ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604010143
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS HENSON STAFF WRITER
THOUSANDS ARE GIVING UP the business suits and power lunches and are making their livings without leaving the comfort of home.
HOW far is too far to commute to work? Across town? To the next county? How about an hourlong train ride twice a day?
For a couple of thousand people in the Roanoke Valley work is in the next room, down the hall or in the attic or basement ... right in their homes.
They work all sorts of jobs at all sorts of hours. They're on the phone constantly, or at the computer. And they just might be wearing their jammies when the rest of us are in more businesslike attire.
For example, there are Paige and David Rock, who have both just entered their 30s.
They stay home with Jobil, their baby girl who has just entered her ones. They have a house, a dog and five phone lines. They're a power couple, with two full-fledged businesses cranking under one roof in Roanoke's Raleigh Court area.
"When Jobil was 8 months," said Paige Rock, "she started looking at babies on TV. When certain baby food or diaper commercials came on she would stop whatever she was doing, no matter what it was, and crawl over to the TV. Sometimes she'd even pat the screen."
Rock figured what she needed was a videotape of babies to keep Jobil occupied. And from that necessity came this mother's invention - "Baby Face," a video of dozens of tots and toddlers being themselves in front of the camera. That was last August.
The idea was to mass produce and sell videotapes of area kids.
"I found out I had to get a business license, I had to go to the zoning board and get it approved," says Rock. "There were all these steps."
"It snowballed like crazy," she said of her new business, Baby Face Productions Inc. ``I started with this idea, and suddenly it was like, `What am I doing?'''
The Rocks are just two of thousands in the Roanoke Valley who have decided to throw off the shackles of clock-punching drudgery, slaving away for the "boss-man." They work for the sake of accomplishment, enjoy the comforts of home, and make decent livings.
John Jennings, of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, estimated that close to 2,500 of the 9,000 businesses in the Roanoke Valley are located in homes. "It's hard to keep track of exact numbers," he says. "All they really need is a business license to get started. So does every other business."
This self-employed, home-based work force includes designers, lawyers, real estate agents and artists, a variety of consultants, contractors and writers.
"There are people doing crafts in their homes and supporting themselves very nicely," said Marjorie Skidmore, manager of the Virginia Employment Commission's Roanoke office.
"The computer plays a big part these days in people working from their homes," she said. "Technology has made it easier to do quality work, and communicate effectively."
But starting a cottage industry is not without its obstacles.
"In order to be able to accept Visa and Mastercard purchases I had to find a merchant service to represent me," said Paige Rock. The service sets up and maintains the relationship with a bank necessary to conduct credit transactions. She found one in Fairfax but "it took 21/2 months to set up."
She spent time at the library reading up on mail-order businesses. "I found out I needed an order fulfillment service, the people you actually call up and order the tape from. They're in Addison, Ill. They take the orders, and we download them from their computer and fill them from here."
Meanwhile, the tape had to be produced. For that she turned to Mike Gallagher, a friend and videographer with King Video Productions in Blacksburg.
Between licenses, filming, editing, packaging, having 1,000 videos duplicated, and advertising on the Lifetime channel, starting a video business is expensive. Rock figures she's put close to $8,000 into the project.
While her degree in horticulture hasn't proved particularly useful on this venture, her experience as a bank teller with Central Fidelity has. "I completely financed the whole thing on a Visa card," says Rock. "Or actually three. I shopped around for the best interest rates, and got a few cash advances."
Operating Baby Face Productions is a full-time job. "I do most of my work at nap time," said Rock, referring to two precious hours during the day when Jobil sleeps. Then the phone's ringer is turned down, a "Do Not Disturb" sign goes on the front door, and the faxes start flying.
"Baby Face" is available locally at Kringle's Toys in Roanoke County and Imagination Station stores in Roanoke and Blacksburg.
She recently learned that the Great Kid Co., a national catalog of items for children based in Lewisburg, N.C., plans to carry the Baby Face tape. "That could mean an initial order of 500," she said. "Double that and the whole thing is completely paid for."
"We had so much fun doing it," said Paige Rock of the project she operates from the kitchen table. "It's still scary. I need to sell all these videos."
Meanwhile, in the basement of their home, David Rock designs custom homes. He and partner John Brock, who works in his own basement, operate Trademark Builders Inc., a company that builds houses - from the drawing board to the last doorknob. He previously worked as a computer draftsman for Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern Inc. of Roanoke.
"In two years we've built 10 houses, nine by word of mouth. Essentially, if you bring us an empty lot, we'll build a house on it," he said.
"We started with a business plan that took nine months to develop," said Rock. When he and his partner went to the bank for a start-up loan two years ago, Rock learned that construction is the business most prone to failure. "They laughed at us at first," he said. "Then they realized I studied architecture in school, and John studied engineering. We also had a guaranteed buyer for the first house." Soon they secured a loan big enough to get started.
"We bought $10,000 worth of computer equipment right off," said Rock. "That's what sets us apart from other home builders. Everything is very computer intensive - from the designs we do to the bill paying and bookkeeping. We've got about $7,000 worth of software alone."
And while they hire out subcontractors to do a lot of the work, they insist on doing some of the building themselves. "We do our own footing and trim work, and specialty stuff like bookcases. We're really particular about those things."
"We call ourselves ARB," said Rock. "Anal Retentive Builders."
And it's paying off already. They've got seven houses to build in the next year. Plenty of work to keep them busy.
