Five Tips For Home-Based Business Owners
An organized desk with paper and computer monitorRunning a business from your home often sounds great: working for yourself, getting creative, and making money doing something you love to do. We offer special legal subscription plan coverage for home based businesses to take some of the legal guesswork out of running your business day-to-day, but there are other, practical considerations, too:
Where You Live
There may be rules for the kinds of home-based businesses that can be run from your neighborhood. Apartment living means knowing what is within the rules for business activity and what the apartment management will allow. If you're renting, talk with your landlord or apartment manager first and make sure that your home-based business doesn't break any rules in your lease.
Where You Work
Being self-motivated and focused means having a dedicated work space, and it is difficult to concentrate on daily work tasks from the couch. You can get more work done if you set aside an area in your home that is private, conducive to your work style and the kind of work you do, where your work can be kept organized. Dedicate a corner of the living room to a workspace, or make sure that the kitchen table is cleared at the end of the night and ready for work the next day. If you have enough space, set aside a room for your work.
Anticipate Distractions
It's wonderful not to have to commute to work, but maintaining focus throughout the day when you're sharing your working and living space can be challenging, particularly if you live with others. There are dozens of ways that working from home can be distracting: conversations, daily chores, child care, personal phone calls, visitors, and neighbors can all become work distractions fairly easily. You can combat some of these by making sure that your family or roommates know and understand your work schedule and give you time and space to work. Scheduling your time so that you have hours blocked out for work tasks and household tasks that don't overlap is also helpful. Communicate your needs to others in your household and ask for their support in your new endeavor. Sectioning off part of your home as an official workspace not only allows you to establish boundaries during work hours from those you live with, but has the added bonus of possibly being a tax write off.
Develop Discipline
Time management and motivation are two of the biggest weaknesses mentioned by work-from-home entrepreneurs. Taking an online time management course may prove helpful, and many are free of charge. Keeping a list of your goals within sight during your workday can also help keep you motivated. These goals might be more freedom to travel, or saving for a big purchase, or helping people. Whatever your reasons for starting your home-based business, remember your passion and stay focused on the big picture.
Take Breaks
Staying committed and working hard are both important, but knowing when to stop and take a breather is just as important. You can't help anyone or get your tasks completed if you're exhausted. Just like you need to create household boundaries to do your work, you also need to create work boundaries so you can live the life working from home can give you. Create set hours when you take business calls. Shut down your computer at a specific time every day. Put away your work documents and set up for the next day at a certain time each day. Not taking the time to rest can cause your relationships to suffer and you can burn out. Create a schedule for your work tasks and home tasks each day and stick to it as much as possible.
Running a successful home-based business takes dedication, diligence, motivation, and organization. Learning to work around distractions, keeping yourself motivated, and staying organized will increase your chances of success, help you meet your goals, and give you time to do to the things you want to do outside of work, too. Knowing how to balance your work and life to maintain healthy home and work relationships takes a lot of effort, but the end result is amazingly rewarding for you, your family, and your customers.
You're not on your own running your home-based business. Our small business consulting services and legal subscription plans for individuals and home-based businesses can help you start out - or keep going! - on the right foot!
