I’ve been writing a lot of reviews for Families.com on different home business opportunities this month (to see these reviews, go to reviews.families.com). One of the claims that I see with almost every business is something to the effect of “Plan your own hours! Be your own boss! Work only a few hours a week!”
The problem with this claim is that it doesn’t really apply when you are just getting started in a business. Once you get established, then yes you probably will work less hours than in a typical office job. However, when you are just getting started, don’t expect it to only take a few hours a week – not if you want to jump start your business.
One of the most important things to consider when you are beginning your business is how you will make time for that business. Like most people, you probably have the dream of quitting your full time job and just doing your business. Hopefully, that time will come, but in the meantime you will have to juggle your full time job and your home business. If you are a homemaker, you are in an even more difficult spot when it comes to finding the time for your business. The needs of your kids and the house won’t go away just because you want to make phone calls to set up appointments to present your products.
So, how do you make time for your home business? The first thing to do is to take a careful look at your schedule. How can you move things around? Are there gaps that you have been filling with television or other pastimes? For example, my husband is working on building a Meleleuca business. He also works a full time job. For him, the most logical time to work on his business has been in the evenings. He comes home from work, eats dinner and spends a little time with me and then he is on the phone or on the internet building his business. He’s had to forgo some of the things he used to do in the evenings (he particularly misses watching CSI on Thursday nights) but it is worth it to him because he knows that his hard work will pay off.
Another thing to consider is whether you may be able to get your spouse or older children to take over some of your responsibilities so that you can work on your business. My parents have owned several home businesses while I was growing up and they currently run a successful banjo building business. One of the ways that they made their business work was by enlisting the help of the kids. When I lived at home I often did extra housework or babysat my younger siblings so that my parents could do paperwork or other things related to keeping the business going. Now those siblings who are older but still at home will often help with small parts of the business or will do things around the house so that my mom can help my dad with the work of building banjos.
Basically, when you are starting a new home business you have to figure out what will work for you and your family. It is unlikely that you will be able to be successful without at least a little sacrifice initially. However, the rewards will be worth it when you are able to spend more time at home enjoying quality time with your family.