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CAROLINE JAMES' MORNING COMMUTE might not be the best part of her day. But it's certainly the shortest.
"My commute is walking down the stairs," said James, who operates Big Mango, a graphic design and multimedia business, from her Novato home. "My friends are green with envy. Some of the people I know have a three-hour commute every day. That's 15 hours a week. That's huge!"
James is one of a growing number of workers in Marin County and elsewhere who decided to leave behind the world of staff meetings, office politics and rush-hour commutes and go into business for herself.
"There is a lot of waste in big corporations," she said. "When I worked there, I would go charging through projects, and I was always told to slow down. One of the benefits of doing this is that you become much more efficient when it's only you."
Working at home means that James never has to ask anyone for permission to care for her children when they're sick, take an extended lunch or go for an early morning bike ride.
But it also means she's responsible for her own health care and retirement costs. Paid vacations don't exist in her world. Neither do conversations with co-workers.
 "I spend a tremendous amount of time alone," James said. "The Novato Chamber of Commerce is my social life."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 4.2 million, or 3.3 percent of the nation's 128.3 million workers work at home, and more than half of its 17 million small businesses are home-based. That number represents a 23 percent increase in the past decade, and may not even come close to the actual number of people working at home, said Gary Marshall, a spokesman for the Small Business Administration.
"It's tough for us to track them, because a lot operate under the radar," Marshall said. "A lot of people who work at home don't see the necessity of registering for a business license or jumping through those kind of hoops. For many people, that's the appeal of having a business at home."
New twist on classic story
Like James, many entrepreneurs make the decision to go into business for themselves after years spent working for other employers.
For others, however, the change of job and lifestyle seems to come by accident.
"It just happened, if that makes any sense," said Jett Crain. "I never intended to have a home-based business."
Crain's career as a business owner began when she was unable to find clothing that fit her pet pug, Yogi. She sewed a coat for him, then followed with what amounted to a small wardrobe, including Hawaiian shirts and a rain coat. Other pug owners who saw the outfits asked where they could buy one.
Today, Crain holds the patent on her "Pug Snuggly" designs. They're sold in specialty clothing stores, a catalog, on the Web and even at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.
In many ways, Crain's is the classic American success story: inventor hatches brilliant idea, markets it successfully, and goes on to reap a fortune - or at least break even. In other ways, however, her story suggests how today's generation of home-based business owners differs from those of the past.
For one thing, today's entrepreneur is more likely to be a mid-career professional like Crain or James, rather than a college-aged Steve Jobs or Bill Gates starting a business in the garage.
"Ten or 15 years ago, the average age for someone starting in the entrepreneurial field was 27. Today, it's the early 40s," said Paul Edwards, who co-authored "Working from Home," "The Best Home Businesses," "Making Money with Your Computer at Home" and a series of other books with his wife, Sarah. The two operate the Web site www.workingfromhome.com.
These days, many young people are too overwhelmed with student loan debts to consider a career path that doesn't include a steady job and benefits, Edwards says.
At the same time, many older workers are discovering that self-employment may be their best shot at job security in the age of globalization.
"A lot of people are retiring early, whether it's by choice or requirement," Edwards said. "Individual jobs are changing because of the globalization of the economy. What they were once able to do for their livelihood, they are no longer able to do."
While traditional jobs often require workers to perform one set of specialized tasks according to a rigid schedule, operating a home-based business may require entrepreneurs to develop abilities they didn't know they had. For some, the experience can be inspiring.
"I had a narrow vision of what I would do," said Terri DeLangis, who operates InSync Entertainment, a disk jockey and karaoke business, from her San Rafael home. "It took a while for me to feel secure and experienced and go on to do other things with the business."
A singer in Reno and Lake Tahoe, DeLangis never expected to become a business owner.
"It kind of fell into my lap," she said. "I didn't make a decision to become a deejay. I was married, and had my first child, and was looking for something to do, when I got a call to host a karaoke contest in Reno. I worked three nights a week, opening for the band, while taking care of a 6-week-old baby."
Eleven years later, DeLangis acts as her own booking agent and manager. She also shares the responsibility for her three children with her husband, who operates his legal practice out of their home.
"Having a limited amount of time to do that makes me so focused," DeLangis said.
