Work from Home
When you first realize the possibilities about working from home, it’s normal to get super excited and believe everyone else will be too. But often times the family isn’t as happy as you are, nor as trusting. They think it’s just a pipe dream, or worse, a scam. They haven’t done the research you have so they do not realize the true possibilities and potential surrounding the idea of working from home.
Provide Your Research to Them
Many times your family just cares about you so much that they simply want to protect you. But, if you show them the research that you’ve done, they may quickly realize that you’ve done your homework, and that you’re not going to get scammed.
Give Examples of Others Doing It Successfully
More than likely, at this point you have a circle of influence that includes work-at-home success stories. Let your partner and family in on the fact by talking about how so-and-so is making x dollars and all from working from home. Explain what they do, and put the bug in their ear of the possibilities and potential.
Write Out a Business Plan
Banks want business plans to ensure that you’ve looked at all aspects of the business you plan to run. They want to see the numbers, and how you plan to make more money in the short term and the long term. Your family will feel better seeing these numbers, too. Even if you don’t plan to get a loan for your business, showing them everything down on paper will impress them.
Transition Slowly Timing Is Everything
Don’t expect everyone to be on board from day one. The idea takes time to sink in for some people. Mostly out of concern for you, but sometimes also from fear. Spouses fear what they don’t understand and not everyone is entrepreneurial or likes taking what they see as risks. Even though telecommuting has been around a while, it’s still rare enough that people are shocked to find out that their home shopping orders, or pizza orders are being taken by someone in their home office.
Work After Hours to Show Them the Money
If you’re not getting any place with discussion, you might want to start working after hours to show them the money. Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character in the movie, Jerry Maguire, had it right. People think differently about many things when they see the cash. If you have a spouse or family like that, you can work around their schedules doing something to earn money and then show them by paying for something fun, like a family vacation.
Explain to the Children about “Work” Time
You’re going to have to talk to the children a lot about work time. You might even have to with your spouse. It’s a myth that you can work in chaos and constant interruption. You need a place you can work, and that people realize to leave you alone when you’re doing it. You can use a sign on the door, timers, and other incentives to get everyone on board and understanding. As for family that live outside your home, just don’t answer the phone or door when you’re working. Everyone will get accustomed to it eventually.
Make Your Family into Partners
As they start to get on board with the idea of your working from home, reward them by making them part of your business. You can hire family members and spouses on a contracting basis and pay them, and deduct if from your business taxes. Plus, they will start making money too and that will make them really get on board. Children can file, spouses can sometimes do what you’re doing or offer technical help.
Keep the Lines of Communication Open
The most important aspect of talking to your family about working from home is to keep the lines of communication open at all times. You want to be honest with what is working and what is not working, and you’ll be surprised at how much your family is on your side with the goal of your working from home.
Family can sometimes be a hard sell, but it’s not because they don’t love you. It’s because they do love you. Also, sometimes it’s just because they’re ignorant of what working at home means. This is especially true of older individuals who may not understand technology. With them, you might want to let them see you working so they get it.
Work from Home
Everyone is after more work-life balance. Some jobs are better than others at allowing at least some work-life integration possibilities, but some business owners are slow to catch on. If you have a job that would make it simple to work part time from home, then you’re in a good position to try to convince your boss to let you work part time from home by following these steps.
Figure Out the Logistics First
Before even approaching your boss about the idea of working from home, you’ll need to figure out whether it’s possible. What tools do you need at home that you have at the office to make it work? Are you willing to come out of pocket and set this up for yourself, or are you going to ask your boss to foot the bill?
Provide a Well Thought-Out Plan of Action
If you can demonstrate exactly how everything will work, including showing up at meetings on time, then you’re half way there. Create a report for your boss about how you will do each area of your job while you’re at home so that they can visualize the potential.
Provide Supportive Research
Include supportive research that shows people who work from home at least part of the time are more productive, instead of less productive. Be ready to prove this by increasing your productivity when you’re given the opportunity to change your work location.
Develop a System
Set systems in place well in advance so that you know they work. Test them out before approaching your boss so that you know they will work 100 percent. Ensure that you won’t have dead spots in your house when you answer your phone, or that household sounds like the TV won’t interfere in calls.
