Certainly, many families, both in the United States and around the world, have to depend on two incomes to make ends meet every month. With the economy the way it is today, this trend is only going to become more prevalent in the future. That's why many families today are considering work from home businesses as a viable option.
One of the major things to explore if you're trying to decide between finding an additional job outside the home versus looking at working from home are the actual expenses involved on either side of the equation.
For those individuals considering a second job outside the home, many do not consider the many expenses involved - things like clothing, dry cleaning, gas and child care. The bottom line is the bottom line in every business, regardless of the source of your income, whether that is from a corporate type job or whether you're looking at working from home.
Certainly, there are expenses involved in all work from home businesses as well. Do your homework. As you're doing your research on home-based businesses, try to ascertain what expenses might be involved, both in the short term as well as the long term. Some work from home business opportunities require an initial membership fee, others require an ongoing and recurring fee, while still others require no fee whatsoever.
One of the biggest differences, however, is that home-based businesses allows you to deduct many of the expenses you will incur. In fact, the IRS looks very favorably at work from home businesses. Why? Two reasons:
1. The more money you save with legitimate tax deductions, the more money you will have to invest in and expand your business.
2. When your business expands, the more revenue this generates for the IRS.
This turns out to be a win-win situation for both you and the government.
Working from home can also offer flexibility that a second job outside the home cannot. You can work from the comfort of your home - even in your pajamas if that's what you choose. Additionally, you can work the days you want and the hours you want. How and when you work is totally up to you.
Therefore, when you evaluate work from home businesses versus working outside the home, two of most important things for you to consider is 1) the actual "true" bottom line involved in either option and 2) the flexibility of one over the other.