A couple of weeks ago, I had one of those weeks that was just too full. I was way behind on my home-based business tasks, there were lots of “extras” in the children’s lives needing time and attention, the taxes and financial aid forms were waiting…well, you get the picture. I felt like I was on overload.
I am so very blessed to be able to tell you that I reached out to my husband for help. And he stepped right up to the plate. He took on ALL the evening driving for a week (taking kids to events), did the grocery shopping, ran my errands and responded promptly to all other requests for assistance. He knows I don’t expect him to do this every week on top of his own more-than-full-time work, and he was willing to help me out of a tight spot by temporarily putting more on his own plate.
So, I’d encourage you to allow loved ones to help you when you are in danger of overload. Sometimes a short, temporary reprieve can allow you to get things under control again.
And what if you don’t have any family or close friends to ask? It may be in your children’s best long-term interest to hire some short-term care (or, even better yet, temporarily hire out some of the work at home tasks especially if they are things you don’t particularly enjoy…every position has some of those 
.
Overload can happen for the work at home mom. Don’t let it become a permanent state!
It’s so encouraging to see the work at home mom powerhouse acknowledged and acclaimed. And that happened this week on national news!
Monday’s The Early Show on CBS featured “great turnkey companies” for women, examples of ready-to-go companies that are ideal for busy women who want to get started in a business with minimal initial investment and most of the set-up work taken care of. Sounds just like us work at home moms, doesn’t it?
As long as it remains in the online archive, you can see the CBS video on these “turnkey companies” (including the company I represent!) here.
Just being at home. That’s the glory of being a work at home mom. I was visiting with other moms at home yesterday and we were sharing with one another examples of precious times with our children…times that we would have missed had we not been at home.
For instance, even though I may be working in another room, when my brood cracks up about something funny, I don’t miss the moment. I can slip into the living room and check out the cause of the mirth. Or when one of my boys has a question about something that seems important to him, I am there. Even if I can’t answer it at the moment (because I’m working), I can note it and address it at a mutually workable time.
Yep, I love being at home with my family. And I’m so grateful for the work at home option that makes that possible!
I’ve been involved recently with an area Foundation committed to creating assets and wealth among low-income people in an eight-state region. One of the Foundation’s programs has been created to “help low-to-moderate-income business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs create strong businesses.”
The program’s sessions cover “all the essential lessons of starting a business, from figuring start-up costs and profit goals, to marketing and developing a business plan to acquire a loan.” There is, indeed, a lot to cover in the nuts and bolts of starting a traditional business. Many a work at home mom has done it, and quite successfully. I enjoy reading those feature stories about a mom who took a simple idea and catapulted it into a thriving business venture working from home.
I also greatly appreciate the work at home option that does NOT require that kind of investment. One that comes with built-in infrastructure, manufacturing, and professional expertise, with minimal start-up costs and overhead. That was the home-based business option that was the best fit for this mom who wanted to work at home. Sound appealing? It’s available to you too….click here to learn more.
So, the United States Postal Service sent me and likely everyone else a brochure in the mail (addressed to “Resident”), which asked “Do You Know the Warning Signs of Fraud?”. The brochure proceeded to tell me how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud. Stuff like: “Buyers want to overpay you for an item and have you send them the difference” and “Your bank will never e-mail or call you for your account number”. Yes, check, good advice.
And then I came to a “Fraud Fact” listing that discredited the entire brochure. I couldn’t believe it. This is what I read: “Be cautious of work at home job offers.”
What?! Doesn’t the federal government know that upwards of 60% of Americans want to have a home business?!
Should you act with discretion in aligning yourself with a work at home company? Sure! Are you wise to exercise due diligence in evaluating work at home programs? Yes! Are there some out there who market work at home jobs that are not valid? Of course! But it’s not the work at home element that makes these suspicious.
I would have thought the USPS would have a little more savvy than that. At first, I was thinking of this is a fraudulent fraud alert, but then I decided that may be a little too strong. But a fallacious fraud alert for sure. We’ve come a long way in accepting the growing emergence of the U.S. home-based business. But apparently we still have a ways to go.
I reached a quitting point today. You know, one of those super frustrating experiences where you just want to throw in the towel! I focused most of the day on some internet and computer projects, using new applications that I had to learn as I went. And there was one thing I just could NOT get to work right. I read the training manual. I experimented more times than I care to count (or recount). I tried and then I tried again. Grrrr!!