Provide Assurances about Required Meetings
If meetings are planned in advance there should be no issues about you getting to meetings on time. But, if your place of business often has last-minute meetings, that could be a problem. You could set up technology to help with this, but it will require help from others. Alternatively, if you live close to work you can state that you can be at any meeting within an hour or two if they’re important.
Call in Sick
So if you are really brave and really, really want to work from home……here’s a strategy that is very powerful but can be a little risky: Prime your boss before approaching them by calling in sick but working from home while you’re sick. Just state that you don’t want to infect them, but you’ll get your normal work done from home. You can actually wait until you’re really sick to try this so that you won’t get into trouble for lying.
Ask for a Trial Run
Once you present the idea to your boss, ask for a trial run. Say that you’ll work two days a week from home such as Thursday and Friday, which are usually low meeting days anyway. Then if you get the permission, do a great job.
Over Deliver
Be prepared to up your game if you do get the go ahead to work from home. Make sure you find ways to connect with your boss, and show them what you’re doing so that you won’t be seen as someone not even needed. Deliver more results once you’re home, and your boss will be pleased and maybe even make it possible for more people to work from home.
Working from home does have its good side and downside, so be prepared to have to work out some kinks and perfect your systems as you go. Many bosses are keen on having some of their employees work from home these days, so why not you?
Work from Home
If you’ve ever thought of starting a home business, you can get going pretty quickly if you follow these ten steps. You can be started within the month if you’re starting a digital business and within 90 days if you’re starting a product-based business.
1. Determine What Type of People You Want to Work With
Before you do anything, you need to have a good understanding of the type of people you want to work with. This is how you choose a niche. Many people choose the product or service first, but the best way is to choose the audience, then choose how to solve their problems with your products or services.
2. Decide Whether You Want a Service Business or Product Business
You can do both, but it’s usually easier and faster to start with one. In a service-based business you can start as soon as you determine the services and get your website made. With a product-based business you’ll need to either source or create the products first. Either way, the thing that you offer should be a solution to a problem that your audience has.
3. Write Down a List of Your Skills
Now that you know what type of product or service you’re going to create and who you’ll create it for, determine what skills you have. Write down the skills you have that can be used for services or product creation. You can also use the skills of others to help if you have the financial resources to outsource some of the work.
4. Match Your Skills to the Audience and the Type of Business You Want
Once you know what skills you have available to you, you can match the skills with the type of business you want and your client, to create a service or product that your target audience needs and wants. Now you have the beginning of your business idea.
5. Write a Business Plan
Even if you only have a one-page business plan, it’s important to write it out. You will need to know who your audience is, how you’ll source products or what service you’ll provide. You’ll need to explain all aspects of how you plan to do it. Plus, you’ll determine how much it costs, and how much you’ll charge. You’ll also study your audience and set your prices during the business plan phase. You can learn more about business plans at LivePlan.com.
6. Set Out a Start-Up Budget
Determine how much money you have to get your business started. Set aside that money to use for the rest of the planning phase of your business. You’ll need to open a business bank account, set up a PayPal account, and buy a business license.
7. Deal with Legalities
You may need to get a business license depending on the rules of your country, state, city or county. You should be able to do a search for business licenses for small business with your city name to get more information.
8. Get an EIN if You’re in the USA
This is very important because you really need it so that you can protect your identity. You can create a business name and get an EIN from the IRS very easily online for free, within seconds. In other countries they may have similar numbers for small business owners; check with a local business start-up center. Don’t be confused by the fact that EIN stands for Employer Identification Number. You don’t have to have employees; you just need a small business, and even if you’re a business of one, you can get the number.
Link to IRS – http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online
9. Create a Website with Blog
Now that you know your business name, what you’re going to offer and to whom, create a business website with a blog. The easiest way is to use self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org) with a hosting account such as one from Hostgator.com or MomWebs.com. MomWebs will set up a WordPress site for you that you can update to make your own.
10. Set Up Social Media Accounts
Give your business special social media accounts, with fully filled-out profiles. Set up your professional LinkedIn page, a Facebook page for your business, and a Twitter page. Don’t feel as if you have to be on all social media networks; just choose the ones that are relevant to your business, which means your audience is there.
After you’ve done all these steps, you can start marketing your business. None of this should take more than a month from beginning to end. It may take longer to source products if you choose a physical product-based business over a digital-based business, but you should be able to do that work while you are creating your business plan.
