Working from Home - Is it for you?

Working from home

It’s a Double Edged Blade

by Danielle French South Pond Farms www.southpondfarms.ca

Working from home is something that more and more people are doing. For many of us, it is the perfect solution, not as much driving, being more connected as a parent, quiet, freedom to work without an office structure. Technology has made it possible for certain businesses to work from anywhere and it’s altered what we think of as a workplace.

Photo by zsuzsipalphotography

When I moved to this farm I never thought I would start an event based business, nor did I think my home would have such an impact on my business and the other way around. I didn’t think that I would need a proper space to work.

Things have evolved over the past 12 years from family homestead to thriving home-based event business. In our first season at the farm, the house badly needed improvements; new roof, plumbing and electrical, the rooms hadn’t been painted in decades and the floors needed redoing.

There was a large two car garage attached to the house that had been added much later to the original 1860’s farmhouse. Not needing the garage, we converted it into a family room with windows on three sides facing east, west and south. It is a sunny spot with a perfect view of the barn and the fields. The downside, the room is not well if at all insulated and we froze that first winter until we put in a small propane stove. Nevertheless, with a TV, a table for school projects and comfortable seating, the girls and I lived in that room watching endless reruns of Gilmore Girls, doing homework, playing board games.

The first few years, the family room remained just that. I had a small space off the kitchen with a desk that I used for an office, finishing up my design work in the city, or managing the mailing list and orders for my new food delivery service, Farm Flavours. This small office space wasn’t insulated either, but I had a heater at my feet which made it tolerable in the colder months.

Things began to get busier. Now we were holding weddings at the farm and I needed filing space for correspondence and accounting and then an employee joined us and then more employees.

I took a little corner of the family room over for all of

these goings on. A little corner became a larger corner and then a few years ago, I asked the girls if I might claim the entire space. The girls understood and were supportive, but despite their good humour it was another way that the business infiltrated our family life and over time, losing more and more of our privacy. This is definitely the challenge in having a home-based business.

Having possession of the family room, over the years, I moved the furniture around a dozen times. Moving desks in for more staff, struggling to maintain a comfortable seating area selfishly for me to use with coffee and watch the sun rise while writing or going over emails.

In all honesty, it’s a double-edged blade, I love where I live and I love where I work. For most businesses, privacy loss wouldn’t play a role; for others, it does. It’s certainly something to consider before beginning something.

I grumble about it from time to time and about how many times things get moved around from room to room, but I also wouldn’t trade it in for any other way of life.