Make the switch with handy tips

"That's probably the thing I miss most about corporate life - having a receptionist," says McGuinness, who runs networking business Network Central from her home in St Ives.

McGuinness recommends that people working from home make sure they call meanwhile two people a day and get out regularly to network with friends and former colleagues. Social-networking sites as well help keep people connected.

The plunge agree that advances in innovation

Others who have taken the plunge agree that advances in innovation, just as cloud computing, and the arrival of tailored services for people who operate without an office are a boon.

"With the research now, I have despite everything access to the server and the archives that I would have in the office," she says. "I can email every media outlet in NSW from my laptop."

And she says research means it is possible to run a business with outsourced partners who can access the work in hand in the cloud space. "You can have a book-keeper on the other side of town and a designer in another country. Anything is possible."

Five generations on,Tyrrell's is a thriving family business pursuing long-term visions unfettered by the need for short term dividends.