7 Steps to Maintaining a Family-friendly Home Business

It takes real work and entrepreneurial savvy to set up a home business that works, and even more added effort when you have to manage your marriage and kids! Before you think about escaping “cubicle tyranny,” remember that running a home business alongside a family is not for the faint of heart. The good news is that, with the proper focus, motivation and discipline, a mom can successfully set up a business from home that works, and best of all, rewards.

Here are some steps to take in making sure your home business flies alongside your family.

1. Define your purpose.
In The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run and Maintain Her Own Business, entrepreneurs Emira Meers and Lauren Bacon say: “In order to feel successful, you need to know what success means to you.” Yes, a home business might be a great idea. But if you really are intent on pursuing one, you have to have a clear, defined purpose for it and what will make it successful for you. This involves asking yourself some serious questions like:

• Do I want to start a business so I can have more time with my family?
• Will starting a business help me contribute to the family income?
• Why do I want this business, money and financial gain aside?
• Is this business just for me, for my personal sense of accomplishment?
• Do I want to start this business so that I can change the world, in my little way?

… and other questions.

There are many reasons moms (or even dads) want to start a home-based business, though most are not clearly articulated. Even before mapping out a business plan, finding your true purpose for wanting a home-based business will help keep you motivated while you’re operating the business. Your defined purpose will help keep you going on days when your business seems bleak, and will re-orient your focus.

 

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2. Choose a business that’s suited to you.

Just because everyone’s on the food, health, garment or baby gear bandwagon doesn’t mean you’ll have the same kind of success. Always select a business that’s right for you, your skill set, your knowledge base. Remember this saying: “Do what you love and the money will follow.” As long as you do what you love, you’ll be less likely to wake up one morning and realize that you hate your business.

In creating a business that works for you, first consider your work experience, natural gifts, your values, and most importantly, what you are passionate about. Ask questions like:

• What jobs have I worked in?
• Which positions that I’ve held in the past did I enjoy most? 
• Which of my past jobs could easily be translated to a home-based business?
• What are my natural talents, things I excel in?
• Which of my skills or talents could be channeled into a money-maker?
• What’s my personality? Am I a leader or a follower? Am I better as a solo flyer or a team player?
• What stirs me up and makes me excited so that I’ll WANT to work on it?
• How much work time can I commit to in a day, given the time I need for the kids?

Answering these questions will help you zero in on the kind of business that is right for you, and that will most likely work with your current situation.

3. Make family your number 1 business ally.
If you expect your home business to run successfully, the entire family needs to back it up with full support. Take the time to sit down with your spouse and your kids and explain your reasons for wanting to start a business. Be honest and clear about the changes a home business will bring so that all members of the family are prepared for the shift in the current dynamics.

Creating balance between your family and your business is crucial. Even though you have a business to attend to, remember that your family should always be able to get in touch with you if they need you. Communicate to your spouse and kids that your office door is never shut when it comes to attending to pressing needs. Also, let your family know that you need sufficient time to grow the business. When you all agree to keep specific times for family and for the business, you can eliminate incidences of misunderstanding or “tampo”.

 

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4. Maintain a master work-and-family calendar.
Make sure that your home business is built around your family goals and activities; neither should interfere with the other. Remember: your business is supposed to contribute to making your family life better. Always prioritize your family life first so that you can define the blocks of time you can give to your business.

The simplest way to keep track of your personal life and business is by maintaining a master calendar. You can use a planner book or online tools such as Google Calendar. I find Google Calendar to be extremely useful for the following reasons:

• It tracks all events, appointments, and family activities and keeps them all in one place.
• It can be accessed anywhere, whether on your laptop or your mobile phone.
• It can be shared with other family members so that your spouse and your kids can be informed of all family events (and respect your business activities).
• It can be programmed to send reminders via email and SMS so that you stick to your agenda.
• It prioritizes activities so that you can make your family activities priority number one, for example.

5. Maintain a feasible work schedule.
Starting a business from home is often a two-edged sword. Most moms start a business so they can spend time with their families, but a lot of moms end up closing shop because they don’t have enough time with their families. This is because, without a work schedule that’s feasible, a home business can potentially suck out all the time you had intended for your family.

Here’s how to stay on track: Consider an average day in which you work on your home business, and list down the daily tasks involved, such as

• Emailing clients, service providers, suppliers; responding to customers, etc.
• Making orders, shipping orders
• Balancing your accounts
• Collecting receivables
• Promotions and marketing
• Training and supervising employees

 

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How much time will these tasks take? Overestimate the time each task might take, and compute the actual number of hours you allot for your business. Then, on your master calendar, identify the biggest blocks of time that have no family activities. These are your “office hours.” Once you have them noted, break down your “office hours” into time blocks, with the above-mentioned tasks. A sample schedule might look like this:

7:00-8:00 am: Breakfast; bring kid to preschool
8:30-9:30 am: Exercise; shower
10:00-10:30 am: Check and respond to emails
10:30-11:00 am: Do marketing (Twitter, Facebook)
11:00 am: Pick up kid from preschool; check that helpers have begun prepping lunch
12 nn: Lunch
12:30 pm: Arrange orders, pack, call up delivery service for pick-up of supplies

By factoring your family activities and keeping you business hours as sacred, you can maximize your productivity and still maintain family activities at top priority.

6. Schedule breaks from work.
When you’re running a home business, taking care of your home, and raising your kids, the line between personal and professional life can get pretty blurred. In order for you to keep your work hours sacred and your family life intact, schedule your times for yourself. You will need them! On your master calendar, block off about fifteen to thirty minutes every day as your “me time.” During this time, you could

• Meditate
• Have a home service mani-pedi
• Take a nap
• Surf your favorite blogs, read a magazine
• Exercise (it only takes a few minutes to get your heart rate pumping!)
• Take a long shower or bath

Stick to your “me time” religiously so that you maintain a healthy balance of family, work, and leisure. Doing so will ensure that you stay rested and refreshed as you go along your work day.

 

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7. Know when to stop working.
At home, you don’t have a Bundy clock and punch card to log your time. It’s very easy to keep on working until you realize you’re completely burned out. Set the proper time boundaries so that you will stop working when you need to spend time with your spouse and your kids. You don’t want your business sucking out all your personal time: it will only lead to exhaustion, and worse, resentment from your kids or spouse.

Remember: You are the boss of you, of your home business. On days when you feel like it’s running you: stop, say “no” or “not now,” and say “yes” to your “me time” and your family.



Photo from sxc.hu

 

April 28, 2011

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