Tips For Running Your Business at Home – Ideas For a Successful Home Business

When you work from home, it’s a challenge to stay focused, work your own set business hours and be able to get enough business to stay up and running. Regardless of what your business is, working from home still requires the discipline and planning that a full-time outside job or business would.

When you run your business at home, it’s hard to maintain separation between home life and business obligations- it’s very common for friends and family to take for granted the fact that you have “time” for visitors, “fun” and other things when you are at home all day- most won’t recongnize the fact that you have a job to do or a business to run.

It takes a lot of strength to be firm with family and friends, and it can become a “bad scene” if your family doesn’t seem to understand that you ARE indeed working, even though it is from your home. This is why it’s a good idea to have a separate area in the house to run your business from, and make sure that area is “off-limits” to others- children, spouses, other family members, relatives and friends.

If they see that you are serious about maintaining your business separately, this helps make it easier on YOU to tell them what your business or working hours are. Running your business at home can be a bit more challenging than outside your home, but it can be done.

Make sure you have set “business” or “work” hours for yourself, only subject to change if/when you decide you can make the adjustment- don’t let anyone take advantage of you or the fact that you are “always” home.

Stay organized. Keep everything pertaining to your business or work in one location, paperwork in it’s proper place, tools/supplies in their proper place, and keep a schedule planner by ALL of your phones in your home. Keep a travel planner/organizer to keep in your vehicle.

There is one caveat to keeping scheduling and organizer books around, you’ll need to make sure to keep all appointments and times in ALL of those books. Or, go digital and buy an electronic organizer. Staying organized is the biggest key to running your business at home- it’s also wise if you have an actual business location too. Organization is the key to success!

Make sure your home is neat and tidy if you intend on having clients, customers or any other business-related contacts in your home. If, for example, you are an interior decorator, then it’s a good idea to make sure you keep your home neat, clean and well-decorated. If you have children, make sure you have child-care for them during your business hours, even if it’s a babysitter that comes to your home.

Nothing will say unprofessional like having a dirty, overly cluttered house and children running loose all over the house! Beware of your surroundings and the image you are projecting to potential clients, customers or other business contacts. When you run your business at home, your home has become a reflection of your business and your professional abilities.

By Wendy Pan 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Pan

Cork City Soho Solo Network Breakfast Meeting 10/11/2008

Our next presentation is on SketchUp by Paul Lee of Aspire Architecture on Monday 10th of November @ our usual time of 8.30am and not on Monday 27th of October as this is a Bank Holiday.  We will need to begin this meeting promptly at 8.30am, as Paul will have a lot to cover.

Paul will give us a demonstration and talk on this free software, that promises to have many applications, certainly it will be fascinating to see how it works and you would never know how you might use it in your business.  

Developed for the conceptual stages of design but having developed into a broader range package, SketchUp is powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software. Think of it as the pencil of digital design. This award-winning software combines a simple, yet robust tool-set that streamlines and simplifies 3D design inside your computer.

Alan O’Brien and Paul Lee have formed a company called Viewsion that is licensed to deliver SketchUp training in conjunction with PFH in what is the first and only Google Authorised Training Centre in Ireland.  Paul and Alan will present the awesome power of this new technology, and its ability not only to model on your computer but also on the web and Google Earth, presenting unprecedented marketing possibilities for manufacturers and designers.

To find out more go to www.sketchupireland.com  or find us on www.sketchup.com  and find us on the ATC list.

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Jackie

SOHO Solo West Cork Time Management Presentation

I’ve just posted information, including a presentation slide-show, of the latest SOHO Solo West Cork meeting at which Jim Flynn of MTS Consulting presented a talk on Time Management for Small Business Owners.

Please feel free to dive in and add your own insight, tips, tools  and techniques in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

FAS Sales Programme

Even in this economic downturn

 

Are YOU and your Sales People

Utilizing all Sales Opportunities All the Time??

 

It is Time to start thinking like a WINNER

 

IMPROVED PERFORMANCE means not just MEETING TARGETS but BEATING targets!

Are you and your sales people motivated and feeling confident?

 

Nothing Happens in Any Organisation Until Someone Sells Something

 

This 3 DAY SALES PROGRAMME can provide the necessary skills to achieve better results

 

Who should attend?

