The unemployment rates in Western countries are going through the roof with companies laying off staff as they struggle to cope with the current financial turmoil. Losing your job or being made redundant is rarely a happy event however when it becomes a reality there is only one way that we should be thinking; in a positive manner. I know that this is easier said than done however feeling sorry for ourselves will not help the situation.

I was made redundant from a financial services corporation when I was aged twenty-two. Due to my age I was not in reality too bothered about the whole situation. I have to admit that I was not particularly enjoying the role that I was in. I had always wanted to be my own boss and this would be the perfect time to turn my dream into a reality. Being made redundant turned out to be a blessing in disguise; I would probably have left the company within a few months in any case but this way they were actually paying me a redundancy package to leave!

I used this money to set up my own small business. I was going to run one-to-one stuttering therapy courses to help people to achieve fluency. I am a person who has managed to successfully overcome a stutter and I therefore felt that I had something to offer.

Working from home has many benefits as I have found to my own benefit. These include being your own boss and therefore not having to answer to other people. Choosing your own hours, choosing the amount of hours you work and the amount of holidays that you have. The rigid structure of set hours or working shifts no longer have to be an issue. The time spent travelling to work, normally in a rush hour period, is basically time that could be better spent. I am a person who prefers to work late at night and at times early in the morning when the world is seemingly at its quitest.

Working from home now allows me to go to all of the important events in my children’s lives. For example attending their school sports days, the christmas play, parents evenings, the visits to the dentists. People who are “employed” have to miss a number of these events due to a lack of holiday time or a lack of flexibility at their work.

I now have partnerships in other business ventures including one offering affordable external doors and one offering DVD authoring.

Setting up my own home based business has been the best thing that I have ever done and I would recommend other people to do the same.

Technorati Tags: home based business, redundancy package, rush hour traffic, small business, work from home, working from home

Tags: home based business, redundancy package, rush hour traffic, small business, work from home, working from home

This entry was posted on Friday, December 25th, 2009 at 6:15 am and is filed under Small Business Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.