Generally speaking, working from home may be physically and mentally demanding, often thankless, sometimes financially insecure, requires a great deal of self-discipline and may involve long, hard hours. You must be a "self-starter"and be fully committed to your business success. You must make sure to gather all the information, and be clear in your own mind what you expect from a home-business and yourself. Certainly, it would be wise not to leave a full-time position with an employer to start a home business until everything is in place and even better, new accounts lined up.

All that said, owning your own home-based business performing medical transcription can also be very rewarding. Many people prefer the home business lifestyle to the more structured corporate environment. There is the daily joy of avoiding rush-hour. You can work in your leisure clothes. You can work through the night, when there are less distractions. You can watch the noon news while having lunch. You can put on the business line answering machine and have a much-needed nap or take a quick shower to feel "human" again. There are many more benefits that only you will realize fit into your own lifestyle. The "bottom line," of course, is that the work always has to be done first and always comes first. Make no mistake, you will only be successful working from home if you are willing to work hard, be uncompromising in your goals of accuracy, and are determined to doing whatever is required to keep your business running. Our page "Do You Have What It Takes?" is a good place to take a quick self-evaluation.

Working for yourself means you will be going to the movies less often, if it all; watching less TV; listening to less music; and wrestling with arranging your business work and home life to mesh together. There is also a positive side to working at home of course. You do not have to worry about the weather; you will be welcome company to your dogs or cats, or maybe even your fish; you can spend some time conversing with people in chat rooms on the Internet; (or bulletin boards like Medword's MT Gab), you can play with your computer screen-savers; and then you can start work.

If you pursue a career in medical transcription or start a home-office, or both, we invite you to visit our site often for resources and information.

• About Becoming a Medical Transcriptionist
• What A Medical Transcriptionist Needs To Know
• Skills Required To Perform Medical Transcription
• Equipment Needed To Transcribe Dictation
• Frequently Asked Questions