gender issues in home‐based businesses

Gender issues inhome-based businesses

Elizabeth Walker and

Beverley Webster

The authors

Elizabeth Walker is Director and Beverley Webster is a PostDoctoral Research Fellow, both in the School of Management,Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia.

Keywords

Women, Small enterprises, Self employed workers,Homeworking

Abstract

This paper reports on the difference between men and women’smotivations for going into business and why they choose tooperate their business from home. Reports the views of theoperators regarding community attitudes towards home-basedbusinesses. Data was collected from a self-administered surveydistributed by post, from home-based business operators in twolocal government areas in Western Australia. Two focus groupsverified the findings of the survey and investigated the home-based business operator’s perceptions of the communitiesattitude towards them. It was evident that some sections of thecommunity felt that home-based businesses are extendedhobbies and not to be taken seriously. The paper argues that thisview ignores the significant financial and social contributionsthat home-based businesses make to the economy and society ingeneral and is not a view that is held by home-based businessoperators themselves.

Electronic access

The Emerald Research Register for this journal isavailable atwww.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal isavailable atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0964-9425.htm

Introduction

While home-based businesses (HBBs) make up a

significant number of Australian small enterprises,

there has been little research into this business

cohort. This lack of empirical information

compounds some of the assumptions or “urban

myths” about businesses which operate from

home. These myths include the belief that most

owner/operators are female; most businesses are

craft/artisan type operations or cottage industries;

the businesses are operated only by the owner and

do not generate employment; the businesses

operate out of the shed or from the kitchen table;

the businesses are not significant contributors to

household income; they operate for pin-money

and on a part-time basis or as a temporary short-

term measure until a “proper” job comes up

(Mirchandani, 1999; Morris and Pike, 2002;

SMERC, 2002; Stanger, 2000; Stanger and Woo,

1999; Walker, 2003; Walker et al., 2002).

In contrast, the findings of recent research has

shown that the real home-based business operator

is predominantly a male tradesperson who works

full-time in the business, has done so for a number

of years and may be one of the 30 per cent of HBBs

employ up to five employees (SMERC, 2002).

Even after the research findings have been

deconstructed there are still assumptions that

home-based businesses are somehow not

“legitimate” or “real” businesses, as compared to

businesses that operate from commercial premises,

and that HBBs in some way detract from

businesses that operate from commercial premises

(Morris and Pike, 2002). In reality, most

businesses actually start off as modest small

enterprises and often from a home base and it is for

these reasons they need to be explored more

seriously.

The economic and social importance ofhome-based businesses

Home-based businesses are a vital business sector

as they contribute significantly to the economic

wealth of a community and its social capital. As

reported by Horgan (2001, p. 7) “the opportunity

to work from home reduces local economic leakage

and improves employment self-sufficiency through

the capture of consumption expenditure, which in

turn facilitates sustainable local economic

growth”. Given that people prefer to shop,

socialise and transact close to where they live, not

Women in Management Review

Volume 19 · Number 8 · 2004 · pp. 404-412

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0964-9425

DOI 10.1108/09649420410570216

Received: May 2004

Revised: August 2004

Accepted: August 2004

404

only does the money stay within the local

community, there is the potential to foster healthy

businesses which in turn can create local

employment opportunities (Horgan, 2001;

SMERC, 2002). Additionally, as HBBs physically

out-grow their residential address they are more

likely to relocate to commercial premises within

five to ten kilometres of their residence, retaining

the benefits to the local economy (Horgan, 2001;

SMERC, 2001).

