How to Avoid The Fatal Mistakes That Home Based Business Owners Make
How to Avoid The Fatal Mistakes That Home Based Business Owners Make
They felt their business totally overwhelmed them and caused many challenges which affected their personal relationship. We were able to identify exactly where their time was being spent and found that there were simple solutions to free up their time and run their business much more effectively and profitably.
1. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE
You should structure your day so that it is both purposeful and productive. Decide on a starting and finishing time for your day; allow for breaks so that you work smarter, not harder. Doing this will also allow you to better differentiate between work and home, and will encourage you to be more professional.
2. FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS, OUTSOURCE YOUR WEAKNESSES
You should be spending the maximum amount of time working on the parts of your business that you are best at. If your billable time is worth $200 an hour, then make sure you spend most of your time on the activities that will produce that for you.
If you don't want to employ an administrative assistant, invest in a virtual assistant who works off-site (see www.vadirectory.net). Avoid filling up your day with non-productive activities. Invest your time and money into the right areas of your business; don't just keep yourself busy.
3. ORGANISE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Have the right tools and systems to work with - an appropriate chair, desk, computer, filing system. This will make you look, feel and act more professionally. In addition, if a client comes round to your house, your professionalism will inspire confidence in you.
4. DECLUTTER THE CLUTTER
A messy working environment which forces you to be continuously spending valuable time searching for things, whether files and emails on the computer or documents in filing cabinets and cupboards, cumulatively wastes hours a day. Clutter is distracting and causes stress, and it is the primary enemy of productivity.
5. LEARN TO SAY 'NO'
Inform your family and friends of your working hours and that because you're working from home doesn't mean you're 'available'. If you were in a corporate office, you would not allow your friends to drop by. Enforce these same rules at your office at home.
6. NETWORK TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR MIND
Join local networking groups to meet other like-minded business people. Share knowledge and discover new ways of doing things. Check out your local council and chamber of commerce. Enquire about active small business networks. Join your own trade association and share ideas. An organised business referral group like BNI can also be of enormous benefit to the home based business owner.
And without leaving home you can become part of The Productivity Coaching Club to stimulate your brain and keep you up-to-date in how to run your business more effectively and improve your lifestyle.
7. TAKE TIME OUT FOR YOU
It can be easy to lose yourself in your work. Take time to 'smell the roses' and to make human contact. Organise to have coffee or lunch with a friend or colleague once a week. Go for a walk every day. Have a weekly or fortnightly massage. Visit the gym more often.
THE FINAL WORD
These ideas are simple... and guess what? It's generally the simple ideas when acted upon consistently that will make a dramatic impact overall in your business and your life.
The rewards of having a home based business far outweigh any of the challenges you experience.
If you're serious about growing your business from home make sure you check out my 12 week e-course "How to Successfully Grow Your Business From Home".
You'll feel happier and more fulfilled. You'll also discover extra time in the day that you never had before... and let's face it, wouldn't you rather spend more time with your family or have more time off to do what you want?
How to Avoid The Fatal Mistakes That Home Based Business Owners Make - To learn more about this author, visit Lorraine Pirihi's Website.
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One of my clients runs his own successful accounting practice from home. With pre-school children and trying to grow his business, he and his wife used to get very frustrated with the fact that they could never remove themselves from the workplace.
They felt their business totally overwhelmed them and caused many challenges which affected their personal relationship. We were able to identify exactly where their time was being spent and found that there were simple solutions to free up their time and run their business much more effectively and profitably.
1. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE
You should structure your day so that it is both purposeful and productive. Decide on a starting and finishing time for your day; allow for breaks so that you work smarter, not harder. Doing this will also allow you to better differentiate between work and home, and will encourage you to be more professional.
2. FOCUS ON YOUR STRENGTHS, OUTSOURCE YOUR WEAKNESSES
You should be spending the maximum amount of time working on the parts of your business that you are best at. If your billable time is worth $200 an hour, then make sure you spend most of your time on the activities that will produce that for you.
If you don't want to employ an administrative assistant, invest in a virtual assistant who works off-site (see www.vadirectory.net). Avoid filling up your day with non-productive activities. Invest your time and money into the right areas of your business; don't just keep yourself busy.
3. ORGANISE YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Have the right tools and systems to work with - an appropriate chair, desk, computer, filing system. This will make you look, feel and act more professionally. In addition, if a client comes round to your house, your professionalism will inspire confidence in you.
4. DECLUTTER THE CLUTTER
A messy working environment which forces you to be continuously spending valuable time searching for things, whether files and emails on the computer or documents in filing cabinets and cupboards, cumulatively wastes hours a day. Clutter is distracting and causes stress, and it is the primary enemy of productivity.
5. LEARN TO SAY 'NO'
Inform your family and friends of your working hours and that because you're working from home doesn't mean you're 'available'. If you were in a corporate office, you would not allow your friends to drop by. Enforce these same rules at your office at home.
6. NETWORK TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR MIND
Join local networking groups to meet other like-minded business people. Share knowledge and discover new ways of doing things. Check out your local council and chamber of commerce. Enquire about active small business networks. Join your own trade association and share ideas. An organised business referral group like BNI can also be of enormous benefit to the home based business owner.
And without leaving home you can become part of The Productivity Coaching Club to stimulate your brain and keep you up-to-date in how to run your business more effectively and improve your lifestyle.
7. TAKE TIME OUT FOR YOU
It can be easy to lose yourself in your work. Take time to 'smell the roses' and to make human contact. Organise to have coffee or lunch with a friend or colleague once a week. Go for a walk every day. Have a weekly or fortnightly massage. Visit the gym more often.
THE FINAL WORD
These ideas are simple... and guess what? It's generally the simple ideas when acted upon consistently that will make a dramatic impact overall in your business and your life.
The rewards of having a home based business far outweigh any of the challenges you experience.
If you're serious about growing your business from home make sure you check out my 12 week e-course "How to Successfully Grow Your Business From Home".
You'll feel happier and more fulfilled. You'll also discover extra time in the day that you never had before... and let's face it, wouldn't you rather spend more time with your family or have more time off to do what you want?
How to Avoid The Fatal Mistakes That Home Based Business Owners Make - To learn more about this author, visit Lorraine Pirihi's Website.
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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