My Mobile Mini-Van Office Home Biz Families.com

I started my home businesses shortly after my daughter was born. Sometimes I miss the days when I could simply roll my child in her bassinet room to room while I worked. On Saturdays, I rolled her into our storage room so I could prepare Ebay orders. During the rest of the week, she would swing quietly next to me and sleep while I made calls and placed orders on the computer. When she was a few months old, I even brought her (and her portable swing) to a craft fair. Unfortunately, she got more attention than the products did.

Of course, the days of moving my sleeping child from room to room were short lived. It didn’t take long before I was setting up shop wherever they were playing versus taking them with me. Now, I work in their bedrooms, their playrooms, in the car, outside and even at the park sometimes.

Thankfully, technology has allowed us to work just about anywhere we want to. We have laptops, cell phones, and blackberries. However, if you run a home based business, you already know that not everything can be done on a laptop. (Trust me, I’ve tried.)

We still have paperwork to fill out, orders to place, checks to write, forms to file and other tasks that almost seem old-fashioned in today’s society. Since my kids are quite mobile now (they are both preschoolers) I came up with a solution for getting things done while we are on the go…which is usually *always*.

I created a mini-van office. It is quite simple, actually. I simply purchased a handled filing box at a local discount store that had a clear storage lid with compartments for rubber bands, a small stapler, paper clips, and pens, pencils and push pins.

In the files section, I put receipts (for tax purposes), a customer / client call list, updated to-do lists, order forms, catalogs, fliers, business cards and general information about my business that I could easily hand to someone who was interested. I also kept my mileage log and calculator in one of the pockets.

While I didn’t spend a tremendous amount of time working out of my van, these extras always came in handy. For example, while running errands, I would frequently find businesses that would allow me to post a flier or business card on their bulletin board. While getting a haircut, people would frequently ask me about my business and “wa-la”…I had a catalog ready to hand them. It seemed like I was always getting phone orders while I was on the go. Rather than asking a customer to call back (or having to call them back later), I would simply pull over and enter the order on an order form as they placed it.

I used my mini-van office most often when the kids would fall asleep in their car seats after a busy day at the park. Rather than trying to quietly transport them into their beds (which never worked anyway), I would pull over and work.

I am a bit of a “type-A” person when it comes to being efficient, so my mini-van office has been most useful during those times that I am sitting and waiting. I can figure out my expenses while waiting for my daughter to finish preschool, or calculate my mileage during those all too frequent times my girlfriend is late for a lunch date.

Anyone who is trying to balance a home business with raising children understands how valuable even a few extra minutes can be when trying to get work done. The mini-van office is a great way to sneak in a few work “to-dos” while you are busy running personal errands.

Do you have a “mini-van office”? What types of tools do you use to make your home business more efficient? I would love to hear your tips in the comments section.