Home-based businesses are the single biggest

business cohort in Australia, accounting for 67 per

cent of all small businesses and 58 per cent of all

businesses (ABS, 2002). In addition, HBBs are the

fastest growing business sector with an annual

growth rate in 2001 of 16 per cent, compared to 11

per cent for small business in general (ABS, 2002),

thus making them an important contributor to the

national economy. Recent studies have estimated

that there is a business operating in 8-12 per cent

of all households in Australia (Care Consulting,

2002; City of Swan, 2001; Stanger, 2000). This

impreciseness may be due to the number of

businesses operating in the informal sector of the

economy, the black or “grey” economy (Lafferty

et al., 1997; Birley, 1996). Indeed, the whole area

of tax avoidance and the black economy in

Australia is estimated to be worth anything from

$3.9 billion to as much as $15.1 billion per annum

(Blondell, 1998). This informal sector may well be

a problem for governments but for people testing

the waters of self-employment, it is a logical place

to start a new business. In particular, informal

HBBs are attractive to women who want to start in

a small way due to their domestic responsibilities.

Motivations for business start-up

There are two main reasons why people start their

own business and the expression of being either

“pulled” or “pushed” has been used extensively in

the literature on small business start-up motivation

(Brockhous, 1987; Buttner and Moore, 1997;

Hamilton, 1987). These two broad categories are

not mutually exclusive and it would be more

accurate to say that there are often multiple

motivations as to why people start their own

businesses. A “pull” motivation is associated with

the individual having a reasonably strong positive

internal desire to start a business venture such as

the need for achievement, wanting to be ones own

boss; personal satisfaction; to achieve job

satisfaction; wanting a flexible lifestyle; personal

challenge; a need for personal development; the

need for approval; wanting autonomy and to use

existing experience and knowledge (Birley, 1996;

Volery et al., 1997; Walker, 2002). In addition,

there is also the aspect financial reward, however,

most small businesses owners cite the affective

rather than financial rationale as their primarily

start-up motivations (Walker, 2001).

The opposite “push” motivation is associated

with a possible equally strong desire, but based on

external negative reasons such as frustration, lack

of control, the perceived lack of opportunity for

advancement or avoiding low-paid occupations

and the difficulty of balancing work and family

(Birley and Westhead, 1994; Buttner and Moore,

1997; Marlow, 1997; Walker, 2001).

A recent Australian study showed that women

in the paid workforce are still the principal family

care giver, in charge of issues such as childcare

arrangements (Bardoel et al., 2000). So the ability

to become self-employed often alleviates some of

the pressure and stress that they experience in the

paid workforce, especially at a managerial level

(Buttner and Moore, 1997; Jurik, 1998; Still and

Guerin, 1991). Even in emerging industries such

as information technology (IT), which should be

gender neutral as the industry should be accessible

to both men and women at all employment levels,

women still have to battle entrenched corporate

cultures of masculinity and “family unfriendly”

work practices (Panteli et al., 1998; Stanworth,

2000). This has lead to a decrease in women

entering this industry and a high rate of women

dropping out of the industry all together, or

ceasing to work for large corporations. A

proportion of the women who become self-

employed do so because of the difficulties they

have experienced with the expectations placed on

them to work long and unsociable hours (Gaudin,

1999; Melymuka, 2000). Self-employment can

therefore be seen as a solution to some of these

issues, even though starting a small business is not

without its problems (Buttner and Moore, 1997;

Still and Guerin, 1991).

An additional negative motivation for becoming

self-employed is job loss. Not only is this a huge

personal emotional crisis, it is often a financial crisis.

After losing a job, people can find themselves in the

unenviable position of starting a business purely as a

source of income. Potentially, this can create

distressed or unwilling entrepreneurs (Keeble et al.,

1992) or small business owners who Stanworth and

Stanworth (1997) and Brooksbank (2000) refer to

as “reluctant entrepreneurs”. These small business

owners are in effect buying their employment and

are also more likely to start a business from a home

base as this offers less risk from both a financial and

emotional perspective (SMERC, 2002). These

negative motivations have been extensively

documented in studies of women, both from a small

business perspective and in the general management

literature in relation to why women leave

Gender issues in home-based businesses

Elizabeth Walker and Beverley Webster


Volume 19 · Number 8 · 2004 · 404-412

405

organisations. This paper suggests that these reasons

are not just applicable to women however, as some

men also experience high levels of frustration with

paid employment and therefore turn to self-

employment as an alternative (Rosa et al., 1994).

Notwithstanding the negative reasons mentioned

there are other significant reasons why people

choose to start their new venture from home.

