Working for Yourself Online Has Both Pros and Cons

Working for yourself online isn’t all one big plus, although it’s often made out to be that way…usually by people that are only motivated on selling you on how great it is.

There are pros to having an online business and working for yourself.

But, there are also cons to it as well.

Working for yourself on an online business comes with huge minuses.

Like anything in life, it’s up to you to determine whether the pros outweigh the cons.

But, it’s good for you to know in advance what the pros and cons of working for yourself online are so that you can be realistic about what you’re getting yourself into.

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Manage Your Expectations

This is important because if you don’t have the full scope and are only focusing on what you think it will be like…you will find yourself overwhelmed and disappointed.

If you want an online business to flourish, then understanding how day to day life as an online entrepreneur is going to be will at least help you manage your expectations.

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The Cons of Working for Yourself Online

❌ Work and Home Life Often Collide

This is a BIG one.

Due to the lack of structure and no clear line of work versus time off, you’ll find yourself working odd hours to accommodate the needs of your family and online business.

This will cause you to feel as if you are always grinding and that you never have a day off.

It’s great to be able to create and control your own schedule when you work for yourself.

But, unfortunately most people wing it and never really allocate specific time blocks to take care of business and personal needs.

This will cause you to spin your wheels and not accomplish much with either.

And what happens is you will ultimately give up on your online business, thinking it won’t work, simply because you cannot manage your time.

It takes discipline to work from home because the distractions are endless.

❌ You Will Do a Lot of Work for Free

Working for yourself on an online business will require a lot of upfront work before you start seeing results for your efforts.

None of the work you do for your online business is billable, therefore you are working for free until you start making a profit.

It can be hard to push yourself to do things that aren’t producing income right now, but you must push through so that you can keep your online business running smoothly.

It will pay off in the end and actually will pay you for years to come, especially with affiliate marketing.

Do the work now and if you are earning monthly recurring commissions…you will keep earning on the work you did a long time ago over and over again.

The reality is that it will take a while before you get to that point.

This is the long game and nothing happens quickly or overnight with online business.

The “overnight success” stories you see online often took months or years to actually happen.

❌ Family Will Ask You to Do Stuff (since you’re not doing anything)

This goes back to the first point of the colliding of work and personal life.

It can be difficult to set boundaries with your family and convince them that you need to work.

And not just family, but sometimes friends will start to depend on you being there for them for everything.

They may ask you to do things like watch their sick kid so they can go to work.

Or keeping an eye out for a package. Or any number of things.

Your spouse and children may stop helping out around the house as much, since you’re there anyway.

It never ends.

My dad went through this.

He worked for himself, not online, but as an independent salesman working from home.

Both friends and family just assumed that he was always available for this or that and did not respect that he spent much of his day working, like they did at their jobs.

He would be interrupted with phone calls and requests.

Every “emergency” became his problem.

Then he was expected to have the house kept clean and dinner made…because he was home all day.

He even got stuck babysitting small children for extended family because they had to work and couldn’t afford daycare.

He could barely concentrate on actually working, which really cut into his earnings because he worked on commissions only.

It was extremely unfair.

If he had worked at an office, no one would have dreamed of interrupting him or expecting things from him during the day.

So, this is definitely something that you need to anticipate and hopefully nip in the bud before things get out of hand.

❌ You’ll Crave Being out of the House

Working from home for yourself starts out pretty freeing and fun.

No more cubicle hell and no more office politics and annoying co-workers.

No more boss to annoy you and maybe even mistreat you.

You can come and go as you please. Work in your pajamas. Take coffee breaks whenever you darn well feel like it.

You can eat at your desk. Basically, you can make your own rules.

BUT…

After a while, working for yourself online from home will start to feel isolating, monotonous, boring and after a while…you may start to wish for a little office drama to make the day more interesting.

Sometimes, when you go out, as you’re on your way back home…you’ll get the distinct feeling you’re going to jail.

You will want to do anything but go home, even grocery shopping or running errands. Being home all the time can be great, but there will be days that you feel stuck and like you’re in prison.

This is why it’s important to manage your time and balance both work and your personal life. Don’t neglect either one though…

Instead find a way to break up your day, so that you don’t feel stifled by being at home.

