Your Own Home-Based Business: It's All in the Family
Balancing work life with family sure can be challenging in this
day and age. Most of us are working harder and longer just
trying to keep up with the bills and the overall cost of living.
The cost of everything keeps going up: food, utilities,
gasoline, insurance, and day care, just to name a few. It's hard
to keep up and still spend quality time with your children. As a
result, more and more people are choosing to start their own
home based businesses.
While it's true that working from home can keep you closer to
your family, it also requires a well-organized and consistent
approach in order to meet the needs of both your business and
family life. To be successful, you must find ways to put in the
hours necessary to start and grow your business without being
detoured by family matters. You will need to manage your tasks
and optimize your time. If you or your spouse hold a regular
job, then conscientious time management will be even more
crucial. By establishing boundaries and through careful
planning, you can manage your time and priorities so that your
family can be an asset to your business rather than a
distraction.
First, think about how you could divide business specific tasks
between you and your spouse. Plan your work, then work your
plan. For example, while one spouse is at the workplace holding
down a conventional job, the other can stay at home and spend
time working the business by writing and posting ads, doing
research, ordering product, and so forth. In the evenings when
the spouse returns home from the office, that person can take
over duties such as answering emails and making phone calls for
training and prospecting purposes, while the other attends to
the children and household tasks.
Also, consider recruiting your children into your home
business. They may be able to help with certain tasks. Perhaps
your oldest child can babysit the younger siblings during
certain times of the day or evening. Children may also be able
to help by preparing items for mailing, cleaning your office,
and organizing and filing paperwork (don't be shocked, however,
when you get asked to raise their allowance!).
Talk with your family and come to some agreements about the
importance of your home business. Make them aware of the demands
it places on each member as well as yourself. Gain their
understanding and cooperation. Restrict personal use of the
telephone to specific times so that your line will not be tied
up during your business hours (or better yet, consider having a
second phone line installed to be used just for business). Lay
down the law that family must stay out of your office area
during working hours. To make it easier for them to adhere to
your rules, try to coordinate your work schedule with family
activities, and schedule some non-business time during crucial
times of the day, such as when the kids get home from school and
at mealtimes. Be sure to discuss your business schedule with
extended family members and friends. Inform them of your working
hours and ask them not to drop by or call you during those times
when you are working on your business.
Work hard and fast to build your home business, and keep going!
Make the whole family aware of what you are doing and what you
need from them. You'll probably find that they are all willing
to help however they can. The rewards will be worthwhile, and
you and your family can reap the benefits for years to come.