| It was generally accepted that one had to be in | | | | trucks,lorries,transport costs, health and safety |
| an office to work efficiently, probably until the late | | | | inspections, fire certificates, tax and national |
| 1960s-early 1970s when people began to question | | | | insurance for all employees, requiring additional |
| the old methods and new trends began. | | | | administration staff, and many other cost-centres |
| Why was this? In my opinion, it was a general | | | | involved in any business of that magnitude. |
| level of questioning things throughout society, not | | | | Compare this with a small outfit working from |
| just the workplace but the establishment across | | | | home that carries none of the above in terms of |
| the board, eg. fashion,music,films,etc all questioned | | | | space and staff, with no stock on the balance |
| the old practises and looked for a way to change | | | | sheet needing to be shifted and immediately you |
| them to their advantage this brought good points | | | | see an advantage. |
| and bad, indeed some believe it contributed to a | | | | But what are the other advantages? |
| lowering ofstandards,whilst others felt it brought | | | | Initially, one does not have to be at the office at |
| liberation. It was into this climate that the | | | | any certain time, to lock up or open up and this |
| punk-rock movement was born, for example. | | | | leads to a flexibility of lifestyle, which has been |
| However, no matter what one feels philosophically | | | | shown to be one the greatest motivating factors |
| about trends or changes the hard fact of the | | | | in any chosen career; this has to be tempered |
| matter is that the business practice has to be | | | | with careful discipline, as the working environment |
| effective irrespective of whether or not it is from | | | | may be tempting to stray from the workstation. |
| an office or from home, or the trend would have | | | | Also, should one choose the right path or industry, |
| a very short shelf-life. | | | | be it as a consultant or otherwise then it is |
| This being the case, it is important to examine | | | | possible to make greater income as there are no |
| the advantages/disadvantages of working from | | | | huge expenses to bear; of course if it is |
| home. | | | | compared to a working to an office environment, |
| Looking at the traditional model, in, say, a factory, | | | | then the advantages may be construed as |
| as I have experience of being a part-owner of, | | | | non-necessity of turning up at a certain time, |
| hence can glean personal experience from | | | | leading again to flexibility, not having to put up |
| compared to working from home, I will outline | | | | with annoying workmates or office politics and |
| both examples and then explore the advantages | | | | normally putting ones own efforts to ones own |
| and disadvantages. | | | | benefits rather than being part of a team and |
| Running the factory for almost a decade as we | | | | carrying lazy people. |
| did, we experienced the growth from 3 | | | | Summarising; in general, working from home suits |
| people(ourselves),to almost 50 people by the time | | | | some characters but not others but the main |
| we sold it. | | | | advantages are avoidance of costs, flexibility, and |
| Additionally, the space needed increased from one | | | | if chosen properly, a chance to maximise potential |
| room to 45000 sq.ft., encompassing | | | | and thus earning power. |
| manufacturing space, warehousing facility, forklift | | | | |