Why operate from home?

Home-based businesses as a business sector are

not a new phenomenon but what is precipitating

the current interest in this cohort are the dual

factors of emerging new technologies and

industrial restructuring. The positive effect of

rapidly increasing new technology make it much

easier to work from home, either as an employee

(tele-working) or as a home business (Felstead and

Jewson, 2000; SMERC, 2002). This ease of

operation appeals to various types of workers,

especially people in remote locations, the

physically disadvantaged who are often not able to

find mainstream employment, and women, given

their domestic responsibilities (Buttner and

Moore, 1997; Cliff, 1998; Still and Guerin, 1991;

Walker et al., 2002).

Industrial restructuring, in particular

downsizing, has lead to the outsourcing of non-

core activities as well as the casualisation of the

workforce, leading to less secure paid employment

for significant numbers of workers (Feldman and

Bolino, 2000; Jurik, 1998). This has exacerbated

an overall need for both income and job security to

be found from alternative sources. Research has

shown that women are the often the ones that are

in these more tenuous employment positions

(Preston, 2001). As a result, their need to find

alterative sources of income has to be tempered by

what is both practical and accessible, thus making

starting a small business from home a viable

option.

A subset of this need for employment are the

environmental pressures that are impacting on

societal values and as Rowe et al. (1993 p. 384)

point out, “It now takes two workers in a family to

maintain a decent standard of living, consequently

more than 60 per cent of all US households

depend on two incomes”. They further

hypothesise:.

. . . home-based work provides an effective way inwhich to balance the demands of paid employmentand family responsibilities, particularly for women(Rowe et al., 1993, p. 384).

These environmental pressures may add

additional motivation for starting a home-based

business in order to gain an additional income

stream for the household. Using the home as a

base to start is less of a financial risk, due to lower

overheads and capital outlay for other premises.

Risk and legitimacy of home-basedbusinesses

Risk is often associated with operating and owning

businesses, irrespective of size, and it has often

been stated that men are higher risk takers in

business than women. In a gender comparative

study, Welsch and Young (1984) found no

difference between women and men on risk taking

propensity. However, later studies have found

significant gender differences, for example Sexton

and Bowman-Upton (1990) conducted

personality tests and found that women scored

lower on risk taking. Also, Cliff (1998) found that

women were more concerned about taking risks on

business related issues. The gender differences

regarding business risk do need to be put in

context, as women going into business often do not

have the same emotional or physical support that

their male counterparts have (Chell and Baines,

1998; Jurik, 1998; MacNabb et al., 1993).

Additionally, Green and Cohen (1995) found that

women perceive business ownership to have

additional risks other than just financial, such as

personal and psychological risks. These

psychological risks for many women may be

making the change from the relative certainty of

being a paid employee to being self-employed, as

well as the possibility of being in control of other

people.

Women starting businesses have historically had

more difficulties than men in relation to aspects

such as access to finance and at a more

fundamental level, being taken seriously as a

business operator (Haughton, 1999; Mirchandani,

1999; Still and Guerin, 1991). This has two

outcomes, one being that women not only start

small but continue to be very small or micro

enterprises and the other is that they may well get

disenchanted with not being taken seriously and

do not continue with the business. This latter

response has serious consequences, as home-based

businesses are vital to the community.

The importance of a strong home-based

business sector cannot be underestimated and

what the aim of this current research was to

investigate whether there were any gender

differences in; the demographic composition of the

business owners, why they choose to go into

business in the first instance, why they decided to

operate from a home-base and finally their

opinions concerning the attitudes of the wider

community towards this business sector.




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Methodology

This research involved the collection of data via a

self-administered survey distributed by post, from

home based business operators and was conducted

in two local government areas in Western

Australia. A convenience sampling method was

employed for the recruitment of participants and

included home-based business operators whose

details were on an existing database provided by

the two local government areas. It is accepted that

the people who participated in this study were on

an existing database and therefore not a random

sample and may have an inherent bias toward

participation in data collections as they had

previously given permission to be included on

these databases. However, the justification for

using existing database information is that it is

known to be very difficult to collect any

information from small business operators, and in

particular those that operate at and from home.

