by Dock Murphy
Operating a business from home does not mean that your life is an open book for the world to read. You will have to set specific boundaries between your work life and your private life in order to insure that your family is not interrupted by your work. You will need to establish specific working hours for your home business and at the end of the day go home. If you let your business consume every waking moment of the day, you will quickly burn out as well as causing an interruption to your family’s life.
If you can afford at the start of your business, have a separate phone line installed that is strictly for business. Use an answering machine for after hours calls and unless a client or customer leaves a message that it is an emergency, call them back the next business day. If possible, do not give out your home telephone number as a contact number. You never know if little Johnny or Susie will answer the phone leaving a bad impression on a potential customer.
There are many services that will cross boundaries between your work life and your private life and understanding where they meet will help you keep your sanity when working from home. When you first start the business, it may be easy for your spouse to ask you to get things done around the house while they are at work. You will need to remind them gently that you will be working and no, you don’t have time to finish the dishes, or throw a load of laundry in the washing machine and you definitely don’t have time to paint the bathroom.
Unless the business requires you to meet with clients and there is no way around it, do not entertain business associates at your home. In fact, clients probably should not even have your home address. Using email and the telephone for client contact is in the best interest for privacy, as you don’t want an irate customer banging on your door while you eat supper with the family. A post office box is not overly expensive and can be used for most shipping and helps protect your family’s privacy.
Remember, this is your business and you need to remember that your spouse and children are not employees. You may be working out of a home office, but it is still your family’s home and you need to make sure you have definite boundaries established. Just as you do not want them crossing into your office space while you are working, you need to show the same respect to your family by not allowing work to cross into their private space.
About The Author: Dock J. Murphy is owner of Plug in Profit http://Site.com and writes on a variety on a variety of subjects. To learn more about this topic Dock J. recommends you visit: Http://www.pluginprofitsite.com/main-17106
These articles on lifestyle and more
Reprint this article free of charge as long as you keep the author's resource box or bio intact and the links active. A copy of the ezine or URL of the page where the article was reprinted emailed to the author would be very much appreciated.
business
Return to the selection of
business
You may want to try these articles on business
Business, When Your Product Makes People Feel Great, You Make Money! by
Monique George Approximately 361 Words
Business, Why Shopping Online Will Be Big This Holiday Season by
Sharon Isaac Approximately 443 Words
Business, Use This Formula To Have Pleasurable And Safe Internet Access by
Dan Foley Approximately 515 Words
Business, You May Have A Successful Small Business Idea by
Sintilia Miecevole Approximately 514 Words
Business, Website Value - What's Your Business' Website Worth? by
William Lee Approximately 464 Words
Business, Two Steps To Online Success - Get The Right Opportunity, Promote It Big by
Scott C. Johnson Approximately 482 Words
Business, How To Define A Business by
Joseph Kenny Approximately 456 Words
Business, A Time To Focus And A Time To Diversify by
Kelly McCausey Approximately 538 Words
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://www.business.gov/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072/
http://www.dmoz.org/Business/
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!