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Workers enjoy relaxed work environment (Continued from page 11) The 28â€"yearâ€"old public relations consultant and freelance writer, who set up her firm called SAS Communications Inc. a year ago, estimated she‘s saving $2,000 a year by not taking the GOâ€"Train to her job in Toronto, and that‘s not counting the clothes she no longer has to buy. Besides, the allowable tax writeâ€"offs when part of the house is used for work is not to be sneezed at. The Home SI The RHome SI Hil My nan "Even if a woman doesn‘t earn * _ The Home Show is Coming! The Home Show is Coming! hil My name is Romer! Pass the word! The 4th Annual Oakville Lifestyle Home Show is coming to the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre on Third Line, April 16, 17, 18. Featuring the all now Oakuville Real Estate Show running concurrently in the auditorium. OAKVILLE TV & BURLINGTON APPLIANCE APPLIANCE CENTRE 476 Kerr Stret 3455 Fairview Street (Just South of Speers) (just west of Walkers Line _ Oakville Burlington 845â€"2933 634â€"6312 ~Call a Member Union Gas Appliance Dealer today! BE ENERGY SMART... CHOOSE NATURAL GAS Dry two loads for the price of one compared to electricity when you use a natural gas dryer. * Clothes come out soft and, fluffy * Pilotless ignition provides instant, even héat * Wide range of drum sizes and control features available Make the smart choice with a natural gas range or dryer. as much working at home as at a fullâ€"time job downtown, she‘d probably break even when you conâ€" sider the savings on lunches, coffee, baby sitting, clothes and so on," she said. Another plus she can see is the changing aspect of her job descripâ€" tion. For instance, she recently added freelance writing to the pubâ€" licity work she was doing before. "It will probably be more than that in another five years time," she said. "It keeps you really interested No payments ‘til July, 1993 For Tim Jones, who runs his own engineering consulting and project management business out of his own home in Glen Abbey, there is no downside to having your own business. In creating Vanderbanck & Associates Inc. three years ago he found the security that was lackâ€" ing in big firms like Frankel Structural Steel Ltd. and Inducon Development and Design Build Corp., that he had worked for. He could see them going under and and challenged." BURLINGTON APPLIANCE CENTRE _ 3455 Fairview Street (just west of Walkers Line) Burlington 634â€"631 2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Perhaps other aspects not menâ€" tioned is that these people are also willing to take risks, something everyone can‘t do, for one reason or To McCormack, it‘s a case of enlarging the contact field so that "people will come to you when they need what you‘ve got." Still, managing all aspects of a business may be impossible for everyone. Some, like Jones, have worked in all facets of a business â€" administration, marketing, sales and so on â€" and can take their experâ€" tise homme with them. Others may be talented in some aspects of the total entrepreneurial setâ€"up but not in others. Wise proprietors will farm out work that doesn‘t appeal to them or that they have no knack for. They will also attend seminars or read updated material to keep abreast of changes in their field. ‘"You have to be careful not to work harder," she stated. "It took me a while to realize the answering machine was not being answered because I was off work. You‘ve got to have family time to be effective." It also was some time before she convinced the people calling her for free advice, as they had when she was a town councillor, that she was now working for money. She, like Sanders Greer, mentioned that it was comforting to have husbands in conventional jobs who could help pay the bills when they experienced a temporary business slough or cusâ€" tomers failed to pay on time. Between them, the four business people created a tentative prototype of the type of person liable to sucâ€" ceed in the workâ€"atâ€"home environâ€" ment. He or she should be selfâ€"disâ€" ciplined, alert for opportunities, organized, a hard worker who is able to sell oneself and the product, and a person who can make conâ€" tacts comfortably. One aspect of the workâ€"atâ€"home business that all four stressed was the absolute need to constantly netâ€" work. They said that selling yourâ€" self as a professional who has something worthwhile to sell often makes the difference between a failâ€" ing firm and a successful one. "Without networking, there‘s no business," said Jones who said he set up a strategic marketing plan â€" who he wants to sell to and how to go about it. decided he could do better on his own. He became, as he said, master of his own destiny. INUNDATED WITH WORK At first, he said he had to watch every penny but now he‘s so inunâ€" dated with work that he‘s had to make sure he sets time aside for his wife and five children. Janet Mitchell, a consultant on environmental waste management, said the big plus in working out of her own home is that it is less strucâ€" tured than the big city job she used to have years ago. She simply doesn‘t like that much structure. However, working at home means adjusting to it. Mitchell said it took her a little while to find "the right balance" between work and notâ€"work periods. WILLING TO RISK Prepare a gourmet delight with a natural gas range. Features available include : * Instant, infinite heat settings for precise cooking control * Electronic pilotless ignition for energy conservation and money savings * Preprogrammed touch controls * Selfâ€"clean and continuousâ€" clean ovens Shelly Sanders Greer estimates she saves about $2,000 a year by not having to take the GO Train to her job in Toronto. She established SAS Communication about a year ago. (Photo by Riziero Vertolli) another. Jim Shea, who conducts focussed on returning to the same session for men out of work at types of workplaces they had lost Halton Family Services, said not â€" and of retrieving for their families one of the seven men in his group the same incomes they had before. has shown any interest in working _ In short, they are tuned into the corâ€" at home as consultants or anything porate picture and can‘t change the else, even though they are experiâ€" dial. enced senior managers in their late "When they entered the workâ€" '.‘Os or early 50s. Th:y have ;::n place, they thought they would be 5h“"‘fed out of their ll;imslxelo °* in that company the rest of their! way for younger, â€" and CheaPET â€" _ lives." said Shea. "I don‘t think they employees. Some of them have. °U!" _ can see themselves spending five dated skills rclaupg to downsizing years building something from gas and oil industries. umwarch 9 Shea thought these men were Janet Mitchell, a consultant on environmental waste manâ€" agement, finds working at home less structured. "There‘s a lot of work to do down there and lots of opportunities Mitchell, too, is looking tj Mexico and has already bee approached by Canadian firms wanting to know more about the environmental aspects of doing business in that country. J But another factor besides comâ€" puterization seems to be working ir favor of some small companies ark that‘s the opening world market For instance, Jones said he is con: sidering expanding into the Unitec States, Mexico and the Caribbear which will necessitate opening an office facility in Oakville, probably within the next six months. ; The mainstay of Sanders Greer‘s office is her lap top computer whicq allows her to write, do layout a bookkeeping anywhere she happe?la to be. As well, a laser printer is a absolute must, she said. She als has a fax and Panasonic photocopi er which can do enlargements an reductions. s For engineers like Jones, CAD (computerâ€"aided design) programâ€" ming allows them to throw away the pencils, paper and drafting paraâ€" phernalia of bygone days and simâ€" ply sketch it all out on the screen. If they did, they would have to quickly learn the many aspects og computerization, if they didn‘ know it already, because the corâ€" nerstone of the home office is comâ€" puter technology. Without quick and easy communication between firms, clients and contacts, the home office would probably be nonâ€"existent. After he‘s completed the basic drawing of a new office building, for instance, Jones then sends it his associate(s) sor overlaying his work by adding such necessary design elements as piping, electricâ€" ity and air handling. "When they entered the workâ€" place, they thought they would be in that company the rest of their lives." said Shea. "I don‘t think they can see themselves spending five years building something from scratch." (See ‘Lap top . . . ‘ page 13) (Photo by Riziero Vertolli) March 31, 1993