Working from Home
Working from Home
1. Plan your workspace. Ideally you need to have somewhere quiet where you can concentrate on focus on your business. If you have a spare bedroom that you can turn into an office, that’s ideal. If your only option however, is in a corner in your front room, then you need to plan your space as much as possible so that it feels like your working when you’re sat at your desk.
2. Have some rules. These are rules for yourself as well as your family. Set up some rules about when your day starts and when it ends and try to stick to this if at all possible. Have a rule that when you’re sat at your desk your family leave you alone, or if you’re in a separate room, make sure people know that when your door is closed, that means don’t disturb.
3. Be fair. It’s hard on everyone else when you’re working from home. Make sure you stick to your rules about when you start and finish – if you’re still working at 8pm, when the kids want some quality time, you can understand why they might get annoyed with you…
4. Minimise distractions. Sometimes (usually when you’ve got a difficult piece of work to do), the washing up looks much more attractive than actually doing some work. The easiest way to minimise distractions is to plan in regular breaks so that you can do these jobs during that time.
5. Make yourself feel like you’re working. A friend of mine who worked from home used to get up at 7am, get showered, dressed and then get in her car. She drove around the corner, parked and walked back to the house to her home office. Sounds mad, right – but she felt as though she was going to work. Do whatever trick works for you – if that’s getting dressed in a suit, do it. Believe me though, sitting there in your dressing gown won’t exactly make you feel like you’re working.
6. Cut down on the isolation. Working from home is hard work because it’s so isolating. If you’ve just left work, you will miss your colleagues – no matter how much you hated them while you were there. To cut down on the isolation, make sure you get yourself out and about as much as possible. Go to networking events and other business groups and meet business contacts for coffee and a chat (not for too long though)!
7. Time management. You’ll find it much easier if you have plan a to-do list each morning for you to work through during your day. If you know what work you have to do, it’s much easier to get on and do it. This is vital when you’re first starting up and may not have much actual work to do – your focus then should be on marketing as much as possible.
8. Check out the legal regulations. Do you need to notify your landlord or your mortgage provider? If you just have a desk and a computer you should be fine. Do you need to increase your home insurance? Do you need to notify your local council? You should only really need to if you’re inviting people into your home. Planning in advance though is the key to keeping you out of trouble.
Working from home is loads of fun – if you plan it properly to set up some guidelines for yourself. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Working from Home - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling's Website.
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For most people setting up their own business, working from home is the ideal solution as renting out office space is expensive and an unnecessary strain on your finances at the beginning. But, working from home is not without its own considerations, so here are my top tips on setting up your home office:
1. Plan your workspace. Ideally you need to have somewhere quiet where you can concentrate on focus on your business. If you have a spare bedroom that you can turn into an office, that’s ideal. If your only option however, is in a corner in your front room, then you need to plan your space as much as possible so that it feels like your working when you’re sat at your desk.
2. Have some rules. These are rules for yourself as well as your family. Set up some rules about when your day starts and when it ends and try to stick to this if at all possible. Have a rule that when you’re sat at your desk your family leave you alone, or if you’re in a separate room, make sure people know that when your door is closed, that means don’t disturb.
3. Be fair. It’s hard on everyone else when you’re working from home. Make sure you stick to your rules about when you start and finish – if you’re still working at 8pm, when the kids want some quality time, you can understand why they might get annoyed with you…
4. Minimise distractions. Sometimes (usually when you’ve got a difficult piece of work to do), the washing up looks much more attractive than actually doing some work. The easiest way to minimise distractions is to plan in regular breaks so that you can do these jobs during that time.
5. Make yourself feel like you’re working. A friend of mine who worked from home used to get up at 7am, get showered, dressed and then get in her car. She drove around the corner, parked and walked back to the house to her home office. Sounds mad, right – but she felt as though she was going to work. Do whatever trick works for you – if that’s getting dressed in a suit, do it. Believe me though, sitting there in your dressing gown won’t exactly make you feel like you’re working.
6. Cut down on the isolation. Working from home is hard work because it’s so isolating. If you’ve just left work, you will miss your colleagues – no matter how much you hated them while you were there. To cut down on the isolation, make sure you get yourself out and about as much as possible. Go to networking events and other business groups and meet business contacts for coffee and a chat (not for too long though)!
7. Time management. You’ll find it much easier if you have plan a to-do list each morning for you to work through during your day. If you know what work you have to do, it’s much easier to get on and do it. This is vital when you’re first starting up and may not have much actual work to do – your focus then should be on marketing as much as possible.
8. Check out the legal regulations. Do you need to notify your landlord or your mortgage provider? If you just have a desk and a computer you should be fine. Do you need to increase your home insurance? Do you need to notify your local council? You should only really need to if you’re inviting people into your home. Planning in advance though is the key to keeping you out of trouble.
Working from home is loads of fun – if you plan it properly to set up some guidelines for yourself. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Working from Home - To learn more about this author, visit Helen Dowling'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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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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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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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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