 

• Those currently employed in sales who need to practice skills, learn new skills and get more confidence

• Those new to sales who will be shown proven techniquesbefore any bad habits creep in

• Those who may be thinking of a career change who may wish to enter a new industry.

 

Aims

 

- To provide participants with the essential skills to know how to develop a career in sales.

- It will provide skills to become more effective and efficient in achieving results.

 

Outcomes

 

- Understand and know what the sales process is

- Where you fit in and why you are key to producing results for your organisation.

- Improve communication skills by practicing effective questioning techniques to build rapport for long term relationships.

- Gain insight into buyer behaviour by demonstratingversatility and learning to adapt to different customer styles

- Demonstrate motivation and assertiveness which are key to building confidence and achieving goals

- Develop and deliver a sales presentation.

 

Dates: 13th November, 20th November and 27th November

Time: 0930 am – 1700 pm

Venue: The Meadowlands Hotel – Oakpark, Tralee

Cost:  €207 per person as this programme is FAS funded.

Limited places

Certification: ICM – Institute of Commercial Management

Delivered by: Business and Training Solutions / This training company deliver academic sales qualifications through the Sales Institute of Ireland see www.btsolutions.ie for more details

 

To Find out more and book a Place Contact:

Rhona Johnston (087 2860832) or email rhona@btsolutions.ie

Succession Planning for Owner Managers

The Small Firms Association (SFA) in association with Ulster Bank and Mazars are hosting a series of FREE seminars on “Succession Planning for Owner-Managers” at different locations around the country.

Unfortunately we only received the notice this afternoon, and the Cork event is today . However the seminar is being hosted at various locations around the country during October.

Here’s a list:

Cork Monday, 6th October Clarion Hotel

Limerick Wednesday, 8th October Clarion Hotel Suites

Galway Thursday, 9th October Ardilaun House Hotel

Letterkenny Monday, 13th October Radisson Hotel

Carrickmacross Tuesday, 14th October Nuremore Hotel

Dublin Wednesday, 15th October Confederation House, 84-86 Lr Baggot Street

All of the events run from 6.30-8.30pm, with registration commencing at 6.00pm. Teas, coffees and sandwiches will be served prior to the event.

The seminars are free, but booking (via the SFA website events pages) is essential, as places are limited. Documentation including a copy of the SFA’s newly published “Succession Planning Guidelines” will be available on the night.

Here’s some spiel from the SFA:

The purpose of the seminars is to deliver relevant and up to date information on succession planning, so that you can transfer your assets in the most appropriate manner. The seminar will ensure that you will foresee financial pitfalls as well as help you realise your goals and preferences for the family business.

An expert panel of speakers from Ulster Bank and Mazars will present the seminars and will focus on the following topics:

• Succession Planning – the issues surrounding the passing on of the business and other assets to the next generation.
• Valuing the Business – gaining a greater understanding of the value of the business and methods of valuation.
• Effecting the Transaction – the options available including a buy-out; sale or a simple handover of the reins.
• Taxation – planning for and dealing with the areas of taxation in respect of a business transfer.
• Wealth Management – how to protect the value of generated wealth.

Technorati Tags: Succession Planning,SFA,Events,Seminars,Ireland,Small Business,SOHO Solo

SOHO Solo West Cork Blog Post and Comment competition

Over on the West Cork chapter’s new blog – on which we invite as much member participation as possible – we’re hoping to encourage members to contribute their own blog posts and comments with a new monthly “Blog Post and Comment of the month” competition.

The competition is open to any current SOHO Solo Ireland member (you don’t have to be part of the West Cork chapter to participate) – just head over to the West Cork blog, register for an account (by clicking on the link in the sidebar), and as long as you’re a bone-fide SOHO Solo member we’ll upgrade your account to contributor status and you can start posting.

(NB. We do exercise editorial control and approval on the blog, but essentially if your post is relevant and adds value for a SOHO Solo audience there should be no problem )

To kick things off for October I’m offering 2 free, professionally written Press Releases for the writer of the winning blog post, and Trevor Kingston of Lasertech South West Cork is offering a €50 printer consumables voucher for the winning comment.

See the West Cork blog for more details / conditions / etc.