Past research in small business in general,

especially using postal surveys has had notoriously

low response rates, such as less than 10 per cent

(Reid et al., 1999) and even lower for home based

businesses, where Jay and Schaper (2003)

recorded only a 5.6 per cent response rate in their

postal survey. A total of 260 surveys were

completed and returned. This represented a

response rate of 70 per cent and included

responses from 76 females (30 per cent) and 184

males (70 per cent). The survey was used to collect

demographic data and motivations for going into

business and for operating from or at home. The

responses provided to the motivation questions

were based on a six-point Likert scale ranging from

6 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree).

Two focus groups were also conducted to verify

the findings of the survey and to investigate further

the home-based business operator’s perceptions of

the wider communities attitude towards them. The

participants in the focus groups were recruited on

a voluntary basis and conducted by an

independent researcher. The questions for the

focus group were developed on the basis of the

results of the survey data.

Results and discussion

The results presented in the section below provide

demographic and characteristic information about

the owner-operator and about the business and

presents results from chi-square analysis of

differences between male and female business

operators. Most of the businesses were operated

from home were the primary income of the male

participants for their household, indicating the

economic significance of the businesses. Male

owners were also more likely to work longer hours

than their female counterparts and more likely to

employ staff. In relation to initial motivations, the

female respondents were more likely than their

male counterparts to cite flexible lifestyle and to

balance work and family as important reasons,

which also extrapolated into the reasons for

operating from a home base.

At home from home, family, educationand income

The study involved business operators who worked

at home and those who worked from home and the

demographics for this information is presented in

Table I below and also in the following text. In

relation to the number of businesses, 68 per cent

were operating from home (where the business had

no other premises owned or rented other than the

home(s) of the operator(s) and the remaining 32

per cent were operating at home (where most of

the work was carried out at the home(s) of the

operator(s), which is proportionate to current ABS

data (ABS, 2002). The proportion of males who

work at home (25 per cent) is lower than the

proportion of females who work at home (40 per

cent). The males who participated in this study

were more likely to work from home (75 per cent)

and this result is significant (Fx2 ¼ 6:128, df ¼ 1,

p ¼ 0:015) whereas although a larger proportion of

females did work from home the difference

observed is not statistically significant. The

majority of respondents were a family with

children (92 per cent) and most had dependent

children with the results indicating no differences

observed between male or female business

operators. The home-based business was the

primary source of income for more than 70 per

cent of the males who participated in the study,

which is statistically different to the 39 per cent of

females who indicated this was their primary

source of income (x2 ¼ 8:327, df ¼ 1, p ¼ 0:004).A chi-square analysis indicated significant

differences in the levels of education for those

people who operate home-based businesses with

very few having completed a university degree

(x2 ¼ 46:937, df ¼ 2, p ¼ 0:000). Most

home-based business operators who participated

in this study had either completed secondary

school or a TAFE certificate or diploma. The

Table I At home from home results

Males (%) Females (%) Totals (%)

At home 25 40 32

From home 75 60 68




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proportion of females who had a university degree

(15 per cent) was larger than the proportion of

males (8 per cent) however, this observed

difference was not statistically significant.

Type of business and employment

It is not unexpected that the type of business

operated is dependent on whether the owner is a

male or a female (x2 ¼ 18:282, df ¼ 6,

p ¼ 0:006). There are significantly more males

than females, whose business type was a trade,

were in transport or whose business type was in

retail and wholesale. Females were more likely to

be involved in personal services or business

services than any other type of business or

occupation.

Just under a third (30 per cent) of all business

which participated in this study employed people

other than themselves with 85 per cent of those

with staff employing between 2 to 4 people. Males

were significantly more likely to employ staff than

females (x2 ¼ 10:219, df ¼ 4, p ¼ 0:037). In this

study females were more likely to work fewer hours

in their business than males but the observed

differences in the number of hours worked per

week were not statistically significant.

