Working from home is a dream for many people, but very few actually take the risk and start their own business from home. Most people say
they are afraid of the uncertainty that is waiting for them I would say, however, that it`s the responsibility that comes with managing one’s own business that prevents people from pursuing their dreams.
With all the difficulties that a home business can cause, it is still enormously fulfilling and rewarding to work from home. Being your own boss allows you to decide when and where to work, spend enough time with your family and friends, and be there for people you love. It offers one the opportunity to enjoy life at its fullest.
In this article, I have prepared a few tips for you that hopefully will help you build a successful business and efficiently manage it from home.
1. Find the True Reason for Starting a Home Business
If you ask people what attracts them in starting their own business from home, you`ll hear all the same answers, like spending more time with family and kids, earning more money than a normal 9-to-5 job can bring, or move to another country, or just travel and continue making money.
However, most of the time, the initial goal that actually moves us to make life-changing decisions, and put great effort into what we do, is hidden much deeper than that. So the first thing you need to do before starting a home business is to think WHY you need it, what you are expecting it to give you. For some it may be recognition, while for others – an opportunity to do what they always wanted to do.
Why is it so important? you might ask. I must say, it`s our inner motives that drive us to greater things. These promptings help us stick to something and not let go even if things do not go as perfectly as we would want them to. Believe me, you will need a strong argument to keep working on your own business during hard times.
2. Do What Suits You
Unfortunately, the Internet, and especially social networks, are telling people to become fashion or travel bloggers, to create their own clothes brand, or whatever. But nobody`s telling us that maybe that`s not what we like, or what we do well; that if we found our business on our own personal passion or skills, it will work too; no need to copy others.
It`s best of course to determine what kind of business you`d like to have as early as possible, because as soon as you put your time, effort and probably money i
nto it, it will be too late to turn back and start everything from scratch.
Here are a few things you need to consider before choosing your niche. And make sure to be realistic and honest with yourself.
· Your passion. Think of what really excites you. What kind of work makes you forget about the world around you? You are going to do this every single day, so make sure to choose what you love the most.
· Your skills. The only thing that can be more important than your passion is your skills. Making your way will be several times harder if you choose something you are still learning or mastering. But if you share your skills, and maybe even your art with others, the way to success will be much shorter.
· You work experience. Having previous work experience can be useful in two ways: it will help you realize what kind of tasks you enjoy doing and can handle quite well, and what tasks you are bad at. If you figure it soon enough, you can get professional help for the tasks you don`t do well. This can save yourself a lot of time.
· Your family situation. It`s highly important to take your family into account, and especially your children. The smaller your children are, the more time they will demand. So be realistic about how much time you can spend on your own business.
3. Talk to Your Family
If you are determined to start your own business from home, you need to talk to your family about how much it means to you. It will certainly change things for both you and them. Having explained that you will need to spend more time on your work, don`t forget to mention that your family is still your priority and you will need their support, and maybe even help, in order to succeed in what you do.
On the other hand, you will also need to explain that as home will be your office now, they will need to learn to give you more time alone working on your business. They will need to get used to the idea that if you are at home, it doesn`t mean that they can approach you at any time.
4. Make Your Family a Priority on Your Work Schedule
People start a home business to be able to dedicate more time to their family, so it would be only natural to create a work schedule that would have enough space for your family activities. It would be even better to build your schedule around your family life. To do that, add all your family tasks, meetings and activities to a calendar of your choice (many prefer Google calendar); it will help you figure out what time you have actually left for work and plan it accordingly. Make sure to add everything that pops in your mind – from school pick-up to birthdays, school events and extra classes.
Having all your plans in one calendar app has many advantages. First, you can synchronize it with as many devices as you need and never miss an event. Secondly, you`ll be able to easily share it with your partner or other family members, and if there is a change of plans, everyone will be aware of it.
A calendar app is also a lifesaver for many because it reminds them about important events via email or text, which, by the way, helps us remember all important family occasions.
5. Create a Realistic Schedule
Managing your own business demands a lot of dedication. You should keep in mind, while working from home, it`s easy to get distracted. Once you postpone a couple of work tasks, they will start piling up and taking more and more of your family time.
In order to avoid this, and guarantee that your work time won`t interfere with your family time, you need to create a strict schedule that will help you keep track of your work tasks and not fall behind.
Here are my tips on how to create an effective work schedule for your home business.
Ø Write down all your work tasks you need to do on a regular basis.
The most common tasks include creating your product or service, handling orders and shipment, answering your mail, working on your social media presence, creating content for your website, and supervising your assistants.
Ø Take a look at your family plans and see what time you have in hand daily.
The most valuable time would be the time when your kids are at school. That will allow you to work calmly without anyone interrupting you.
