Every weekday morning Nick Massei turns on the television to check out the morning commute situation, and with a bit of a smile he tells his wife, "I've got a rough commute this morning." He then travels to his office--40 feet away.
Massei, the owner of his own home-based business, the Nicholas Massei Insurance Agency, is one of an estimated 60 million Americans who works from home, according to market research firm IDC/LINK.
The long-time Cupertino resident, who moved to Sunnyvale last year, is one of 2,346 licensed home-based businesses in Sunnyvale, out of a total of 8,269 business licenses. In Cupertino there are nearly 1,200 licensed home-based businesses, out of approximately 4,500. And officials estimate there are many more home businesses operating illegally without a license.
Home-based businesses are one of the fastest growing segments of the economy, partly as a result of corporate downsizing in the early '90s, and boosted by relatively inexpensive technology such as computers and fax machines.
"It's a pretty significant market and will continue to be," said Cupertino Chamber of Commerce executive director Linda Asbury.
Local home-based business owners, like Jeanne Bradford, said anyone with a phone, a computer, Internet access and a fax machine can set up a business.
"It's so easy to be a home-based business; all the technology you need is right at your desktop," said Bradford, a Cupertino resident who started Dynamic Results, a business and personal coaching business, in her home last fall.
And although there are challenges involved in a home-based business, owners say the benefits more than make up for it.
"I like it a lot. I think it gives me a lot more flexibility," said Ann Sullivan, who runs Dial-a-Maid from her Sunnyvale home. When she started the business in 1982, she had 5-year-old twins, so working from home seemed the best way to support them financially, and personally care for them at the same time.
Marian Putzig, who creates gift baskets for clients in her Sunnyvale home, also wanted flexibility to care for her children. She is a professional meteorologist who had to work nights and weekends away from her two sons, ages 9 and 3.
"I wanted to support my family without working odd hours," said Putzig, who started her business, First Class Gift Baskets, three years ago. "It works very well, though it is a challenge."
Cupertino resident Ken Kimi can operate his home business part-time, while still working a day job as an engineer. The Hawaiian native owns A Touch Above Travel Services, which specializes in planning and booking trips to the Islands.
Photograph by Skye Dunlap
You're more in control of your life, you're in charge,'' Nick Massei said
of running his insurance business out of his home.
Massei said he likes the fact that he gets to work in his home office in his "relaxed clothes" until noon, then he showers, shaves, and dresses in business clothes before heading out to appointments. He also is able to schedule days off and vacations during off-peak times.
Although home-based business owners can make their own schedules and even work in their pajamas if they want to, most said they work as many hours, and sometimes more, as they did while in corporate jobs. The difference is, they don't have to be away from their families while they do it.
Massei said he tackles paperwork while sitting with his family in the evening, sometimes working late into the night. Bradford said she will work late at night, but that allows her to take time during the day to be a volunteer at her daughter's school. Putzig involves her 9-year-old son in the business by promising him perks--this year it is a Disney cruise--if he helps her business run more smoothly, keeping his younger brother entertained while she's working, for example.
As great as it is to be near family, sometimes the worlds of business and family collide.
"The family has to understand that even though Nick's at home, Nick's working," Massei said.
Bradford said she is able to set aside the business when she has to, but occasionally work intervenes at inconvenient times.
"I did get a fax in the middle of the night once and that was a bummer," she said.
Being the boss and making decisions for themselves was another reason owners said they like their home-based businesses.
"You're more in control of your life, you're in charge," Massei said.
Vic Marques, who operates his real estate business from his Cupertino home, and is leader of the Home-Based Business Committee of the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce, said being the boss, making the decisions and owning the business is very appealing to many people.
"Everyone wants to own their own business. It's the American dream," Marques said.
Suzie Blackman, head of the Sunnyvale Chamber, said she thinks it offers some people a sense of security. "If I work for myself I'm responsible for myself," is the thinking, she said, especially when working for a corporation doesn't guarantee a lifetime job the way it used to.
But being the boss and making all the decisions carries with it certain responsibilities and challenges. And since most home-based businesses only have one employee, there's no support from other employees or departments, like in a large corporation.
"It's tough because you have to be everything, you're marketer, you're producer, you're sales team," said Denise Kajioka, a Saratoga resident who is active in the Cupertino Chamber. She was working for a company that restructured, and she opted to take a package rather than be reassigned to a job she wasn't interested in. She now creates unique candy bouquets and wedding favors as part of her business, Baskets and Bouquets.
In addition to handling everything entailed in the business, home-based business owners have to be "self-starters."
"There's nobody else prodding you along," Putzig said.
Every home-based business, to be legal, needs a business license. And then there are taxes to be concerned with, and health insurance. Massei, who specializes in health insurance, said home-based business owners can get their own policies, sometimes by piggy-backing on a spouse's policy, but rules about disability insurance prevent many home-based business owners from qualifying for it. A business owner who can't work because of a disability could be out of luck.
"It can take a person right out of business, that's the scary part," he said.
Other drawbacks to a home-based business include not having anyone to talk to, owners said.
Sullivan, who said she does get lonely occasionally, cures that by meeting with other small-business owners at a weekly STAR--Sharing Tips And Referrals--meeting sponsored by the Sunnyvale Chamber.
Bradford joined the Cupertino Chamber, and regularly attends the Home-Based Business Committee meetings the third Wednesday of every month, as well as other events. She is the featured speaker at the next committee meeting at noon, Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the chamber office, 20455 Silverado Ave.
Another challenge owners have is sometimes convincing others that they are a legitimate business, although as working from home becomes more accepted in the culture, that is changing, they said.
Overall, owners said they are glad they bypassed working for someone else.
Said Massei, "You're on the high wire without a net, but it's a good place to be."
Cupertino, California Since 1947