"We're making more money than we ever did at our old jobs," said Rock. "And we just set up a retirement plan, something we were always told we'd get from our old employers."
When he's not at the construction sites, Rock is in his stocking feet, creating homes on several computers in his basement. Rock says the computers are where the future of home building is going. "We're two guys," he says. "And we're about to gross $2 million in two years. You can't do that with a pencil."
Jobil Rock walks around the house, she pats the TV and crawls down the steps to the basement where the modems and fax machines and laptop computers are. And she takes regular naps. Mom and Dad, meanwhile, are living the dream of being in business for themselves, right down the hall, in the next room, on one of the five phones.
Mom's already planning her next video. And dad's drawing another house. "If Paige's business goes well," says David Rock, "we'd like to start our own house next spring." |n n| Being your own boss at home can offer an odd benefits package. Paul Stump, a self employed graphic artist, keeps a guitar beside his desk. "When my computer is working on a huge image file it can take like eight minutes or so," he said. "So I just pick up the guitar and work on a lick."
Stump began his career as an employee of Moody Graphics in Roanoke, while free-lancing extra work in his Raleigh Court home at night. After six years with the company he set out on his own last spring.
"I had a sort of worm's eye view of the work that was being done in the area," he said. "I knew a lot of people in the business, already had a few clients. So I quit and started working out of my home."
But Stump decided early on to move his business to a nearby rented office. "I figured an office would appear a little more professional," he said. But rent can be expensive. "I've got a nice brick, two-car garage full of junk that I can squeeze into if I need to financially. It really comes down to money."
To make the kind of money he's used to earning at places like Moody Graphics requires a long work week. "I figure I work about 60 hours a week," said Stump. But, there's a bright side. "If I worked that much for somebody else, I'd probably resent it. This way I'm more motivated."
For some people, working at home means peace and quiet. Jan Wilkins works in a converted sunroom. There's art hung on dark green walls, music on the stereo.
And windows. Looking up from his desk he can see the trees of his backyard and those of his Old Southwest neighbors. His business, Jan Wilkins Enterprises, handles marketing and public relations for clients such as Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield and the James H. Drew Exposition. His office is just off his bedroom.
"I was working full time for Houck Advertising," said Wilkins. "I was hoping to retire from there. I had been there for 10 years and was a vice president." When Norfolk Southern Corp. moved its corporate offices from Roanoke to Norfolk, so did the advertising agency's biggest client. Houck Advertising closed up.
"I discovered I had two or three options," said Wilkins. "One was that I could find another office job." But the Roanoke job market was soft, so finding corporate work meant relocating.
"My equity is who I know," he said. "And most of the people I know are here. I decided to try it on my own and focus on those areas at which I am most proficient; theater and entertainment marketing, promotions and public relations."
Wilkins points out that being experienced and connected helped considerably. "Fortunately, when Houck went under there were a couple of clients that wanted me to keep working for them," he said. "I let it be known at the Roanoke Civic Center that I was setting up a PR shop, and that if they had any acts coming through that wanted local advertising, to please send them my way."
"It didn't require a lot of money to set up my business here," said Wilkins. "I already had some of the equipment. I just ran a couple of new phone lines."
Leaving the 9-to-5 life to work in his sunroom did require some adjustments. "I'm a critter of routine," he said. "In fact I had a really hard time when I stopped working in an office type setting and adjusting to dressing down. I was always in a coat and tie. For a long time I still put on a tie even though I wouldn't go anywhere."
"I work a lot at night and I work a lot in the morning," said Wilkins. "I spend a hell of a lot of time on the telephone. And then I thank God for the fax machine. This business used to be a lot of letter writing."
Meetings are an important part of doing business.
"I use the living room or the kitchen," said Wilkins. "I try very hard to go out for meetings when I can, because I still think that a lot of people and companies don't think it makes sense meeting in somebody's kitchen to do corporate stuff."
Sometimes, though, the comfort of the hearth and home has the tradeoff for increased administrative duties. And while his income is as good, Wilkins said he is working twice the hours of his old job. "Working on your own is truly working," he said. "You really have a hard time forcing yourself to walk away from it, because you're doing all the things you took for granted when you worked for someone else. After you've done your job each day you have to do the books, keep your place neat, do the invoicing and check writing. You find yourself working seven days a week."
"One of the nice things about working at home is you can perform 24 hours of the day," he said. And as for a dress code: "Oh sure, I'm quite often in my pajamas on the telephone."
Tax tips for working at home
If you use a part of your home regularly or exclusively for business purposes you may be able to deduct a part of the operating and depreciation expenses on your home. Here are some factors to consider:
You must use your home regularly and exclusively as the principal place of business or as a place to meet and deal with clients or customers for the normal course of business.
The regular business use must be for the convenience of your employer and not just appropriate and helpful in your job.
The deduction for the business use of your home is limited to the gross income from the business minus a portion of any mortgage interest, losses and other business expenses that are not related to the use of your home.
Figure the percentage of your home use for business by comparing the square feet devoted to business compared with the total house or the number of rooms used for business.
Keep records that provide any information needed to prove any deductions you claim.
SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service
LENGTH: Long : 235 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Roger Hart. 1. David and Paige Rock work out of anby CNBoffice in their home. He designs houses and she recently produced a
video about babies. Working at home also gives them more time to
spend with their 15-month-old daughter, Jobil. 2. Jan Wilkins used
to work at an ad agency. Now he enjoys the casual atmosphere of
running his own business from his home. color.