When you are looking for home-based work, you may be tempted to pounce on the first job opportunity that comes your way. While you may think that home-based work opportunities are scarce (because if they weren’t, wouldn’t everybody be doing it?), the reality is that there enough home-based work opportunities out there that you can afford to be selective. It is only natural to want to get a home-based job as soon as you can, but there can certainly be a down side to taking the first opportunity that comes your way. There is an old saying that “beggars can’t … Continue reading →

One of the most important things that a home-based professional can do to ensure the success of his or her business is making professional development an ongoing activity. No matter what type of home-based business you have, there is always something more that you can learn about it. By regularly taking time to read books or attend classes, you can keep current with the latest news and information about your industry while you learn skills that can help you with every area of your home-based business. Personally, my favorite type of professional development activity is reading books. I like reading … Continue reading →

One of the great things about owning your own business is that you can move the business forward at whatever pace you feel comfortable with. There are no other decision-makers to tell you when it’s time to update your marketing strategy or reassess your pricing. There is also no one telling you what your work hours should be and when it is time to consider changing your schedule. You are responsible for ensuring that your business continues to evolve and while this may seem like a heavy burden, it can also be a great joy. One of the many joys … Continue reading →

Thank goodness it’s Friday. These are the words that are uttered in many an office all over the world at the end of the work week. For home-based professionals, though, Friday may be just anther day. The work week of a home-based professional may be quite different from that of professionals that work outside of the home. While this is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it can cause home-based professionals to feel a little bit out of sync with the rest of the world. As much as home-based professionals who do some or all of their … Continue reading →

Sometimes in the course of our daily lives, we witness events that cause us to pause for a moment and reflect upon our circumstances. People that are considering transitioning to working at home and people who have made the transition to home-based work may have this type of experience upon learning that a friend or family member has lost a job. They may also have this type of experience upon learning that a local business is closing its doors. This week I have witnessed some very sad events, as a local business in the town where I live has drastically … Continue reading →

Although I am not much of a list person, today I came across a list that I think is worth mentioning. It is a list of twenty-five common characteristics of successful entrepreneurs, and it originally appeared in “The Ultimate Home Based Business Handbook” by James Stephenson. For those of us that are already running our home businesses, this list is a good self-evaluation tool that we can use to identify areas where we can improve in order to achieve even greater success. For people that are wondering whether a home-based business is right for them, the list is useful as … Continue reading →

Bad days – we all have them. Not even the most successful person that you can think of is immune from having a bad day. In fact, if someone tells you that they never, ever have a bad day then they are probably not telling the truth. Since bad days are inevitable, it makes sense to think ahead of time about what you will do when you have one. The right bad-day coping strategy can help you to get through a tough day and also can help you to keep a bad day from turning into a bad week or … Continue reading →

Many home-based professionals and many people that dream of working from home do so because they want to be stay-at-home parents. However, even though being a stay-at-home parent is a rewarding choice, to say the least, it is not without its difficult moments. Some of the difficult things that happen when one or both parents chooses to stay at home are related to finances, trying to earn as much as possible from home and keep expenses as low as possible. These are not the things that trouble me the most. With good communication and a commitment to working together to … Continue reading →