With the number of home workers dramatically growing, home businesses need a policy boost for future expansion, a workplace research shows.

The finding is featured in a new book, No Workplace Like Home by Dr Jane Shelton, managing director of the strategy firm Marshall Place Associate.

Dr Shelton said the number of people working from home had exploded, with more workers looking to cut travel time and fuel costs, and spend more time with their families.

Despite the growth of home business, Dr Shelton said, there still are millions of people who are not included in traditional incentives for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Federal Small Business Minister Craig Emerson, launching the book, said that the Federal Government had taken steps to eliminate obstacles for home workers, with part of the $42 million in funding for SME advisory services allocated for facilitating home-based businesses.
 
“Setting up a home-based business can keep overheads to a minimum and allow the entrepreneur to learn the ropes,” Dr Emerson said.

“It can be a winning formula, the seed from which bigger businesses grow.”

He said a reform program to further invigorate home business is also underway.  

“The Rudd Government is determined to restore incentives for home-based businesses through reforms to the tax system and by removing incentive-choking red tape,” he said.

“The future of home business is best served through an open, competitive market economy that provides the incentive for risk-taking and entrepreneurship.”