They Laughed When I Started A Home Based Business
They Laughed When I Started A Home Based Business
Home based businesses can place some unique demands on their owner-operators, especially when there are no staff or work mates to share the load.
But a successful home based business does find ways to overcome the hurdles of workplace isolation, domestic intrusions, and wearing multiple business hats.
If you are starting out in a HBB, you should expect to encounter stress and time problems similar to those of other business owners but accentuated by the fact that you work at home.
These ideas can help make the organisation of your home based business a little easier on yourself:
1) Plan your time and establish priorities, using a daily "to do" list. Decide what your "prime time" is and do your most important or difficult tasks.
Set "business hours" - specific times when you are at work - and times when you turn on the answering machine because you are "on duty but off call."
You, your customers, and your family will appreciate knowing your routine, and still appreciate that for special events or emergencies you may break that schedule.
2) Notice what your four or five big time-wasters are, and learn techniques to eliminate them or compensate for them.
Some common ones are: telephone interruptions, visitors, socializing, excessive paperwork, lack of policies and procedures, procrastination, failure to delegate, unclear objectives, poor scheduling, lack of self-discipline, and lack of skill in a needed area.
Then set yourself policies and procedures – just like any other established business has – to deal with them.
3) Stay in contact with people. Even though you prefer to work at home, you should plan work-related or social activities that provide frequent contact with others.
This will help your morale if you feel isolated. Even for home-based business owners who like feeling isolated, keeping up with business and professional contacts is a must.
Joining a business networking group can be a great way to do this, as you are expanding your business contacts at the same time. Contact the Economic Development Unit at your local council to discover networking groups in your area.
4) Build a fitness program into your day. Many successful entrepreneurs exercise in order to think creatively. Physical activity sends oxygen to the brain and helps the mind function better.
With regular exercise your health will improve, your stress level will go down, and your healthy looks will inspire people to have confidence in your abilities.
5) Give your home business as much of a separate and distinct physical identity as possible.
Although you might save a few dollars by using the ironing board as a bookshelf and a cardboard box as a file cabinet, the stress and strain of operating without proper space and supplies will take its toll.
Have a separate room or area for your business, with a separate entrance if customers or suppliers visit. Consider soundproofing if necessary, so your family won't be bothered by your noise and vice versa.
6) Make your workspace a pleasant place to be. You have the freedom to organise and decorate as you please. You can use music, an oil burner, pictures, posters and decor to give your self a positive and creative environment.
And you can make it a safe and comfortable place to work, by getting a good quality ergonomic chair, work station, and other office furniture; and creating a safe and pleasant production or assembly environment if you do any kind of home based production.
7) Take care of your major business asset: YOU. Being the boss can be exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding. It can also be lonely, stressful, and demanding.
Learn to balance your professional and personal life. Take annual holidays. Get a weekly massage. Join a health club. Take a class in meditation. Attend a business owner's breakfast club. Or do whatever else works best for you. Your business depends on you to be at your best.
They Laughed When I Started A Home Based Business - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Regier's Website.
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But Their Laughter Turned To Amazement When I Showed What I’d Accomplished In A Year!
Home based businesses can place some unique demands on their owner-operators, especially when there are no staff or work mates to share the load.
But a successful home based business does find ways to overcome the hurdles of workplace isolation, domestic intrusions, and wearing multiple business hats.
If you are starting out in a HBB, you should expect to encounter stress and time problems similar to those of other business owners but accentuated by the fact that you work at home.
These ideas can help make the organisation of your home based business a little easier on yourself:
1) Plan your time and establish priorities, using a daily "to do" list. Decide what your "prime time" is and do your most important or difficult tasks.
Set "business hours" - specific times when you are at work - and times when you turn on the answering machine because you are "on duty but off call."
You, your customers, and your family will appreciate knowing your routine, and still appreciate that for special events or emergencies you may break that schedule.
2) Notice what your four or five big time-wasters are, and learn techniques to eliminate them or compensate for them.
Some common ones are: telephone interruptions, visitors, socializing, excessive paperwork, lack of policies and procedures, procrastination, failure to delegate, unclear objectives, poor scheduling, lack of self-discipline, and lack of skill in a needed area.
Then set yourself policies and procedures – just like any other established business has – to deal with them.
3) Stay in contact with people. Even though you prefer to work at home, you should plan work-related or social activities that provide frequent contact with others.
This will help your morale if you feel isolated. Even for home-based business owners who like feeling isolated, keeping up with business and professional contacts is a must.
Joining a business networking group can be a great way to do this, as you are expanding your business contacts at the same time. Contact the Economic Development Unit at your local council to discover networking groups in your area.
4) Build a fitness program into your day. Many successful entrepreneurs exercise in order to think creatively. Physical activity sends oxygen to the brain and helps the mind function better.
With regular exercise your health will improve, your stress level will go down, and your healthy looks will inspire people to have confidence in your abilities.
5) Give your home business as much of a separate and distinct physical identity as possible.
Although you might save a few dollars by using the ironing board as a bookshelf and a cardboard box as a file cabinet, the stress and strain of operating without proper space and supplies will take its toll.
Have a separate room or area for your business, with a separate entrance if customers or suppliers visit. Consider soundproofing if necessary, so your family won't be bothered by your noise and vice versa.
6) Make your workspace a pleasant place to be. You have the freedom to organise and decorate as you please. You can use music, an oil burner, pictures, posters and decor to give your self a positive and creative environment.
And you can make it a safe and comfortable place to work, by getting a good quality ergonomic chair, work station, and other office furniture; and creating a safe and pleasant production or assembly environment if you do any kind of home based production.
7) Take care of your major business asset: YOU. Being the boss can be exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding. It can also be lonely, stressful, and demanding.
Learn to balance your professional and personal life. Take annual holidays. Get a weekly massage. Join a health club. Take a class in meditation. Attend a business owner's breakfast club. Or do whatever else works best for you. Your business depends on you to be at your best.
They Laughed When I Started A Home Based Business - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Regier'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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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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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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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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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr'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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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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