Tag Archives: business

Politics, Religion and Business?

We know better—or at least we have been told that in order to have pleasant, congenial conversations with people we should avoid those two hot topics of politics and religion. Why? Well, we individuals have a tendency to be…individuals—with opinions, philosophies, and ideas that we are passionate about. Unfortunately, many people have a hard time understanding that there are as many different ideas and opinions about politics, religion and how to live life as there are people. Often, people feel like in order for them to be “right” everyone else has to be wrong. It can get heated, tense, and … Continue reading →

Death, Grief and Business—Part Two

I wrote earlier this morning about ways to approach trying to run our home businesses while dealing with grief and death issues, but that is not the only way that death and grief can affect our business. Chances are, at some point or another, we will have a customer, client, colleague, or vendor who is experiencing a terminal illness, or has experienced the death of a loved one and is working through the stages and grief. It takes caring, sensitivity and compassion on our part and those don’t always seem to be words and emotions one thinks of when one … Continue reading →

Death, Grief, and Business—Part One

If it can be downright impossible to keep business and a personal life separate when we are running our own home business, we have to accept that human realities will find their way into our business relationships and operations. This means that there will be times when our business is affected by grief and death. In this two-part article, I want to talk about how we can work and be dealing with our own grief issues AND what to do when customers, clients, vendors, etc. are dealing with death and grief issues… Years ago, I had a consulting business with … Continue reading →

Is it a Business or a Career?

I spent my twenties and a good chunk of my thirties thinking of my work life in terms of a “career”—I evaluated choices based on what was “good for my career” and I tried to think of my work world as a ladder or a trajectory from beginning to end. When I decided to start my own business, however, I stopped thinking of it so much as a career and more of it as just a part of my life. I have found that while some of start home businesses as an outcropping of a former career, there are others … Continue reading →

Combining Church and Business

We’ve talked about ways that volunteering and community service can be a boost for business, but I haven’t really thought or written about how some people combine church and business. A couple weeks ago, I was talking with a real estate agent who confessed that he gets some of his best referrals from his church congregation. I couldn’t help but wonder about what is the best and “nicest” way to combine one’s home business interests and church… I suppose in many ways, church might seem like a perfect networking place (although some of us go to church to get way … Continue reading →

Politics and Business

How much should you mix your politics and your home business? One of the great things about having your OWN business, is that you can do things your way and be as transparent and personal about things as you want to be (or as you feel comfortable with). Since this is an election year and it seems to be all about politics, I thought we might chat a bit here about combining our businesses and our politics (or not). Large corporations and all size businesses wrestle with whether to be political or not. If you look at donations to candidates … Continue reading →

Business Before Pleasure?

Recently, I was chatting with a few people at a conference. The debate was whether or not people who attend conferences are really there for business or if they just come to “play”—it got me to thinking of the old adage that “business should come before pleasure.” I can’t help but think it comes down to balance and that quite a bit of “business” and networking can occur in the midst of entertainment and pleasure. I don’t agree that most people attend work functions, networking events and conferences just for the “pleasure” part. I really do believe that we are … Continue reading →

Stay in the Present

Looking back, looking forward, budgeting, planning for the future, setting goals, learning from our mistakes–okay, all of this is good advice for the small, home business owner and it all has a time and place. But, at some point, we just have to settle ourselves down and stay current. We have to find a way to keep an eye on the future all the while keeping ourselves grounded in the present. The truth is that what we do today is the foundation for reaching out goals tomorrow. In business, planning IS important. Establishing a budget and taking the steps to … Continue reading →

Do You Need to Brush Up on Your Math Skills?

I have been able to get by for most of my career with the most basic of math skills. But, with the advent of starting my own small business, not only did I need to re-learn some math techniques, but I needed to brush up on some basic accounting and geometry as well! I am of the opinion that math is NOT like riding a bicycle. If you don’t use all those formulas and skills you learned in high school and college math classes, I think they do just fall out of one’s head—especially for a non-mathematically inclined English major … Continue reading →

Balancing Business and Pleasure

So, you have started a home-based business and it is taking up so much of your energy, focus, and creativity, it seems like there is very little left over for your family—let alone yourself. It can be so easy to let things get skewed and out of balance when you are the one starting and running your own business. It takes some direction and determination to find a way to balance business and pleasure. I’ve found that finding a way to inject a fair amount of pleasure into the business day can help. It does not all have to be … Continue reading →