The Home Office Dilemma:Not Being Taken Seriously

by Ted Tate

"I don't get any respect!" A famous comic made this theme almost household words, yet on a serious note it often applies to the many thousands of men and women who have chosen to operate a business from their home! Even the publisher of Home Business® Magazineshared an uncomfortable experience with me not too long ago.

He was at a party when an old friend asked how his magazine was doing. The publisher told him Home Business® Magazine is an established national and international publication circulated through newsstands and subscriptions. He described how the magazine is a substantial publishing business and yet many work on it from their home offices.

To his surprise, his friend responded with a slight sneer, asking sarcastically, "I guess that's OK for a part-time effort, how's your regular job going?" The publisher bit his tongue not to say what was racing through his mind, "Since I make a lot more money than you, I can work full time from my home and give up that 'day job'."

What many people don't know is that home businesses represent a $450 billion dollar economic sector in the American economy.

Home based businesses are becoming more and more popular. Their advantages are many, such as no day care worries, commuting in heavy traffic, office politics… in short, no Dilbert-style existence.

Furthermore, many traditional office-based businesses have started a trend towards decentralizing their operations. Employees perform work at home, with contact by electronic computer modem to the office. This permits companies to hire employees who could not work in a traditional office such as mothers with small children, handicapped individuals and many people just plain sick and tired of the rat race.

Many home based business entrepreneurs earn full time incomes with part time, flexible hours. On top of that, no rush hour madness!

This wasn't possible just a few years ago. Modern computer technology has made running a business from home a realistic consideration. Computers, fax machines, telephone modems, cellular telephones, voice mail systems, inexpensive copying machines and several other office electronics have made working from home both realistic and profitable!

Many in the general public still, however, do not take home-based businesses seriously. Some, those who work in traditional offices, also may feel a bit of envy, a little frustrated that they still are in the nine to five rat race while the home based entrepreneur enjoys a better way of making a living.

They also may feel being professional is only possible when you work in a store front or formal office and dress a certain way. Many people don't have the ability to separate in their mind the personal aspect of living in a home with the business aspect of working from a home. Here are some specific ideas on how to run a home business and be taken seriously.

• Make it a point to tell people you have a home business and share
the pride you feel.

• Run your home business professionally, like any business.

• Have specific hours you are available to answer your business phone. There are many people who won't leave messages on voice mail.

• Don't try to do business on the phone with kids screaming or playing noises in the background.

• Don't use a tape answering machine, they scream amateur. Get connected to professional voice mail or invest in the new answering machines that sound like voice mail.

• Have a separate phone for business, always answer professionally and never let kids answer it. Return calls promptly.

• Network by joining your chamber of commerce and also by joining any professional trade associations for your industry. See if you can form a sub-group for home-based businesses. (You'll be surprised at how many there are.)

• Be sure your business cards, letterheads, brochures and other printed matter look professional. Many potential clients will judge you not by where you work from but by the image you project.

• Dress professionally when you meet people. Casual around the house is fine but never when you are doing business in person.

• Have a specific work space or room where you do business from.

• Invest in a computer if you don't own one. It doesn't have to be the newest, just current and one you can operate.

• Invest in good accounting software and keep your financial records up to date so you can easily apply for loans, credit or set up merchant accounts for taking bank cards. There are several excellent programs available; Quickbooks by Intuit is by far the most popular with small businesses.

• Invest in a fax machine. In day to day business they are invaluable.

Finally, if you are going to be taken seriously by others, take yourself seriously.

• Invest in the basic tools any home office should have in order to be productive, a computer, laser printer, fax machine, separate business line and professional telephone answering. I know you can start up a small business without these, but you immediately place yourself under a handicap. All of your competitors will have them and all the advantages that they bring.

• Be willing to learn new skills. If you have to take a course in learning to use a computer or in learning to sell or anything else that will help you succeed. Colleges, universities and high schools have non-credit night classes. Libraries and book stores are loaded with great books and tapes. The only thing that holds you back is you.

• Establish regular business hours and stick to them. There are all sorts of distractions working from home, but a professional learns to stay focused.

• Never, ever apologize for working from your home! There are thousands upon thousands of other men and women all over the country who earn their living working from home. Be proud to be one of them. HBM

Ted Tate is author of: Just Sell It: Selling Skills for Small Business Owners, John Wiley Publishing, NY in bookstores now. He also gives sales and business training seminars, workshops and speeches at conventions, meetings and in house training programs. He can be contacted at Tate & Associates, P.O. Box 954, Mentor, OH 44061

Originally Published at http://www.homebusinessmag.com/

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