The Growing Trend of Working at Home and Side Gig Empires
During 2020, many of us made the shift to working from home as we all transitioned into living as indoor cats for a while. However, working from home is not necessarily a new trend. According to a Forbes article from 2018, home-based businesses were already on the rise. According to the article, “data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the number of UK workers who have moved into remote-working has increased by nearly a quarter of a million over the past decade, and this number is expected to continue its upward spiral, with half the UK workforce expected to be working remotely by 2020. In the US, according to the US Census 2017, 5.2% of workers in the US worked at home in 2017—or 8 million people. That share is up from 5% in 2016, and 3.3% in 2000. Lower in percentage terms than in the UK, but still an increasing trend.”[1] As many of us learned in 2020, there are a lot of perks to working from home, including a lack of a commute, more flexible hours, and the option to work in pajamas if you so choose. Plus, with the necessity of working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, creative solutions combined with the internet have allowed for many work functions to be done remotely (such as how we all became intimately acquainted with Zoom meetings).
Another advantage of working from home is when you are able to set your own schedule, you have more of a time allowance to help diversify your income by adding a side gig to your repertoire. According to another article from Forbes, this one from 2021, “Recent economic events have shown us how important it is to diversify revenue and not be dependent on just one source of income. The benefit of having more than one income stream is when one income stream is threatened, such as live events or speaking engagements, you have other revenue lines you can fall back on. In business, depending on one source of revenue is a risky move. If that source of income dries up, you are left scrambling to build a new one during already adverse times instead of having it there to rely on, better yet, ready to amplify.”[2]
Only you know what is the right move for you when it comes to your time and financial goals—it is not worth adding yet another responsibility to your plate if you are already burning the candle at both ends. However, if you are someone who is highly organized with the ability to create space in your schedule to accommodate working from home and a possible side gig, this could be an avenue worth exploring as you work towards your personal goals to create the life you want.
[1] Simpson, Fiona. “Home Is Where The Work Is: The Rise Of Home-Based Franchises.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 10 Dec. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/fionasimpson1/2018/11/26/home-is-where-the-work-is-the-rise-of-home-based-franchises/?sh=a5284ab4196f.
[2] Houston, Melissa. “The Importance Of Revenue Diversification In Business.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Mar. 2021, www.forbes.com/sites/melissahouston/2021/03/04/the-importance-of-revenue-diversification-in-business/?sh=546ed1e92b4e.