Ø Break all your work tasks into small portions and assign time to these small tasks.
That will help take everything out of your work time and accomplish tasks much more effectively.
And my final advice is, take your work hours seriously. You are in the office. Your office just happens to be at home. Don`t let your family interrupt you, unless there is something really important. And don`t let yourself even think about your house chores while you are ‘at work’. Sometimes we are our biggest enemies. Stay focused on your job, be consistent, and you will achieve success with your home business.
6. Determine Your Budget
Starting a new business, even if you manage it from home, demands a lot of money. Beside some obvious expenses like domain name and webhosting for your website, shipping or materials for your product, there are lots of hidden expenses that turn up in the process. The most common one, in my opinion, is marketing. You can literally spend everything you have on it because most of the time you would think that it`s never enough.
If you don`t want to go bankrupt before you even start your own business, it would be wise to determine how much money you can afford to spend on your business, and in case it doesn`t pay off in the first month (and most likely it won`t), you need to find a different source for income for the first few months.
Having a strict budget will also help you to avoid unnecessary expenses, find cheaper or even free ways to promote your business, for instance, and achieve success without spending a fortune.
7. Set Strict Working Hours
Setting strict working hours works both ways – on the one hand, it makes you stay consistent at your work and not get distracted by your family life. Only in this way can you focus on your work. On the other hand, a strict schedule tells you when to stop. It says, “You must finish your work for the day. It’s now time to have some rest or spend time with your family.”
Unfortunately, some people believe that they need to work until they fall, using every single opportunity to work. However, in the long run, the absence of any kind of schedule only wears you out, and you may even start regretting starting your own business.
Aim at achieving balance between your family and work, give each of them their own time, and don`t let any of them dominate in your life. After all, it`s you who decides how much time and energy to dedicate to your work and when it`s time to stop.
8. Do Outsourcing
Having just started your own business, you might be doing all work tasks yourself. You are excited about something you`ve always dreamed of, and you are looking for perfection. However, as soon as your work becomes more systematic, you may start to outsource some of the tasks to free up some time for expanding your business and moving forward.
There are lots of websites, like oDesk or Fiverr or PeoplePerHour, where you can find contractors for jobs like creating content for your website or social networks, or handling your email workl. The biggest advantage of these websites is that they guarantee that the work will be done, and you can find contractors that would do the job for the amount of money you are able to pay.
9. Don`t Forget About Breaks
Many people who work from home start feeling worn-out and extremely tired very soon. It happens because they spend all their day either working on their business or taking care of their home and family, forgetting that they also need some me-time in-between.
Being stuck between work and family errands can lead to a burnout very quickly, so don`t forget to find some time to relax and give yourself a break. Here are a few ideas how to wind down during the day.
Ø Meet a friend for a coffee
Ø Take a bath surrounded by candles
Ø Have some fun with your kids
Ø Meditate
Ø Do sports
Ø Get a nap
Ø Spend time on your hobby
Taking breaks on a regular basis will help you stay energized and motivated. Something as simple as getting up and walking around, either in the office, or outside, for five minutes, will help. Short breaks will have a positive effect on your business and your well-being in the long run.
10. Don`t Skip Meals
Combining family engagements and work demands a lot of energy from us, so we need to remember to take good care of ourselves too. The better we feel, the better we can handle our work tasks. I`ve noticed that some people instead of taking a break for lunch, just snack on something really unhealthy. Many do this while at their computer because they don’t want to waste time taking a lunch break to prepare a meal. They keep on working instead.
I completely understand this viewpoint, but it appears to me to be a wrong attitude. Of course, I`m not saying that a person needs to prepare an elaborate meal for lunch. I suggest finding ways to save time on cooking. But never skip it.
While preparing school lunch boxes for your kids in the morning, why not prepare another one for yourself? It won`t take much of your time, it will give you extra working time in the middle of the day, and at the same time, you will have a balanced meal during the day.
+1 Bonus Tip
Attend Professional Events
Working at an office with a bunch of other people has its own bright side – you socialize every day, it`s easy to take a break by starting a small-talk with a colleague. But when you work from home, you might start feeling the lack of communication quite soon.So, I highly recommend that you find events for professionals like yourself in your area to have an opportunity to socialize with people who work in the same business. This will give you an opportunity not only to socialize, but to grow your network at the same time. What could be getter than socializing with people who will help you promote your product or service?
Conclusion
To sum up, here are the major guidelines you need to follow while starting your own home business. Plan it all out before taking the first step. Be realistic. Take care of yourself. If you follow these points, you will increase your chances of succeeding at what you are doing.
Now I`d like to hear from you! What home business do you have in mind? What made you start thinking of starting your own business? Share your thoughts and ideas below in the comments section!