Technorati Tags: SOHO Solo West Cork,Competition,Blogging

Free online marketing event Limerick

A bit short notice (sorry) – but better late than never, I guess….

The IIA in partnership with the Marketing Institute of Ireland and County Limerick Enterprise Board are holding an Online Marketing and New Media event dubbed “Word of Mouse Marketing”.

The day is free of charge and all are welcome.

Event Date : 7 Oct 2008

Venue : Castletroy Park Hotel

Location : Limerick

… and the best bit:

Price per person : €0.00

Book your free place on the IIA Website

The event will run from 09:30 t0 15:30. Highlights include a Social Media Masterclass with Dublin Based branding expert and social media evangelist Krishna De, Search Engine marketing, e-mail marketing and case studies that demonstrate real world business success using online channels.

Unfortunately I’m going to miss this one… , but it sounds like a fantastic opportunity to get some expert insight into harnessing the potential of digital media to promote your SOHO Solo business… for free.

If you get chance, sign up and attend… and let us know about your experience in the comments.

Technorati Tags: events,word of mouse marketing,Krishna De,online marketing,IIA,Limerick

SOHO Solo West Cork blog a great success

At the start of September I agreed to work with Cork BIC to boost the profile of SOHO Solo in West Cork.

As well as tapping all the usual local media channels for exposure, we also agreed to explore the potential of social media to engage with SOHO Solo members. One of the big issues in West Cork in the past has been the lack of connection between the monthly meetings, coupled with the geographical spread of the membership across the  region. By developing an online community around the SOHO Solo West Cork “brand”, the hope was to mitigate some of those factors.

The first step was to set up a dedicated blog for the SOHO Solo West Cork chapter – a medium for keeping members up to date with SOHO Solo developments, delivering interesting, relevant content and of course encouraging engagement both through comments and the contribution of blog posts by SOHO Solo members.

Even though it’s only in its infancy, the new blog is showing tremendous promise. It’s only been up and running for about two months (and only actively promoted for just over one of those). From a standing start it now outranks the West Cork Enterprise Board for the search term “small business west cork” on Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft Live Search. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s quite an achievement.

At the moment there’s only myself and one other member posting regularly, but we’re encouraging more SOHO Solo members to sign up for an account and start contributing. We’re pretty hopeful that we can attract a core of regular contributors in the near future.

The more people start to engage, the more valuable the blog will become and the more people will want to engage. The trick now is to build the critical mass of regular contributors to reach that self-sustaining point.

So please drop by and check out the new blog when you get chance – let us have your feedback in the post comments and via the contact form, and if you’re a SOHO Solo member and would like to start contributing, simply register for an account (click on the link in the blog sidebar). As long as your profile is active on the main SOHO Solo Ireland website (i.e. you’re a bone fide SOHO Solo member) we’ll promote you to contributor status and you can start posting to the blog

(NB. all posts are subject to administrator approval… and at the moment that means me – but as long as they’re relevant and genuinely adding value there should be no problem ).

You can also follow @SOHOSolo on Twitter for regular news and updates, and join the SOHO Solo group on LinkedIn.

Technorati Tags: SOHO Solo,West Cork,small business networks,blogs,social media

I’m a home worker — and no, I don’t wear pyjamas all day

Susan Daly on the pros and cons of earning a living from your back room

It will come as a surprise to many of my friends that I am not writing this article in my pyjamas. There is a certain stereotype of the person who works from home. It involves the notion that daytime TV watching is mandatory and changing out of nightclothes is optional.

That is not to say that I could not spend the better part of the working day with my feet in furry slippers and one eye on Oprah. I could.

But for my own sanity (and bank balance) I try to adhere to some semblance of a work routine. I am not on my own.

With advances in e-communication, it is becoming easier and more common for employees to work remotely.

Employers too are gradually shedding the suspicion that an employee who works from home is less productive.

The most recent figures available from the Central Statistics Office confirm that 2.3pc of the working population — that’s 151,000 people — worked from home in 2002.

Six years on, with the rollout of broadband services finally underway across the country, that figure is on the rise. IBEC (Irish Business and Employer Confederation) has said that within 10 years, Irish employers will have to be supportive of flexible working arrangements if they want to attract the best employees.