Motivations

The survey included two types of questions about

business ownership, why people choose to go into

business in the first place and then why they

operate the business from home. Respondents

were asked to indicate for each item whether they

agreed or disagreed that the situation was true for

their circumstances. The responses were analysed

using a two-step approach. First, the total sample

of both males and females were included and chi-

square goodness of fit analysis was used to measure

the most prominent reasons for going into business

and the reasons for operating from home. The

second set of analysis involved a chi-square

analysis of association and was used to determine

whether there were any measurable differences

between male and female business owners with

regards to the reasons for going into business and

the reasons for operating from home.

Reasons for going into business

It is important to understand why people go into

business in the first place and the results from this

study confirm that the most common reason for

both males and females to go into business is to be

ones own boss (M¼74 per cent, F ¼ 68 per cent)

(see Table II). Other major reasons for females to

go into business were; to balance work and family

(65 per cent), for a personal challenge (64 per

cent), for a more flexible lifestyle and to use

experience and knowledge (56 per cent). Other

major reasons for males to go into business were;

for a personal challenge (68 per cent), to achieve

financial security (53 per cent) and for personal

development and recognition (48 per cent). A

significant proportion of males and females also

indicate that they went into because they saw an

opportunity in the market (M ¼ 39 per cent,

F ¼ 39 per cent). In addition, these results

indicate that only small proportions of people go

into business because they couldn’t find suitable

employment (M ¼ 10 per cent, F ¼ 15 per cent)

or because they resigned from their previous job

(M ¼ 17 per cent, F ¼ 13 per cent).

The results presented below (see Table II) also

report the percentages and observed differences

for males and females who strongly agreed when

asked about the reason for going into business and

its applicability to their circumstances. When

looking at the proportions of male and female

respondents to each of the questions, there were

significant differences in six of the 14 reasons for

going into business. Females were more likely than

males to go into business to have a flexible lifestyle,

to use their experience and knowledge in their

work and to balance family and work. Males,

however, were more likely than females to go into

business because of being made redundant, to

avoid low pay and to achieve financial security.

Reasons for operating from home

The results presented below (see Table III) report

the percentages and observed differences for males

and females who strongly agree when asked about

the reason for operating from home.

The most common reasons why females choose

to operate their business from home include; liking

the convenience (71 per cent), lower overheads

and not requiring commercial properties (62 per

cent), the freedom (60 per cent) and balancing

family and work (55 per cent). Males choose to

operate from home because the space was available

(69 per cent), didn’t require commercial property

(68 per cent), overheads were lower (62 per cent),

the freedom (59 per cent) and because of the

convenience (49 per cent). A significant number of

males and females operate from home because the

technology allows them to do so (M ¼ 44 per cent,

F ¼ 56 per cent).




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The results clearly indicate that for both males and

females working from home is not a temporary

measure (M ¼ 6 per cent, F ¼ 5 per cent) nor are

they working from home to just test the waters

(M ¼ 4 per cent, F ¼ 7 per cent).

Why people choose to become self-employed

underpins the whole small business ownership

debate. It had been well explained in past studies

as to why some people chose to start their own

businesses and this study showed similar results.

That is both men and women want to be their own

boss and that men are more financially oriented

and women are still balancing work and family.

What has not previously been investigated to any

great degree is where new business operators

prefer to initially start their enterprises and why.

Results of the focus groups

The survey results provided four discrete owner-

operator classifications or categories, which were:

risk adverse, convenience, contented and nascents,

and these classifications were further explored

during the focus group interviews.

Risk adverse

This category described HBB owner-operators

who do not want the financial pressures associated

with operating businesses in commercial premises

or were businesses that do not generate high profit

margins from their work. This group included

businesses, which were service types of businesses,

where it is know to be more difficult to gain

leverage to grow the business. The following

comment made by one of the interviewees typifies

this group.

