When we start a work at home business there are dreams of working in our pajamas, sleeping late, and retiring early. Most of these expectations fall outside of reality. However, there are some tangible advantages like moving to the cottage for the summer, and working on your laptop from the dock. Property investors and tourism writers can travel the world - tax free.

The most common benefit that attracts people to work at home businesses is the opportunity to stay with family, and reduce expenses. Eliminating the fast food lunches, new clothing every season, driving to work, parking, baby sitting, cell phones, blackberry fees, and beauty parlor/barber fees can reduce a household's bills by more than $10 000 - $15 000. Add a second vehicle, insurance, maintenance, and fuel, and the yearly savings from a work at home position can reach $20 000.

This means that a work at home professional can earn $20 000 less than they would make if they worked out, and still break even. Earning $20 000 from a work at home position, $400 a week, is the same as an office job which earns $800 a week, in many professions.

One main reason for working at home is vacation time. While many work at home professionals do not take long vacations, the freedom to take a vacation when you want to, is worth the effort needed to establish a business.

The biggest advantage is telling people that you are running a business instead of starting one. A franchise or a brick-and-mortar business takes five years to establish. Most business gurus tell new business owners that they must reinvest all the profits from a business for five years before the business is stable.

Work at home ventures can often start supporting the business owner within months, even weeks of establishment. Even if the owner is forced to withdraw cash instead of reinvest it, the work at home business will not receive an devastating blow.

There are intangible benefits. One quarter of all personality types do not fit into the corporate blueprint. These people have elevated levels of creativity, a higher IQ or EQ, they learn faster than normal, they are to pragmatic to participate in office politics, and they are able to think outside of the box. These people coined the term 'entrepreneur.'

However, other people find work at home solves some problems. Many dyslexic people are running vast Internet businesses by hiring people to do their programming. Social people gave birth Web2.0 and took control of the net from Google and Yahoo. Creative people brought graphic arts to a new level and introduced philosophy and sociology to advertising.

Of course, we cannot talk about work at home without leaving behind the ugly side of the workplace, toxic communication, and coworker predators. You know the people, they knock others down for first place, trivialize success, throw stones at others, ridicule achievement, and brown nose.

Coworker predators laugh at other's missteps and failures. Their attitude derails projects, ruins reputations and derails careers. The freedom of working alone on a project, or hand picking a team, can be worth the effort.

Many people are afraid to work at home until a coworker predator has totally demeaned and demoralized them. They leave their victims lacking confidence and afraid to take chance. It can take some people several months to overcome their own inhibitions before they can put 110% into their own business.

In fact, most work at home professionals later admit that they wasted most of their first year because they were afraid of confrontation. When you're successful at work, predators will attack you. This makes you afraid of confrontation and success. When you work at home, the successes can be celebrated, new colleagues praise your work, and urge you to release your passions.

So, if you are stifled at work, or the workplace schedule does not fit your life, then consider work at home - before it is too late.