Melvyn Wright is in his 40s, married, and lives on the edge of a small town in the English Midlands. He has been working at home full-time since 1988. Melvyn has an off-beat sense of humour - so be prepared :-) To the right is Mr Monkey, Melvyn's business manager who, Melvyn assures us, is actually more important and also works at home! Case Study written 2001

Q  What do you do?  A  I arrange and produce music rolls for mechanical organs. In fact I am the UKs leading supplier for this type of music, and I also export it all over the world. I've been doing this full-time since 1988. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see my web site [links below] - It's too complicated to explain here!  Q  Where do you work at home?  A  I've got the dining room converted into an office, and my workshop is at the bottom of the garden.  Q  Do you manage to keep your work and home life separate?  A  No, not unless I lie in bed all day. I don't see the need to keep them separate. I enjoy doing both.  Q  What is the best thing about working from home?  A  Not having to get up at some ungodly hour to go out to work, especially when it's freezing outside. No commuting or sitting in traffic jams. No travelling expenses or property overheads. I can sit and watch the telly all day, and do my work at the same time. No boss looking over my shoulder. No office politics. I can go sick without asking for permission. I'm always in when the postman brings exciting parcels. I can sit in the garden when the sun comes out. I don't have to take time off to supervise workmen, etc. I can see what the neighbours are up to!  Q  What are the negative points about working at home?  A  I can't think of any. Some people say that you can never get away from your work, but I don't agree with that. Whether you are 'at work' or 'at home' just depends upon what you are doing at the time. If I am shaving the cat then I am 'at home' and my office could be a million miles away. A home-based business probably has less credibility than a 'proper' one. It's generally not a good idea to let new customers know that you are working from home, at least not until you can show them that you are serious about what you do.  Q  How do you manage your time?  A  I don't really manage my time strictly. I just work when I feel like it. If I've got some urgent work to do, then I'll carry on until it's finished, sometimes working through the night. It's totally informal.  Q  How do you cope with distractions at home?  A  I don't get many distractions. The only thing that really distracts me is when the wife walks into the room with nothing on. I must remember to tell her about that! Oh yes, I've just remembered another enormous advantage of working at home.  Q  Does your homeworking pay the bills?  A  No, I pay the bills myself, usually by sending cheques out. My business keeps both me and the taxman solvent though.  Q  How did you manage financially when you first started working at home?  A  That was not a problem as I was already doing the same thing as a hobby, but I was going out to work as well. When the time came, I just stopped going out to work! (That was the best day of my life!)  Q  What sort of work did you do before you worked at home?  A  I worked in a telephone exchange.  Q  How do you cope with the isolation of working at home?  A  What isolation? One man's isolation is another man's Privacy.                                                                                Q  What two pieces of advice would you suggest to someone considering working from home?  A  1) Try and carry out your intended work as a hobby before you take the plunge. 2) Make sure that the neighbours don't find out!  Q  Anything else you feel needs to be said?  A  People often forget that it is sometimes illegal to work from home, unless you get planning permission to run a business from your premises, especially if your work involves extra traffic, either deliveries or people, activity or noise. There was a case of a local woman baking cakes at home, which seems like a pretty harmless occupation. Somebody complained about a small delivery van calling at the house once a day to collect the cakes, and the council was forced to shut her business down. Therefore, I would advise anybody working from home not to go around shouting about it to the local neighbourhood.

Thank you Melvyn for sharing!
For a fascinating diversion (of about an hour or two!), and maybe even some sheet music for your mechanical organ, then visit www.melvynwright.com or www.buskerorgan.com.
See also some hobby sites run by Melvyn:
www.meccanonut.com/lightred   |   www.bryans.org.uk   |   www.pennyslots.co.uk