Thursday, February 26, 2009

Distractions Can Kill A Home Business

By Sarah Parker

Many embrace the idea of working from home because they love the idea of being with their children and their family. This can often be a problem.

If you do not take steps in the very beginning, you'll be in serious problems later. You should immediately set limits. You must ensure that work remains separated from the family.

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.

Explain to them that even though you are home they still have to act as if you aren't. In other words, they can't call non stop with a passing thought and they can't expect you to watch their kids while they run errands because you are home, and they can't stop by uninvited.

Explain that you have a schedule to keep and this is how you get paid. You, yourself need to understand that this venture is not going to be all rosy either.

You'll have to put forth great effort and time, especially in the developing stages. This could eliminate some of you family and social events for some time.

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

Explain that you have all of your work related materials in there and everything needs to remain organized. Even keep separate bank accounts because if you merge family bank accounts with business bank accounts you will be in a heap of trouble at tax time.

Try as best as possible to maintain all hours worked and try to keep a schedule organized. You need a lot of breaks during 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 need to hire a baby sitter for a few hours here and there. Even spouses and older children may find it difficult to adapt. Especially if you have only one computer, you will probably hear a million times, asking how long until you get off computer.

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