We’ve had the business for about four years now, itspretty tough at the moment, and the GST (Goodsand Service Tax) didn’t help. Everyone is down onmargins and there is no fat in jobs today. We cansurvive because we keep overheads to a minimum, Iget my wife to help with the books and really can’tever see the business growing to such a size that wewould need to move out of this home office tosomewhere else, besides, why take on more debtthan you need, its hard enough as it is will all the

Table III Differences in male and female reasons for operating from home

Reason for operating from home n Males (%) Females (%) x2

Overheads are lower 189 62 62 6.187

Didn’t require commercial premises 191 68 62 2.680

Had available space at home 186 69 51 13.186*

Business started as a hobby and has grown 186 7 26 15.249*

Working from home is a temporary measure 187 6 5 8.015

For the freedom 189 59 60 5.661

Technology allows business to operate from home 189 44 56 5.557

To balance family and work 187 20 55 23.654*

Like the convenience 186 49 71 9.214*

Just starting and testing the waters 186 4 7 3.578

Have always worked from home 189 26 24 7.552

Note: * p , 0.05

Table II Differences in male and female reasons for going into business

Reason for going into business n Males (%) Females (%) x2

To be my own boss 190 74 68 4.991

For a more flexible lifestyle 189 39 63 15.968*

For personal challenge 191 68 64 5.748

For personal development/recognition 190 48 51 3.876

To use my experience and knowledge 189 37 56 10.402*

Because of resignation from previous job 188 17 13 9.098

Lack of opportunities in previous job 190 30 24 7.286

Because of being made redundant 191 17 5 11.680*

To avoid low paid employment 189 16 9 15.949*

To make lots of money 189 21 20 2.726

To achieve financial security 191 53 36 13.022*

Saw an opportunity in the market 192 39 39 3.073

To balance work and family 190 36 65 21.815*

Couldn’t find suitable employment 191 10 15 6.696

Note: * p , 0.05




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taxes that small business has to pay (male, wellestablished trade business).

This response also typifies the average micro

business, the “Joe the Plumber” business which is

a tradesman working full time will his spouse

working part-time “doing the books”, often not

being paid a regular wage but sharing in whatever

profit there is. This spousal business partnership is

also likely to be the least successful, especially in

relation to any growth aspirations (Chell and

Baines, 1998).

Convenience

The second category describes the HBB owner-

operators who like the freedom of working from

home, appreciate the lower running costs, have

space available and use technology to assist them.

Some also indicated that they needed to balance

work and family. The following comment made by

one of the interviewees describes this group:

I have operated several businesses, mainly retail,but this current one allows me to be home for thekids and also be available if customers ring. Retail isvery tying, especially as hours keep increasing andall the hassles with staff, this way I have the best ofboth worlds and make as much money (female,newly established retail business).

Contented

The third category describes the HBB owner-

operators who want to stay small, have little or no

growth aspirations and see no need to ever move

out of home. These businesses are sometimes

being operated on a part-time basis or as

secondary income streams for the households.

Two different comments illustrate this group.

I’ve been operating my business from home forabout 20 years now. My wife works with me on apart-time basis. I was always going to be my ownboss, I suppose when I did my training I was justdoing my time so to speak. I could move tocommercial premises but why bother, I don’t needto, I don’t even need to see the clients anymore I dojust about everything on line, it’s great (male wellestablished business service).

I left work to have my kids and wanted to stay homewith them initially. After being at home for a coupleof years I really didn’t want to go back into full-timework. I have seen my girlfriends constantly havingto juggle work and kids, it is so stressful for themand often I think they suffer, work wise. Peterworks full-time but we do need extra so this littlebusiness suits me perfectly, I get to meet lots ofpeople but am not at their beck and call all the timeand can fit my other family commitments aroundwork (female, established service business).

Nascents

The final category describes the HBB owner-

operators who are either just starting and testing

the market, may have developed the business from

a hobby or see home as a temporary measure.

My husband has got a couple of businesses, whichhe runs from upstairs and we saw the gap in themarket for this type of service. Swan is a growingtourist area so I thought I’d give it a go. We did themarket research before hand so hopefully it is goingto work, bookings have been pretty good,considering its our first year. I’m not sure we wouldever need to move from home as we have so muchspace here as you can see, the only thing would becredibility (female, newly established tourismbusiness).

