Working from home is a dream come true for many
entrepreneurs. It permits you to sell products or services
you truly believe in, set your own hours, work by your own
rules, and it may even allow you to spend more time with
family and friends. But there are also many challenges
involved in operating a business out of your home. Among
these challenges are a multitude of distractions to contend
with, and the difficulty of growing your business while
maintaining its home-based status. The following are
solutions that serve to help home-based entrepreneurs with
some common challenges that they are likely to face:
1) Dealing with constant interruptions. Having more time
for your family and friends may have been one of your
primary goals in working from your home, but unless you set
some boundaries, the distractions that they can cause will
disrupt your workflow and may significantly decrease your
productivity. Inform your friends and family about your
work schedule and insist that they abide by it. Work from
a quiet place in your home, ideally your office if you have
one, but if not, find a peaceful place such as your bedroom
in which to set-up a makeshift office and, if possible,
keep the door closed. During work hours, do not answer
personal calls and advise your family not to disturb you.
2) Managing and entertaining young children. If you have
young children at home, working with them around can be an
extraordinary challenge. Interruptions from very young
children may be unavoidable if you don't have someone there
to care for them while you work. Weigh the cost of hiring
a babysitter at least part-time versus the profits that can
be obtained in the free time gained. If a sitter is not an
option for you, and you have a baby, set-up a playpen with
toys next to your work area. For pre-school children,
puzzles, building blocks, play-dough and coloring books are
great ways to keep them occupied. Be sure to change the
activities or toys every time you work, and take play
breaks or your children will quickly become bored.
3) The business is becoming too large for your home. If
you are becoming too busy to handle all the work yourself,
but you still want to maintain your business' home-based
status, you may want to consider hiring virtual
contractors. By outsourcing some of your duties virtually,
you get the help you need, while avoiding moving your
business out of your home in order to hire employees.
Today, you can outsource just about any task virtually.
Some examples of this are:
- Bookkeepers and Accountants for financial matters
- Virtual Assistants for administrative functions
- Marketing Specialists for search engine optimization and
general marketing
- Web Designers for website design or maintenance
Outsource the tasks you enjoy least, and this will give you
the bonus of enjoying your work more in addition to saving
you time.
4) How to handle necessary absences. Taking a sick day or
2 may not be too detrimental to your business' health, but
what if you need more time to recover from illness, or just
plain need a vacation? If it's possible in your industry,
consider automating your business. Autoresponders can
handle most email inquiries and you may be able to set up
an automated ordering system. If automation is not an
option for your company, you might consider outsourcing to
a Virtual Assistant. Most VAs are business owners
themselves and consequently know the ins-and-outs of
running a business. A Virtual Assistant will be able to
check and respond to emails, handle customer inquiries,
process orders and more.
These are just a few solutions to some of the more
prevalent difficulties that a home-based business owner
might face. A little advanced planning for the management
of distractions and other problems in your business will
help you overcome even the greatest of challenges.
----------------------------------------------------
Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and President of
Virtually There VA Services. To find out how using a
Virtual Assistant can simplify your life and increase your
profitability, visit her website at =>
http://www.virtuallythereva.com . While you're there,
don't forget to sign up for her free monthly newsletter
providing useful information that enhances and simplifies
the lives of busy entrepreneurs.
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