Starting My Own Home Business When I pictured myself as a working adult when I was little, I always imagined me having some glamorous nine to five job, complete with commute and lunch breaks. Ironically enough, I’ve only had two jobs like that so far in my adult life…and both were part time. Because of the tanking economy, I’ve had to start a multitude of home businesses to keep myself afloat. Right now my main businesses are self-publishing, freelance editing, and writing web content.
Self-publishing is my true passion out of the three. I spend about a full nine hours of my day on it. It’s very rewarding, and my dream has always been to be an author. Well, now I am. I do everything myself, aside from having an editor I outsource that to. Otherwise, I do all my own writing, a lot of my own editing, my own cover designing, my own ebook formatting, and my own marketing. It’s hard work but I love it. There’s nothing better than having readers contacting you and telling you how much they love your work.
The editing is something I do because it pays well and I’m good at it. However, it’s hard to get your name out there and convince people to hire you. Getting clients is half the battle. But once you have a few dedicated clients, you can sometimes charge up to $100 to proof a short story. The only other thing is that it can be really mentally draining, and if you’re like me and bid yourself as someone with a high turn around, everything has to stop cold for you to work nonstop on a story that you might not even like. That’s part of the business, though.
The content writing is what makes me the most writing, however. I do it between editing projects and when I’m taking breaks from writing and marketing. What I like about content writing is that it pays quickly and you get to write about a variety of topics. It varies between being about things you know a lot about and things you know nothing about and have to research. I like both equally. Things I know about get knocked out quickly while I get to learn interesting and new things through research.
I’ve been doing these things for over a year now, and I can’t imagine life any other way. When I remember that as a kid I wanted to work for someone else, I laugh. Working at home lets me set my own hours, my own breaks, and be as comfortable as I want. I am responsible for myself, and that’s how I like my life. Taxes are a pain to sort out, and sometimes you’re not sure if you’re going to pay the bills, but it’s all worth it in the end.
For anyone looking to start their own home business, all I can advise is that you do what you love and are good at. The money and experience will gradually come.
