Thursday, February 26, 2009

Distractions Can Kill A Home Business

By Sarah Parker

Many adopt the idea of working at home because they like the idea of being with their children and their families. This can often be a problem.

If you do not take steps in the very beginning, you are going to be in big trouble later on. You must immediately set boundaries. You must ensure that business matters remain separate from family matters.

Remember that family and friends do not look at your new work at home venture like you do. Consider holding a family meeting so that you can discuss this right away.

Tell them that even if you're at home they must act as if you are not. In other words, they can not call non-stop with a passing thought and they can not ask for you to watch their children while they do things just because you're home, and they are not to stopped by uninvited .

Explain that you have a schedule to keep and this is how you get paid. You must make them understand that this is a company and has to be run like one.

You will have to put forth a lot of effort and time, especially in the developing stages. This could eliminate you from some family and social events for a while.

You must have an area of your house that is for you to work in. It is your work space, not for children to color or do their homework in.

Explain that you have all of your work related materials and everything and it needs to stay organized. Even keep separate bank accounts, because if you merge bank accounts family with business bank accounts, you'll be asking for a lot of problems at tax time.

Try as best as possible to maintain set work hours and try to keep an organized schedule. Do allow yourself much needed breaks throughout the day to stretch.

It can be very difficult for children to understand that mom or dad is at home but can not be harassed, especially for young children. They can be very entertaining, which will lead you to lose time.

You may have to hire a babysitter for a few hours here and there. Even spouses and older children can find this difficult to adjust to. Especially if you only have one computer, you will likely hear a million times, them asking how much longer until you get off the computer. - 15433

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