As means of introduction, I can relate to you since I am a bizydad, juggling work, handling the personal and business finances, the drop off and pick up of the twins at school, errands, soccer practice, getting homework done, baseball practice, evening baseball games, and getting some semblance of dinner started. I am sure you’re already nodding your head in agreement. The juggling act took on a challenge this past year when the kids stopped going to the after school program and I was getting them at 3:15 instead of my wife bringing them home at six. With them in day camp now until 6, I’m trying to take advantage of those few extra hours now. As challenging and frustrating as those predicaments can be, they are also facts of life for bizy moms or dads. To the real challenges of a home-based business. The first step is attitude. You must realize you are a business now and treat yourself as such. Just because you work at home doesn’t make you different from the store down the street. This is most difficult for creative people like writers, artists, craftspeople, and musicians. Many of us grew up where “business” was a bad word. They had all the money and we were labor. What does it mean to treat yourself as a business? Simply, put, people are going to pay you for your work, now. What is the value of the work, artisanship, time and effort invested in creating whatever product you are selling? It means you are setting the bar for prices, which is a continually ongoing battle even for me, now. I still have to weigh whether a potential client is worth taking on for the sake of having work and some money, or realize they don’t have the means to pay for your services. Sometimes, you have to walk away to protect yourself. In addition, you are battling the perception of the home-based business? How many e-mails do you receive proclaiming how much money you will make working from home? Let’s say you knit. People complement you about how beautiful the sweaters are. You decide why don’t I try to sell them? Your hobby has now changed into a business. Now, the sweater you knitted to give as a baby gift is now being sold as a baby gift. This goes for authors and musicians, too. While, there may be certain exceptions, everybody buys the book or CD, family and friends. No freebies except for a reviewer. Beware of volunteering. As a public relations person (and web site designer) I have run into this. You join a committee and when the issue of PR comes up, the members turn to you. Then, you have to draw the line. This is your area of professional expertise and you can’t give it away. Yes, everybody on the committee is a volunteer, but more than likely they are not volunteering responsibilities that involve their profession. The next thing you know you’re volunteering all the time. Which job takes precedence, the paying job or the volunteer one?
Article Source: http://bizymoms.com/business
I’ve provided you with ideas to think about in my initial column about Public Relations and Web Site design. In addition to offering tips about public relations and web sites, I hope to profile women businesses, some that may have started in the home – maybe still are – and how they became successful. Feel free to contact me at kleinerpr@kleinerprweb.com and visit: www.kleinerprweb.com