If you own your own business, and work from home, then chances are you are all too familiar with this question. Inquiring minds wondering how it is that you are able to "work" from home, while they are left to slave away at their mundane 8-5 office jobs. Some look at you with envy in their eyes, while others ooze contempt from their pores. Still others feel nothing but pity for you, because after all, you do work from home, so you can't really be making money, right? Well, that depends on who you are, what you do, and how you have your business set up.
I started my business several years ago, after my son was born. I was scouring Ebay for the latest and greatest baby shower favors, when I came across something I had never heard of before. Candy wrappers. My nursery theme at the time was Blue Jean Teddy, and I happened across a listing for the most adorable Blue Jean Teddy miniature candy wrappers. So, I bought them, and waited anxiously for them to arrive. A week later, I was ripping open the package with wide eyed anticipation, and... WTF!?!?!?! My simply adorable in the Ebay picture candy wrappers were nothing more than tiny pieces of plain white copy paper, with smeared text and a horribly faded, tiny picture of Blue Jean Teddy. Being pressed for time, I had no choice but to use them at my shower, and everyone thought they were adorable. Well, if this was adorable, then imagine what people would think when I started selling my own creations.
Determined that I could do a much better job, I set out to learn this paper craft. I found an online school that taught me the basics, including the dimensions necessary to wrap most of the most popular brands of candy. I bought a new ink jet printer, and experimented with different paper types. My hubby is a pressman at a professional print shop, so he had access to many different types of paper, all at significantly less than I would pay on my own. I slowly developed my craft, and after a couple of years, I was ready to sell to the masses. I opened an Ebay store, and a website, and began selling my candy wrappers to the public. For the first several years, my new business was just a hobby. I barely made enough extra money for dinner and a movie each month, but I never gave up. Eventually, I discovered the art of SEO, and PPC advertising, and the rest is history.
I have learned a lot since my meager beginnings, and I am proud of what I have built over the years. 
I now make a full time income from my business, and no longer work a regular job on the side. I have expanded my product line to include invitations, scratch off tickets, personalized paint cans, thank you notes, water bottle labels, nugget labels, and so much more. I offer both printed and e-mailed designs, in most of the popular characters and themes of the time.
www.ddhfavors.com
I love what I do, and it is more demanding than any 8-5 office job. I no longer have the luxury of leaving work at the office, because my office time and my personal time are now intermingled. I work long hours, sometimes 12 hours a day, and still make time to do all those mom duties; cooking, cleaning, laundry, homework, etc, etc, etc. I will do light work on Saturdays, but Sundays are off limits. This is my family time, and I do not allow myself to work my business this day. I also do my best to leave my evenings free for family time.
It bothers me that some people see what I do as a walk in the park. The phrase "Oh she can do it, she doesn't work" makes me want to scream. I do work. In fact, I probably do more work in one day than many of these people do in a week. I am the designer, webmaster, shipping/receiving clerk, bookkeeper, customer service, person who orders supplies, and every other person that a typical business would employ. I am all of this every day, and I am also a wife and mother on top of it all. Just because we work from home does not mean that we do not work. It simply means that we have achieved one of our dreams.
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