The majority of the respondents fell into the

second or third category – that is they were

content to stay at home because it was convenient.

This was especially true for women as they felt that

they could balance work and family better. It

should be noted that some women did not see

working from home as a positive experience, which

also highlights the assumption of home based

businesses not being serious entities as it questions

the credibility of the operator. As one woman

stated:

The problem initially was that people didn’t think Iwas actually running a proper business, you knowthey would just drop in for coffee as they knew Iwould be there and one time a friend came roundand asked if I would mind her kids for an hourwhile she went to an appointment. I had to workvery hard to convince friends and family that I wasnot a dumping ground and that my hobby hadreally turned into a proper job. It is better now butsome people still think that because I am workingwith fabric that it is just a girlie thing, and not aserious business, that really gives me the woops(female, established business service).

Credibility was one of the main issues cited

regarding what was the worse aspect of operating a

home-based business. Interestingly most of the

respondents were not members of business

associations, the main reason being that they felt

that they were too small. Not having other external

premises was also thought to impact on credibility,

as one interviewee stated:

I am sometimes unsure what to charge becausepeople think I should be cheaper than the big boyson the Terrace because I work from home, eventhough I have 25 years experience with majororganisations (male, newly established businessservice).

This is an interesting comment as the respondent

clearly had many years experience. The aspect of

credibility links with visibility, which clearly is

detrimental to many HBBs, as they are not located

in prominent positions. This is regardless of the fact

that they have often survived the rigors of business




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operation longer than small businesses that operate

from commercial premises. Retail and hospitality

are sectors that traditionally have short life spans,

yet are perceived as legitimate because they are

extremely visible, although not always viable.

Conclusion

The study set our to discover if there were any

gender differences between why people decided to

start a business and why they choose to operate the

business from home. There were some clear

gender differences in initial motivation and

rationale for operating from home, with many

women choosing to do so to because of the

convenience it afforded them while having to

balance work and family. These results

compliment previous studies that have looked at

women’s motivation for business ownership and

also add to the small business ownership

motivation debate by highlighting the importance

of location, which is an area that had not

previously been reviewed by many other studies.

The results of the study clearly demonstrated that

home-based businesses are an important sector

within the overall business community.

Most HBBs are operating at home because it is

simply convenient to do so and are unlikely to ever

move to commercial premises. Whereas, this

would appear to demonstrate that as a group they

have little growth aspirations, they are in reality

mirroring the general small business community.

Over and above the economic value they produce

because of the volume of businesses, their real

value is in the social capital they build for their

local communities. Given the rapidly increasing

technological advances, which facilitated the

feasibility of operating a business from home, it

can be anticipated that the growth in this sector

will continue. For women who are doing the

double shift, operating a business can certainly be

challenging, however it is a viable option for many

women who for whatever reason cannot find

mainstream employment.

Knowing that many small businesses, and

therefore many home-based businesses, are

actually non-employing businesses, home-based

businesses may not be large employment creators

for anyone other then the owner-operator.

However, if self-employment in itself is regarded as

job creation and if these owner-operators would

not be employed in other “mainstream”

employment, i.e. they have become self-employed

through general industrial restructuring and are

unlikely to easily get back into the paid workforce,

then their own self-employment ensures that they

are not dependent on other means, including

government transfer payments. Whereas, this was

not a major category in the sample, there were

respondents who did state that this was their

situation. With continuing industrial restructuring

this is a situation that is likely to become more

prevalent, and given that women are normally the

first group of the workforce that these workforce

issues effect, then operating a small business from

home may well be a way for women to maintain

their work skills and confidence and thus stay part

of the workforce and a valued member of the

general community.

Further research is required to see if operating a

business from home maintains its attractiveness

and whether, over time, the gender differences

contract. What is also of continuing interest is if

this sector continues to grow, whether the attitudes

of the wider community towards operating a

business from home change over time and how

long it will take for this business sector to be

acknowledged widely as legitimate.

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gender issues in home‐based businesses

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