Review: Smalltopia
By Melissa Batai
Is your dream to work at home? If so,
one book that will likely help you on your journey is Smalltopiaby Tammy Strobel, the creator of the blog, Rowdy Kittens.
Like so many, a few years ago Tammy
found herself going in circles. She was caught up in
consumption--buying a nice outfit to go to the clubs, paying for the
clubs, living in just the right apartment. To pay for it all, she
had to work hard at a job that was unfulfilling. Because she was
unfulfilled at work, she felt the need to buy some more things, which
meant she had to work harder.
When she decided enough was enough and
that she wanted to work for herself, she and her partner had
accumulated $30,000 in debt.
They paid off the debt in two years,
downsized their apartment, and stopped the endless cycle of
consuming.
This book is a guide for making the
step to working at home, but it also contains important information
about how to make the financial leap to working at home.
Book Features
The book is broken down into three main
sections:
Smalltopia Philosophy
In this section, Tammy recounts her
experiences with being unfulfilled and how she made the leap to
self-employment. She addresses the fear that many have when making
the leap, and she also suggests that being self-employed is easier if
you have fewer financial obligations. Downsize your life so you can
do the work that you love.
The section I loved most was "Quit
Doing Stupid Work." If you've worked a 9 to 5 job, you know all
about stupid work such as sitting through a 3 hour meeting where
nothing gets accomplished. If you make the leap to self-employment,
you often get to leave stupid work behind.
She also gives vital information about
how to use your time wisely when working so you'll have enough time
to do other important things in your life like spending time with
family and friends and volunteering.
Smalltopia Business Essentials
There are two main parts to this
section.
First, your business probably needs
less than you think. When you are first starting, don't rush out to
buy business cards and hire a designer for your website. Instead, be
conservative and do what you can yourself. Once your business begins
to make money, you can spend some money to upgrade.
Second, you need a blog. Tammy gives
many reasons why a blog is important, and then she gives suggestions
for making your blog a success. In fact, the majority of Tammy's
work opportunities have come from her blog.
Smalltopia Case Studies
For this section, Strobel interviews
some of the biggies in the work at home industry. Each person,
including experts such as Leo Babauta of Zen Habits, Chris Guillebeau
of The Art of Non-Comformity, and Jessica Reeder of the blog, Love
and Trash, to name a few, give advice about how to successfully be
self-employed.
There are 13 case studies total, and
each story is unique. What is most inspiring is learning how each
person made the leap from a less than fulfilling 9 to 5 work life to
a fulfilling life working for themselves. Many of the people also
did what Tammy suggested and downsized their lives so they needed to
make less money. When the pressure is off to make so much money,
many report that the money just naturally came to them.
Each expert writes several pages and
gives insight into how to make the leap to self-employment. Just
this section alone makes the book worthwhile, though I found the
whole book valuable.
The Cost
The Verdict
Unlike most work at home books that
simple address the issue of working at home, Strobel's book starts
from the first time you have an inkling you may want to work for
yourself. She explains how to prepare your life to support your work
at home dreams, which is an important piece of information. The book
also focuses on how you can live your most fulfilling life, with
working at home being just one piece of the puzzle.
For those who are looking for
fulfilling work AND work/life balance, this book is essential
reading.
Melissa, a mom to three little ones (ages 7, 3 and 1) blogs at Mom's Plans where she writes about living a fulfilling life on less and focuses on cutting expenses, budgeting, paying down debt, saving money and once a month cooking.*Photo by Kumaravel via Flickr.
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