If I worked in corporate America, I would have called in the IT department, or picked up the phone to talk to a trainer. But I’m a work at home mom. I AM the trainer. And the IT department. So, do I quit?
Not likely. First of all, who knows whether IT personnel or trainers or manual writers or application designers really could have done any better. Boy, does it feel good to remember that. Secondly, I am not going to let a little (OK, a big) bump in the road detour me from this terrific path as a home-based business owner. And, of course, these kinds of difficulties build character (or some such positive quality!) and I will endeavor to find the good in this situation.
Quitting points for us work at home moms (and all the rest of us!)? Sure, we all have them. But what do we do with them?
I recently returned from a fantastic Conference sponsored by other home-based business owners who have businesses like mine under the same parent company umbrella. It was so helpful, so encouraging, so inspiring…and so fun! It reminds me of the definite need for the work at home mom to have support in her income producing ventures. If you don’t have access to a similar event, seek out support in other places. Here are some ideas of where to look:
- a number of industries have free “Mastermind” groups, where a number of business owners from across the country get together, either by phone, or in person, to support one another and brainstorm
- some blogs and forums whose subject matters are not at all specific to this topic have “communities” specifically for those who work at home; this can be a good place to meet with other workers at home with whom you share something else in common as well
- there may be business networking groups (like BNI) in your area that at least indirectly support those with home-based businesses (alongside the more traditional business people)
- consider general conferences, workshops and inspirational speakers, even if they are not specific to your industry
- And, of course, allow work at home mom blogs to provide information, encouragement and inspiration .
How is your new year going? Are you happy with the course so far of your 2011? Does it look a lot like your 2010? And if so, is that the way you want it to look?
If not, read and heed this advice from Business Philosopher Jim Rohn: “We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today.”
If you’re working at home, but not at peace with how it is going, or if you’re not working at home, but you’d like to be…Jim and I invite you to make better choices. Not sure where to begin? Contact me (through the “Request Info” page) and let’s talk!
The new year is a great time to assess the possibility of becoming or to assess the reality of being a work at home mom. It’s a time ripe for evaluation and change, isn’t it? So, do you want to become a work at home mom? Is wanting, hoping, thinking about it going to make it happen? There’s nothing wrong with wishing, but as one of my business mentors says, “improvement doesn’t happen because of hope”.
What are required for new things to happen for you are new behaviors and new thinking. But the new thinking does not mean you have to have it all figured out; you don’t have to know all the how’s of making it happen. What you need to think about differently is the decision to make it happen, the resolution, if you will (along with the new year’s theme). The decision comes first. You decide you will become (or remain) a work at home mom in 2011. THEN you can begin to list the possible actions or behaviors that will support that decision. Those are the new behaviors. Commit to them and do them. Don’t get hung up by not knowing how it’s all going to work out.
What are some beginning steps you could list to support the decision to become a successful work at home mom? Learn about various work at home options, commit to reading this blog weekly for advice, ideas and inspiration , list your interests and strengths, talk with other work at home moms about what they are doing, contact me (through the “Request Info” page) for a peak into my terrific work at home experience as a woman with professional NonMom skills and a mother’s heart! Can you think of other steps to add to your list?
The new year is a fantastic time to become a successful work at home mom!
This is a great time for the entrepreneurial work-at-home mom (it’s a mouthful, but describes us moms with a home-based business pretty well). So, why is this a great time for women with nonmom skills who want to use them from home? Because the entire entrepreneurial landscape is hot.
This is the time of year when we reflect, assess, and often commit to changes. Those New Year’s Resolutions often reflect our desire to spend more time with family, align our priorities, and/or honor our deep internal desires to make a difference, to do something different. And from those reflections can come new entrepreneurial ventures.
Coupled with that natural seasonal timing is the economic timing of the state of our nation. An employer’s market gives the potential employee motivation to at least consider an entrepreneurial undertaking.
A blog I frequent had a post today referencing financial guru Dave Ramsey’s advice not to participate in the recession. Author Mary Kochan comments:
While a job loss can be a kick in the teeth for a lot of people, for some, it is the kick in the pants that gets them out and moving. Over and over again I hear people say, “When I got fired I thought it was the end of the world, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.”
The entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in this country and is one of the greatest cultural assets of this nation.
Is your entrepreneurism shining?
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