No doubt that one of the most beneficial advantages in managing my business was found through hiring a home based employee. Without question, one of the most things money is spent on for any thriving business is employee labor! As of this writing, it is still on of the largest on going expense we incur. However, over the last several years I've been able to diminish the need for "in house" helpers and have downsized our immediate office staff by utilizing "stay at home moms"! Utilizing a home based employee that handles a large amount of computer needs has been a huge asset to my company.

I must say we've had our challenges and our portion of "tough times"! There have been several in home operators that didn't get the job done. Either by not performing at all or doing things incorrectly and making a mess of things that became challenging to fix. As a company we learned rather quickly that you can never "assume" one is working, when away from the office. Installing check points and having quotas (goals), is an important part of having a successful home based employee.

What has worked best for my company is to assign a project to a home based employee. Given a definite end point for the job to be finished along with an incentive to finish early, has been a key implementation to keeping on target and has helped tremendously with our production. Hiring outside help through a home based individual allows us to get the work done, while spending less money to do it.

One of the biggest challenges is finding competent help! This article can save you a great deal of headache, should you choose to hire a home based worker. One specific piece of advice comes by informing you of what NOT to do, when looking to hire someone. Simply put, I don't advice running a classified ad for this type of position. It may be contrary to what you've read or heard from others but my EXPERIENCE has been quite negative when going to the general public. Now I'm sure there are some exceptions, depending upon what type of work you are performing. However, I've had a much more pleasant outcome when dealing with individuals recommended by friends and family.

Now I want to be clear, I'm NOT suggesting you have an employee that is a friend or family member! This too can turn out to be a very challenged situation and should be carefully thought out BEFORE getting into a working relationship with closely related individuals. I obtained better results by working with individuals whom I "knew" through other closely related people. That's not to say family and friends wouldn't work well but rather to SUGGEST, it's best to avoid the "working relationship" with close friends when possible.

Additionally, a home based employee can usually be paid as a contract labor type person. Since they are not reporting for work to the company's office and are not governed by an office set of "rules", we receive an invoice from the individual for work performed and pay by their paperwork. (Much like having someone mow your yard). You will need to verify your employee has proper credentials to work and have proper paper work in order for tax purposes. Not doing so may create another type of headache that turns worse. Overall, our experience has been a pleasant and profitable one by hiring a home based employee.