Now that you are making money from home and your business is doing well, you’ll want to make sure it stays that way. Here are some tips to help you stay on top of your game.
Structure, Structure, Structure! You’ve survived the panic of the start up phase and the stress has eased up a bit. Now is the time to make sure you don’t get yourself into a slump. Keep the same structure that you had when you worked in corporate America. Divide your day into time slots to make sure you are getting everything done. You may need to prospect for additional clients. Block out the first two hours of your day to market yourself. If you break things down into small, attainable goals you are more likely to get everything accomplished.
Stay Motivated Without the quarterly performance reviews to spur you on, you’ll have to start doing your own assessments. This can be tricky, since we often cannot see our own flaws or time wasters very easily. One way to easily judge yourself is by your income. If you are not making the amount you would like, set goals and assess your progress on a bi weekly or monthly basis. Decide what plan of action you are going to take to increase profits. It may involve obtaining more or higher end clients, reducing product costs, or simply cutting out the clients that cost you more than they are worth.
Have a Support System It’s important to have other people to bounce ideas off of or to discuss problems with. If you don’t have any friends that work from home in your area, join an online group to network with. On bad days, knowing there are others in the same boat, could make all the difference.
Reward Yourself It’s not uncommon to pull 60 or 70 hour work weeks when you are making money from home. Now that your business is running smoothly, it may be tempting to continue to work long hours. To avoid burn out, make sure you are taking some time for yourself. Reward your efforts by getting out of the house. Attend a movie in the middle of the day (you won’t get in trouble), or go to the gym for a workout. Taking a little time away will give you a fresh outlook and you will be more productive in the long run.
Get Your Family On the Right Track You’ve organized your work environment; it may be time to organize your family life as well. Making money from home takes a good amount of self discipline, but it can be easy to let this discipline slide when your spouse calls or the baby is crying. You won’t be as productive as you should be if you are working around everyone’s personal schedules. Hire a babysitter if you need to get in a solid 5 or 6 hours of work. Refrain from answering the phone every time you receive a personal call. You didn’t do this when you worked your 9 to 5 job, so don’t do it now.
Keep yourself organized and on track by fine tuning your business. By using a little preventative maintenance now, you may avert long term problems that are much more difficult to fix down the road.
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