Running a business from home is not only very efficient but also very convenient. However, it requires discipline and the following tips, and those in subsequent parts, will help you get started.
Keeping Schedules in Home Business
When you are starting up a home business, it’s easy to ignore the alarm clock and get up whenever you want to get up. You are your own boss, you should be able to keep the hours that you want, right? Wrong. This is a misconception that many who are going into a home business have.
It is true that you are your own boss, but if you work from 9 to 5 one day, and then don’t get up until noon the next day, people won’t take you seriously.
When you are setting up your home business, the first thing that you should do is to pick a schedule and stick to it. This way your customers know when they can reach you. This is good for business, and will help keep your customers coming back.
When you sit down to plan out your business hours, figure out a starting time and a closing time, and factor in time for lunch as well.
If you were working in an office environment, you would take a lunch break so set an acceptable amount of time to be at lunch and stick to it.
You don’t have a time clock that you have to go by, but you will have customers who are counting on you to be available during the hours that you set.
Just as it’s important to stick to your time for starting, it’s just as important to stick to your time when you will be closed for the day.
It’s easy to want to check your email, but unless you are talking to a customer when the time comes, don’t spread yourself too thin by going over time.
Keeping Yourself Business Oriented
For most home businesses, the computer and the Internet are an integral part of the success or failure of the business.
However, just like when you are at work, there’s always the temptation to check your email, talk to friends online, or play a game when you are not busy.
However, just like at a job that you commute to, this should be something that should be avoided when you are working at your home based business.
One way to help avoid doing this is to set up an account on your computer that is just for your home based business.
Set up an email that is just business, set up an instant messenger that is just business, and use the web browser to just do things that are part of the business.
The temptation is still there, of course, but if you start doing this right away you will find that it’s not so difficult.
The other reason that setting up an account that is separate for your business is good because when you are doing things that are personal on the computer you will be less likely to work during your ‘off’ hours.
One of the biggest mistakes that people who work from home make is that they are ‘always’ working. They never allow themselves time to be ‘off the clock’.
This isn’t something that is healthy, and it’s something that should be avoided. Having a separate account on your computer helps to prevent this from happening.[ad#in-post]