❌ Stuff Will Distract You

Without supervision of a boss (let’s be honest)…even the most studious and organized individual can go off the rails due to the internet, phone, television and other stuff that is around to distract you from working.

This is a little different than when other people distract you, like discussed above.

This is you getting distracted all on your own by the endless rabbit hole of the digital world.

Set specific times to surf the internet, read the news, check your texts, emails, watch television or movies.

It’s up to you and only you to set up a good working schedule to help you avoid this.

You are the boss now and you have to act like it.

Would you fire yourself?

Not likely, but if you were working for a boss, you would probably lose your job if you let these things keep you from getting your work done.

So, be more disciplined.

I know it’s a struggle, believe me, but if you really want your online business to succeed, then you have to figure out a way to block out self-induced distractions and focus.

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The Pros of Working for Yourself Online

✅ No More Living by the Clock

If you arrange your online business schedule right, you can wake up naturally without an alarm clock forcing you to get up when your body isn’t ready.

You can also go to bed when you want to as well.

So, whether you are an early bird or a night owl…you can work when it feels best for you.

It’s true freedom not to always live by the clock and by a schedule that a boss makes for you.

✅ No More Traffic Jams, Save on Gas/Wear and Tear

One of the best perks is not having to be caught in a traffic jam during rush hour when you have to be at work at a certain time.

So, you’re basically already stressed by the time you get to work and before the real stress at work even starts.

You won’t have to do that anymore and it will be a relief, most especially on bad weather days when everyone else has to trudge through the snow or the heat wave.

Also, you will save on gas from commuting back and forth.

You can also take into account how much wear and tear that you are saving on your vehicle.

✅ Fewer Work-Related Interruptions

Office chatter can get overwhelming at times and it can be difficult to get work done due to it.

It seems like chatting “at the water cooler” lasts all day sometimes.

I worked next to someone who was in the cubicle right across from me and no matter what time of day it was…they would just talk and talk.

About anything and everything.

We didn’t work the phones, which would have at least prevented that from happening.

Instead, we were copyrighters and that job took quite a bit of concentration.

The distraction became too much on some days.

Another interruption that happens are office meetings.

Some companies are worse than others when it comes to the endless, mostly useless meetings.

Be honest, did you ever really get work done due to a meeting?

During the meeting you’re thinking about how you could be getting work done right now instead of talking about it.

So, now that you work for yourself online…you don’t have to worry about this anymore.

✅ You Really Can Work in Your PJs

Oh yes you can.

You can wear PJs, yoga pants, fuzzy slippers…no one cares.

You can even get inspired right out of the shower and work naked if you want to.

It’s your online business and your house.

Maybe just be sure you are fully clothed if you need to go on a zoom call or live webinar…lol.

✅ A Flexible Schedule

If you have a parent-teacher meeting or a school field trip…you don’t have to ask permission from a boss to go.

If you want to get your hair or nails done, go for it.

If you have a doctors appointment or need massage therapy, you don’t need prior permission to take off from work.

You can eat whenever you want, exercise whenever you want, take a walk, go to the park, play with your pets or kids, etc.

Meet a friend or family member for lunch.

Go for a swim.

Take a nap.

Whatever you want to do during the day or night is up to you as long as you find time to also get your work done so you can get paid.

Your schedule is your own.

✅ You Can Eat Healthier and Save on Lunches

Working outside the home often causes people to eat out for lunch five days a week.

That is not only very expensive, but it can also be very unhealthy.

Now you can prepare healthy lunches for yourself or eat leftovers from dinner the night before.

Save money and save your health.

Plus, you are not restricted to a strict 30 minute or 1 hour lunch break. No more wolfing down your food, as fast as you can, so that you can clock back in on time.

Eat whenever you want and take your time.

So, as you can see…working from home offers many benefits and even a few drawbacks.

It’s up to you to determine if you have the personality, patience and discipline for it.

You will need to rein in family and friends who want to take advantage of you, as well as yourself, to stay on track for creating a healthy, fulfilling and profitable online business.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day 🙂

To Your Success,

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