I have learned over the years that my ideas of “professional” and other people’s ideas about what “professional” means are not necessarily the same. It has been an interesting lesson to find that my expectations and classifications regarding what I think is appropriate business behavior doesn’t always mesh with customers, clients, colleagues and coworkers. Now, that I am running my own home business, it seems all the more important that I understand we may have differing ideas of what “professional” means.
I think that I am somewhere in the middle to moderate range in terms of my version of professional. As you’ve probably read, I believe in returning phone calls, keeping accurate records, arriving on time for meetings, working with contracts and being timely with payments and invoices. That said, I’m not sitting down to my desk every day decked out in a business suit and I’m definitely not a “type A” sort of work-a-holic. I understand if people want to take time away from work for a family picnic or to take an extra long lunch hour for a swim or a romp in the dog park. However, I do know that I get pretty aggravated at a completely lax and laid back work ethic—unsure working hours, inaccurate records, lost information and repetition. There are definitely people who have a higher tolerance for this sort of work environment than I do.
I think it’s important to understand where our own philosophies and behaviors on the professionalism scale fall when we are running our own business so we can adjust our expectations and our personal choices to match and mesh with those of our customers or clients. If we are used to a really rigid business environment but we have opened our own home day care—we’ll likely need to make some adjustments or we’ll just come across as far too rigid and uptight. At the same token, if we are going to compete with more professional and organized businesses, we have to make decisions regarding where we’ll fit into that market. Will we need to step up our professionalizing, or will we market ourselves as a more approachable, laid-back, accessible business?
Where do you fall on the professionalism scale? Can you use some adjusting to help promote and grow your home-based business?
See Also: Professional Vs. Creative