Work from Home Web Developer Tips
After several years of traditional office work, you’ve decided to launch your own web development business from home. That’s great! But are you truly prepared? Skills and experience are a must, of course, but there’s a little more to it than simply shifting from the cubicle to the den.
Apart from having the skills and experiences to become an effective web developer as in Ramotion-web, here are the essentials if you’re going to make a go of working from home:
Premium Size and speed
You do the arithmetic and it seems like you have enough bandwidth to keep things running at peak levels throughout the day. However, are you accounting for the real world, where sick kids stay home from school on your deadline day or work piles up into the weekend? With them, a loaded down the Internet connection.
Looking for the best offers from Internet providers in my area has become almost an annual habit since I started doing web development from home. It’s necessary in order to gain access to high speeds and bandwidth for the best price. It’s safe to say this habit is useful for work-from-home web developers everywhere.
Several devices
Basic web developer experience tells you it pays to have more than one browser installed on your desktop and laptop computer. Absent an office floor of co-workers, you’re going to need more than one kind of device lying around as well. Otherwise, you risk building a product ill fit for mobile or buggy when looked at on a tablet. Fortunately for folks with families, the holiday wishlists of a few kids can serve as the device platter for site checks. For those living a single life, you may have to make a trip to the nearest big-box electronics store, but hey at least you have the spare income thanks to a childless household!
Tax plan
Not to mention, work from home web developers buying devices for properly evaluating beta phase projects can write them off on their taxes. However, those who think working from home is a ticket to runaway write-offs are sadly mistaken. The IRS and equivalent agencies around the world tend to pay special attention to the way in which home-based businesses handle their taxes. At the same time, they tend to provide plenty of online resources for self-employed persons and independent contractors. It’s imperative to develop a tax plan for your work-from-home enterprise prior to launch. This not only reduces the chances of the government finding a discrepancy but simplifies filing later on.
Discipline
It’s harder to work from home than it looks. The trade-off for getting to stay in your pajamas all day is the temptation to go back to sleep when work gets tough. With this in mind, it’s critical for work from home web developers to design a schedule to impose discipline on themselves to stay focused and productive throughout the day. Of course, part of the perk of working from home is the ability to stop what you’re doing as needed with the demands of life, just make sure to never let yourself get too far behind on work as a consequence.
Networking skills
Lastly, work from home web developers has to account for the disadvantage of reduced networking. Without an office, supervisors, trade shows, and outings, there are simply limited opportunities to move upward and/or outward from your current professional standing. If there’s a rule of thumb to follow to make up for diminished networking it’s this: web development quid pro quo. Find ways to help others in your professional circle on the understanding they will help you too. Make the first move with a handful of people to generate a foundation for finding work down the road. Some may turn out to be less than fair on paying you back, but the investment will more likely than not be worth that risk.
Deciding to start a work-from-home web development business for yourself is the dream of many folks in the field. Of course, the process of pulling it off is a little easier said than done. With that said, it’s certainly achievable as long as the right factors are accounted for, in addition to your web development skills and experience.