Building a home business, caring for a family, and maybe even continuing to work a traditional job as well all take energy and focus—it can really take its toll on a person. In our attempt to prove that we are independent and that we can manage all the pieces of our lives with some degree of skill and care, we may overlook the offers of help that are popping up around us. It can take some practice and shifts in our thinking to learn how to accept help.
It may help to be reminded that family businesses are built on help! And, our home businesses definitely qualify as family businesses. Letting someone help you by taking the kids for an afternoon or helping you with bookkeeping, setting up a filing system, doing your taxes, sorting inventory, or any myriad other tasks and responsibilities can really be a good thing. In order to alleviate some of the unnecessary guilt in accepting help, perhaps you can offer to provide cookies and tea, or take the helper out to breakfast or lunch as “payment” for an afternoon of help?
If your automatic response when someone offers to help is to say “no, I’ve got it covered,” it may take some personal re-training to let yourself say “yes.” Of course, some supposed help isn’t really help at all—having someone come and sit and take up space, while providing a distraction when you are trying to get work done is definitely NOT help—but, if you’ve got tasks for them to do and they are willing to do them, perhaps you can visit while you work. You might want to start by accepting help from someone whom you trust to be a good helper and in a situation that feels well-intended just to get your feet wet in the world of accepting help.
See Also: Coping With the Stress of Being a Home Business Entrepreneur