Home working blossoms as it caters for new careers

Nov 19 2009 By Chris Knox, The Journal

AS THE pace of working life shows no signs of abating and more and more people find themselves out of work, cases of people setting up their own business in the comfort of their home are on the rise.

There are certainly a number of obvious advantages to working from home (apart form the lie-ins), with an increasing number of budding entrepreneurs not wanting to splash out on renting or buying an office or workshop.

The recent Home Business report, by Enterprise Nation and sponsored by BT, shows that these businesses generate £6.7bn for the North East economy each year, with this figure set to grow.

With low overheads and zero travel costs, working from home often provides the perfect solution for many, with the birth of a child the most popular reason for setting up at home.

The report shows that the North East has five of the UK’s home business hotspots, with Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Stockton and Darlington among the 100 areas in the UK where home businesses are proving a popular choice.

Newcastle has the most at-home businesses with 2,145, while Middlesbrough is in second place with 1,495. Sunderland is in third with 1,409, and Darlington is fourth with 1,190.

It seems that taking advantage of a low cost base is one way of ensuring growth in the early years of the business, with nearly half of firms expecting to increase turnover by using freelancers and outsourcing.

The report also calls for further assistance for home businesses wanting to trade overseas, as well as additional financial support.

Chris Sayers, BT’s North East regional director, said: "This report confirms the increasingly important role played by communications in the success of this exciting and vibrant sector.

"These home-based entrepreneurs really are the lifeblood of their local communities. They are demonstrating great business acumen by ensuring they harness the opportunities the internet brings and concentrating on their core business. This is how they are flourishing in this tough economic climate."

The most popular reasons for starting a home business were low costs, 57%, a better work/life balance, 52%, and being close to the family, 33%. These were certainly among the reasons why new mother Lydia McCaslin chose to set up the Jesmond Cupcake Company in her own kitchen earlier this year.

Former lawyer Lydia is now working in the kitchen of her Newcastle home seven days a week making and selling hundreds of celebration cupcakes for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and other important events.

She left her career as a solicitor at Newcastle firm Hay & Kilner after giving birth to her son Joseph last year and is now enjoying success with the new business.

Lydia, 31, who comes from Manchester, studied at Newcastle University, where she met her husband James, a surgeon. Her market research found boutique bakeries specialising only in cupcakes were successful in New York and London.

She said: "There is a bit of support out there for people starting up in their own homes, but they have to know where to look.

"Business Link have given me a lot of advice and offered me funding to build my website.

"Having a baby changes your priorities completely and, for now, this is the perfect way to maintain balance to our family life as well as do something I enjoy."

Another businesswoman is growing her business from the spare room, 26-year old entrepreneur Zoia Simonova, has brought a touch of Russia to the North East after the art of flower decoration became popular in her homeland.

She recently set up at her home in Bowburn, near Durham, personalising petals using a plastic film from Russia that does not damage the flower and prints each message at home before applying each one by hand.

The flowers, which can be purchased from www.fashion-flower.com, can be used to carry romantic messages, photographs and even marriage proposals.

Mrs Simonova, who received financial backing from Business Link to help set up her website, started her career in Russia as an accountant at a metal manufacturing plant before leaving in 2003 for Ireland.

There she continued her accountancy career and met her husband Michael Purvis, who convinced her to move with him back to his native North East after the birth of their daughter Elena.

She said: "Things are going very well since I set up, as the phone never stops ringing.

"The idea has really taken off and, although I am happy to work from home at the moment I may have to employ people to do some of the work for me and move into a bigger space.

"But, setting up at home has helped me get things moving."