Farmers have always worked where they live. When they or anyone else in the pre-industrialized world needed a service, they visited the shop of the tailor, blacksmith, or merchant. That shop usually also served as home to the proprietor and his family. Only with the industrial revolution and the growth of factories was there any compelling reason for the masses to leave home and go to work to support themselves. Then, growth in the consumer markets fueled the trend, creating the need for administrative services to track and manage the operations of all these businesses.

Today, however, you can communicate by telephone, fax, or modem with anyone, anywhere in the world, at will. When there's a need for a strategy session, and executives are scattered around the country, a video conference serves the need. It doesn't matter where you are, as long as you're accessible. Office walls are being dismantled, replaced by communications links. Working from home is not just a concept, it's an increasingly available option. No longer a stigma, it now carries a certain cachet.