jemima lumley jewellery

individually designed handcrafted pieces in sterling silver and gold
10 things you should know about running your own business from home

10 things you should know about running your own business from home

When I was working full-time for a company in London, in a proper office with a 45 minute commute at both ends, I dreamed of working from home occasionally. When I worked part-time, partially from home and partially from the office (a 2 hour commute away!) I dreamed of working from home all the time. And now I work for myself, running my own business and working entirely from home… yes, I naturally would love to work part of the time with other people in the real world, where the people I speak to are actually in front of me, not on the radio, or simply imaginary. So be careful of what you long for because working from home (in my case!) means…

  1. You will do all the cooking for the family.
  2. You will do all the shopping for the family.
  3. You will do all the washing for the family.
  4. You will be asked to ‘pop out’ and get things that the family have forgotten to get the day before.
  5. You will be telephoned for a chat, because as you are working from home you, of course, have endless time to chat, as working from home isn’t proper working.
  6. You will take in all the deliveries for the family, and your most of your neighbours.
  7. You will talk to ANYONE who comes to the door. I am on first name terms with the posties, couriers and chuggers.
  8. There is always a distraction if you have to do something tricky (like writing your blog). Displacement activities are endless when you’re at home.
  9. You will often be told how nice it must be to work from home as you must get so much more done without the commuting, meetings, chatting to colleagues etc. See above as to why this is not the case.
  10. You feel guilty if you do not work because you are feeling poorly, have to take a child to their orthodontist/rehearsal/induction day or do anything other than ‘work’ between the hours of 8-4 (in my case) and therefore spend far too much time working in the evening and weekends, unlike when you were working full-time in an office.

Having said all that, I wouldn’t go back to working for a company - I like to think that it’s because I love working for myself so much, but in reality I doubt anyone would have me!

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Comments

  • 05/07/2017
    Claire
    You are so right on all of your points! I might just print it out and hang it in my workspace so I know I am not alone! Great blog! 😉

about the author

After almost 20 years as a designer in children's publishing a short silversmithing course in 2006 prompted a change of direction.

The following year I enrolled on a part-time jewellery course, and found a local studio where I could make and sell my work.

In 2009, together with five other crafts people we found a shop space to rent on our busy local high street, the gloucester road, called Fig. We are open tuesday - saturday, 9.30am - 5pm (except August).

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