接收送来的东西上，”克雷恩太太说，“那时，生意过分侵入了生活。”
卡罗琳?麦卡迈克(Caroline McMichael)也强调了保持工作和家庭生活分离的必要性。她的丈夫布鲁斯(Bruce)于2003年在家里开始自由撰稿和编辑业务。她认为，从传统的工作模式转型具有很大的挑战性，特别是在刚开始那会儿，她记得，那时家里变得狭促难耐，每个人都不得不保持安静。“我们那时只有一辆车，因此，每周日晚上碰头商量好下一周去哪儿，就成了一件至关重要的事。”
对金?多希蒂(Kim Docherty)来说，预先计划是一个重点。从1996年起，她就在英国康沃尔地区特鲁罗(Truro)的家里开办急救培训和健康安全咨询所。“我们最先做的事情之一，就是不再用墙上的挂历，而改用一本很大的台历，上面含有一切家庭事务、社会和学校活动，”多希蒂太太说，“还有很重要的一点是，要抓紧处理日常事务，因为当你忙的时候，很容易会忘掉像帐单这样重要的管理事务。因此，我们尽量使星期五成为我们的事务处理日，确保我们及时处理所有事务。”
有时候，多希蒂太太的两个孩子会接听公司电话。“我们业务是在家里运行的，对此我们一直非常坦白，” 多希蒂太太说，“我们的客户得到的是优秀的培训，而我们的孩子在接听电话上很有礼貌。”
与之相反，麦卡迈克先生是从花园里的办公室起步的。一旦他的自由职业得以建立，他们全家就搬到了Shropshire。他们在那儿发现，当地政府支持人们将谷仓改造成住宅，但房产的一半需被用于商业目的。今年夏天，他们全家搬进了一座经过改造的谷仓，而麦卡迈克先生开始在外面的一间屋子办公。
麦卡迈克太太说：“这带来不少好处，并且避免了在家办公的许多不利因素。他可以在孩子们放学回家时出去打一场槌球，并且穿着睡袍查收电子邮件。”
塔科太太则表示：“归根结底，我们中大多数人都情愿不工作，对有些人来说，家庭生活实在太令人分心。我觉得，过了6个月你就看得出来，这种方式是否适合你。到那时，你再看看你的家庭和事业，然后决定。”
