Surviving and Thriving While Working from Home: A Quick Guide
Think you’ve got what it takes to start your own home-based business? We’ll shed some light on how you can survive and thrive while working from home. Read on...
“One more day working for this idiot, and I’m going to lose my mind!”
“I go full throttle all day long and most of what I make goes to the company, not me. I’m just tired of busting my butt for somebody else.”
“My daughter is sick again. One more day off, and I’m going to get fired.”
“That customer is so rude! I really wish I could just cut him loose.”
“Sixty hours a week would be one thing if this business were mine, but my heart’s just not in it anymore.”
“This commute is killing me! The gas is costing me as much as I make, and I’m spending hours of my day sitting in traffic.”
Any of this sound familiar? It might be tempting to think that being your own boss and starting a business from home would be the perfect solution to all these or any other number of problems you’ve encountered working for someone else. And you might be right. Owning your own home-based business can be a personally fulfilling and financially rewarding experience, but it can also be a disaster if you don’t know what you’re getting into.
Brad Meador is the founder and president of
CityAmerica, which provides very affordable and potentially lucrative, home-based, online city guide business opportunities to individuals across the U.S. According to him, one of the greatest mistakes people make when they want to start their own home-based business is doing it too quickly. “A lot of people want to quit their job and jump right in,” he said. “But you really need to get your ducks in a row and make sure what you want to do can really be done before you just leap out of your security.”
In fact, one of the real perks of buying into a reputable business opportunity is that you can often do it part-time at first, just to get a sense of what you’re in for and whether or not it’s something you can and want to do full-time. And, getting started oftentimes doesn’t have to be expensive.
For example, the upfront costs to buy an exclusive
CityAmerica site are less than $200, and the monthly fee thereafter is just $59. Anything above that belongs to the site owner. That’s not a bad investment when you consider some city site owners have generated annual income in the six figures. But Meador is quick to emphasize that
CityAmerica is not a “get rich quick” scheme. “We provide training, ongoing sales and marketing support, a 24/7 help desk…everything our site owners need to help them be successful,” he says. But, they have to be willing to do the work. “This is a very real business opportunity with great potential that you need to run just like any other business,” he adds.
CityAmerica’s General Manager, Barb Cochran, and her husband own more than one business, and she owns and manages a number of CityAmerica sites and has for a few years now. Cochran hasn’t worked outside of her home for 15 years. For her, the flexibility of working from home has always been the best part. “I was always there when my daughter got off the bus from school,” says Cochran. “I never had to worry about babysitters or what to do when she got sick; I was there.”
Okay, so owning your own home-based business can mean greater flexibility, substantial income, greater control of who you work for and with, as well as a chance to do what you love.
Sold! Right? Not so fast...
As you’re looking for and once you find the best business opportunity for you, one that fits your lifestyle and suits your financial goals, there are some things you need to know and really think about as you go about the daily business of working from home.
Key Survival Tips for Working from Home
Manage your time, manage your life. Want to burp the baby while trading e-mails? Sure, that might work. But when the kids start screaming and needing your undivided attention, doing your job is going to become all but impossible. Many people think that if they could just work from home, they’d have it made. All that flexibility you were craving that led you to work from home to begin with can really get you into trouble if you let it. A quick run to the store for office supplies can turn into two hours. A short call from a friend can launch into a two-hour advice session. “You need to have set hours when you are working,” Barb Cochran says. “You can schedule breaks during your day for the kids or to walk the dog, but you have to set a daily schedule and stick with it. You’ve got to be organized and committed,” she says. And, you need to know up front that you’ll probably need help.
You’re it, but you can’t be all of it. You’re the boss. The buck stops with you. That’s great, but it can also burn you out, even catch you off guard when you need some expertise you just don’t have. If you’ve been working for someone else up until now, you’re probably used to having some, even lots of support. When you start your own business from home, you need to make sure you’ve got that help lined up before you need it. Accountants, lawyers, bankers, insurance people, even consultants and temporary administrative workers can be critical partners for you in starting your own business and growing it. Take time to identify the most reputable, affordable and accessible resources in each of these categories, because you just might need them sooner than you think!
Set goals. The only way to accomplish anything in life is to know exactly what it is you’re trying to achieve and then take the necessary steps to get there. Every successful business started with just a few small steps. So it’s really important to create and actually write down manageable goals that you can stick to on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Maybe your goal for each day is to make thirty sales calls and to close just five or six a week, for a monthly total of 20 to 25 sales. Setting realistic short- and long-term goals and sticking to a daily routine that is designed to meet them is the key. Of course, what those exact goals are will really depend on the nature of your business and how much revenue you need to generate to stay afloat, remain profitable and even grow, if that’s what you want. The key is to take small steps each day and recognize that, with patience and by sticking with it, those small steps add up to your overall success over time.
Minimize distraction. If you’re friends and neighbors always see that you’re home, suddenly they think you’re available to watch their kids, pick someone up or run an errand. It doesn’t work that way. You need to make sure people know that just because you are home does not mean you have free time, you are working! This goes for your family as well. When you’re working, the sitter and the kids need to know that interruptions are only for when there’s an emergency, just as if you were at an office ten miles away. Turn off your home phone, or don’t take any calls that are not related to your business. If someone knocks on the door to chat, don’t answer it. If you must get out for lunch and some fresh air, put a time limit on your time away from your home office.
Environment is everything. A home office is not in a corner. It’s not at your kitchen table. It’s not in your bedroom. Not only is this critical for your own piece of mind and to minimize distractions, it’s financially a must. In order for a home office to be considered a tax write off, it must have a door, be enclosed and have distinct square footage. And, it can’t be used for anything else other than a home office.
Equip your office for success. Your home-based business is your job, and your home office should be equipped with every convenience you need to be successful, just as it would be in an office outside your home. High-speed internet access is a must-have so you can interact with your customers quickly and conveniently. There are so many home office bundling packages available today that you shouldn’t have any problem finding one that is affordable and offers just the right mix of services for your home-based business needs. If you can’t afford certain equipment starting out, look for alternatives. For instance, www.efax.com allows you to send and receive faxes from your PC free of charge.
Ergonomics matter. Ergonomics? What’s that? That was the question everyone was asking not too long ago. Today we know that the science of how to adapt working conditions to the worker is not just some buzz phrase, it’s really important for your well being. In fact, experts agree that everything from the height of your desk, to the type of chair you sit in all day long, to the contrast level on your computer screen can result in health effects, both good and bad. The good news is that if you’re working from a home office, you get to create the kind of working environment that you want and that’s best for you. Even if you don’t start out with your dream office, you do have the option to design one as you are able. So, think long-term about what will be good for you and make you comfortable when you’re making investments in your home office. You’re worth it!
If you don’t mind the idea of hard work and you truly want to be your own boss, a home-based business opportunity is often the most affordable and efficient option. The groundwork has been laid for you. The concept is fully developed and the lessons have already been learned by someone who is willing to guide you. The start-up costs are often very reasonable. You can start out part-time or full-time from the comfort of your own home and create your own definition of successful.
As Barb Cochran said when she happened upon the CityAmerica business opportunity, “It’s really a no-brainer! Why would you reinvent the wheel when you don’t have to?” Exactly…
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