If you enjoyed yesterday’s post about how to determine whether you are qualified to run a home – based business, you may want to continue doing the rest of this thought provoking exercise because listing your previous work experience was just one step in the direction of learning about what kind of home – based business you are qualified to run. Oops, I may have just let the cat out of the bag – we were talking about whether you are qualified to run a home – based business, and the exciting truth of the matter is that many people are qualified to run a home – based business. This exercise is helpful because many of those people who are qualified do not realize it, and may shelve their home – based ambitions based upon a mistaken belief that they do not have the skills that they will need to make it work.
Now that you have your previous work experience and skills in front of you, it is time to think about your current occupation and the skills that it has given you. Parenting is a complex task, and you may be surprised to see how much you have learned since your children came along. Things like organizing the family’s schedule and budget take attention to detail and time management skills. Although some of the people that you deal with on a daily basis are pint – sized, your people skills have been tested and strengthened time and time again. You are now likely to be a much better negotiator than you were before, as well as someone who has played a managerial role when it comes to managing behavior and doling out discipline. Speaking of people skills, you have also become adept at being a team player because that is how you get your family through the day. Let’s not forget about research, too. While some aspects of parenting come naturally, you may have had to research many topics when deciding what to do about things like teething, potty training, sibling rivalry, and so on. Since there is a lot of parenting information out there, you have had to sift through it and find the right solutions for your family. There are more skills too, but I will leave those for you to discover.
When you add your skills and experience from the work that you were doing outside the home prior to becoming a parent to the skills that you have built as a parent, you will see that you do have quite a variety of work skills. The good news here is that you can use those skills in whatever way you choose. All home – based businesses require dedication, attention to detail, and time management. If you are going to start your own business from scratch, that will require a willingness to “do it all” and the self discipline to get it all done. If you have those qualities, you are qualified to run a home – based business. The subject matter of your home – based business is entirely up to you. You can choose something that you have done before or take a passion of yours and develop it into something new.
Photo by cohdra on morguefile.com.