There are unexpected pitfalls and disadvantages, though, in owning and operating of a home-based business. Some are psychological, some are emotional, and others are purely physical. The unexpected stresses of a home-based business are really one of major obstacles that need to be overcome by business owners. Many new business owners are unprepared for just how much stress is involved, actually.

Home-based business stresses usually fall into three overall categories:

1. Psychological : Employees, Finances, Legal, and Operations

2. Emotional: Family, Friends, Change of Personal Routines, Personal Disruptions, Isolation

3. Physical: Sedentary Lifestyle, Poor Eating Habits, Overwork

Many business owners, in order to prevent psychological stress will have plans in place for dealing with these particular stress factors, prior to their occurrence. This is a proactive approach that is infinitely better than having a reactive approach to these occurrences.

Each business owner should have a financial plan in place for times when orders or clients are few and far between (slow times), as well as a good accountant to call when necessary. Each business owner should also have a lawyer who they trust and can turn to for advice if necessary (we do live in a very litigious society). And each business owner should have a plan for sickness among employees and hiring and firing protocols firmly in place. Machinery and replacement of business supplies should also be well planned in advance, and purchased according to well laid out plans for expenditures.

Leadership skills will need to be developed, as a new business owner who is used to being part of a team, will find working alone and "being in charge" a somewhat difficult transition at first. Books on leadership skills abound and it is a good idea to do readings on development of these to proactively avoid psychological stress that comes with this change in roles. Working alone and making decisions alone is quite different from conformity and decisions made within a group.

If a proactive approach is taken, psychological stresses of a new business can easily be prevented, or at least lessened.

The emotional stresses of a home-based business are usually a bit more difficult to ascertain and tackle when they occur. Some of these stress factors can come directly from well-meaning family and friends, unfortunately, and approach is of course, much different. Since a home-based business is directly tied usually to home life of an individual, there is less chance to escape these stresses, than with a traditional method of employment. A new birth in a family, a death of a loved one, illness, or simply a change of schedule of another family member, can greatly impact daily workings and routine of a home-based business.

A website called Prevent Suicide Now.Com recently came to my attention by chance. I almost sent it back into cyber obscurity with a mouse click as it seemed unlikely to be of any interest or use to me in my carefree home business programme.

My first thought was that a website dedicated to suicide must be macabre. However, a tour of website revealed that a great deal of loving work had gone into its creation. The site’s purpose is to prevent suicide and raise public awareness of subject. In America alone over 31,000 lives ended in 2002 as a result of suicide. That is one suicide every sixteen and a half minutes. Trends show suicide rate to be increasing.

There is a touching remembrance section on site. The first memorial on "wall of angels" is to a little girl aged 13 who was driven to suicide by school bullies. I could hardly bear to look at photographs of other beautiful, bright children who became "angels" in their teenage years. In year 2002 in America a total of 4,010 people below age of 24 committed suicide. That equates to 11 young lives destroyed each day. Suicide is third leading cause of death in 15-24 age group.

Suicide is a subject which most of us would wish to avoid. We would rather not think about it, let alone discuss it. We are uncomfortable when dealing with people who have been bereaved through suicide and feel helpless when somebody we know is tormented by suicidal thoughts.

Our reluctance to contemplate issue of suicide is understandable. It is painful and we don’t want to be reminded of our own mortality, but we would be better equipped to deal with issue if we were brave enough to face suicide and become familiar with its features. The ability to recognise enemy would give us a better chance of knowing when help should be sought.

Seeing photographs of young suicide victims reminded me of two young women I used to know but had not thought of for some time. I was friends with both these women but they never met each other. Their lives, however, strangely paralleled each other for a while when they reached age of 25.