DeLangis performs at weddings and corporate parties throughout the Bay Area, getting most of her business through word of mouth. But she's not expecting to expand her business into a corporate empire.
And that's another characteristic of today's home-based business owners. Many are more concerned with quality-of-life issues than they are with building up their businesses.
Home-based businesses earn lower average receipts and net income than those operated in rented space. Only 5 percent of all firms earning $1 million or more are home-based. But their owners work fewer hours per week and days per year - 26 to 35, on average, as opposed to 35 to 43 in traditional jobs - according to the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy.
"I enjoy working for myself," said graphic designer James. "It's more challenging. I get bored easily. Doing different things all of the time keeps life interesting, so to speak. I also like the ability to be flexible with my schedule."
Why Marin?
Access to the Internet and other technologies, together with the desire for a high quality of life, might explain why many Marin residents consider working for themselves. Another factor could be the obstacles faced by traditional business within the county, including traffic gridlock and limited retail space.
"We're a small community," said Joan Palmero, business license administrator for Tiburon. "All we really have is the downtown, a business area near the waterfront and a small office park. That's a small area for commercial endeavors. Home offices are where most people want to be."
Yet the county also poses challenges to would-be business owners.
"In Marin, because of the far commute, the conditions might be better for residents considering the home-based business option," said Robert Eyler, director of the Center for Regional Economic Activity at Sonoma State University. "The challenge would be the cost of housing. It might be difficult to walk out on a job that subsidizes your ability to live in Marin."
The high cost of living in Marin can be a heavy burden for business owners forced to cover their own insurance costs, author Edwards said.
"One out of four (home-based business owners) lack any kind of insurance coverage," he said. "That's a high-risk gamble, especially for older people starting a business. The largest number of people with home-based businesses get insurance through their spouses. That cost is the No. 1 challenge."
However, living and working in Marin also has its advantages.
Karen Noreen sold her home-based business, which created specialty gift baskets for high-end corporate clients, when she moved to San Rafael from Chicago. After a few years of work at a traditional job, Noreen was ready to go back to working for herself.
In Chicago, Noreen had opened her own business after working for several years in sales and marketing for a series of exclusive private clubs. Her experience provided her with a ready-made client list when she decided to open her own business.
"It was really hard moving to a new location," said Noreen, who now operates Basket Wares from her home. "I missed working on my own."
Noreen was able to start again with the assistance of the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, which helped her build a new list of clients.
"I've been active in the chamber, working with a lot of people," Noreen said. "I've been able to find some good customers - that's where I get most of my referrals."
While home-based businesses have always formed a part of local economies - contributing $102 billion in annual national revenue, according to the Small Business Administration - Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Kathy Severson said she's seeing greater participation by entrepreneurs in the business community.
"Many home-based business people are joining the chamber," Severson said. "They're getting more visibility outside the home. It gives them the opportunity to network with other businesses, to acquire more clients and more ways to market their business."
Good workers make good owners
Surprisingly, few home-based business owners say they have difficulty keeping themselves focused at work, or separating their working lives from their homes.
"I've always had a lot of personal discipline and organization, and I enjoy the freedom of it," Noreen said. "I love the flexibility of my schedule. I'm able to do it and stay focused."
That's hardly surprising, says author Edwards.
"The people who make the best employees are often the best at having self-employment discipline," he said.
As a result, many traditional employers may try to hold on to those employees by providing them with some of the freedoms associated with entrepreneurial enterprises - including the ability to work at home.
"I think you're going to see that trend continue and grow," Eyler said. "If a firm is leasing three floors of a building in the financial district of San Francisco, and they can reduce that to two floors by having one floor telecommuting, that could be a good decision on the part of the employers."
But even if traditional business changes, Edwards believes home-based businesses will continue to lure those looking for flexibility, opportunity and new challenges.
"The strength of the U.S. economy is due to the highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world," he said. "In Marin County, you're near a lot of the more successful results, such as Steve Jobs - people who tried to do something different."
And while many home-based businesses fail, those owners who succeed - and even many of those who merely break even - say they have no intention of returning to the 9-to-5 world.
"It can be done, if you persevere and never give up," said Pug Snuggly's Crain. "I'm living proof. I had an idea, and oh my God - it happened."
Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com |