So with the dream of working from home realised by more and more workers every year, we have to ask: is it all it’s cracked up to be?

I left my office-based job at the end of last February to take on freelance work and essentially be my own boss.

Having worked weekends, bank holidays, evenings and, for several years, Christmas Day, I was looking forward to more flexible and sociable working hours.

Working from home would also mean zero time spent in Dublin’s crazy commuter traffic.

Some of it has worked out. I am at my desk within a minute of eating my breakfast, and if I need a day off in the middle of the week, I can work longer hours another day to make up for it.

On the flipside, at the beginning I felt both lonely and isolated in my little spare room. Often I can go from one end of the day to the other without speaking face-to-face with a single person. I miss the buzz of a busy newsroom and bouncing ideas off colleagues.

But as time goes on, I have discovered ways of overcoming the cons of working from home.

I discipline myself to be at my desk first thing in the morning, and get some exercise in at lunchtime so that I feel the day has some structure.

If I have an interview or meeting in the city centre, I meet a friend for lunch or even a coffee while I’m there.

Having a separate work area in the spare bedroom is a big help. It means that I can shut the door in the evening and draw a very definite line between home and work life.

Jenny Ungless is Director of City Life Coaching (www.citylifecoaching.com) and Career Coach for the monster.ie jobs website.

She says potential pitfalls for homeworkers tend to centre around issues of self-discipline and time management.

“It’s all too easy to have that extra half-hour in bed, get engrossed in daytime TV, or end up spending your time doing chores not work,” she says.

“I find a good method is to organise your diary as if you were at the office — so book ‘appointments’ with yourself to do particular pieces of work — and allow yourself to build in coffee breaks etc.”

She also points out that being home alone can be difficult psychologically.

“We do tend to forget how much a bit of office banter can help with our day.

“Make sure you’re not isolated — arrange to meet a friend or colleague for coffee, or at least make sure that you get out of the house at some point during the day — even if it’s just to take yourself to the grocery store.

“Time away from your desk will actually help you to re-focus and give you an extra spring in your step. Even 10 minutes on Facebook will help you feel more connected and ‘in touch’.”

Technology is a huge factor in our ability to work from home. Ireland’s record for broadband availability is dismal by EU standards.

Minister Eamon Ryan has pledged that there will be universal broadband coverage in Ireland by late 2009/early 2010 — but it remains a fact that many rural areas are still e-communication blackspots.

If I want to send an email from my mother’s house in Co Limerick, for example, I have to climb onto the flat roof and hold my mobile internet gizmo up to the chimney breast!

When these technological ‘glitches’ are ironed out, it will be easier to persuade employers that working from home is as feasible as if you were sitting at a desk just outside their office door. Life coach Jenny Ungless gives this expert advice to aspiring home workers: “If you’re trying to put a business case to your employer for working from home, factor in issues like your commute time etc.

“Basically, you can often be more productive at home because you can start earlier and make more of the time in your working day.”

I love working from home now, even if it’s just so I have the freedom to rush out the front door when the sun makes a rare appearance.

But the key is to stay in touch with the world — by email, by phone, by regular outside meetings — so that loneliness doesn’t make that freedom a gilded cage.

Source: Independent.ie

Upcoming training

Quantum Business Solutions (Neil O’Brien)
    &
South Cork Enterprise Board (SCEB)

    ‘Grow Your Business’
(Top tips on increasing your sales and profits)

Normal cost €1,000
75% funded by SCEB
Cost to you Just €250

 The training program will include.

 5 training workshops
 3 one to one coaching sessions
 Great networking opportunities
 Comprehensive manual & workbook

Workshop dates:   5 mornings from 30th September to 28th October

Time:    8.30 -11.30

Venue:   LMI offices,
              Unit 15, Airport East Business and Technology Park,
              Farmers Cross
              Cork.
              (near the airport. Full details will be provided closer to the time)
Topics will include:

 5 ways formulae for growing your sales and profits.
 Improve your sales skills.
 80:20 what are your most profitable products/services.
 How effective is your Marketing.
 Understand your Accounts and cash flow.
 Reduce your costs.
 Design a Marketing plan specifically for your business.
 Review how you calculate your selling prices.

The ‘Grow Your Business’ course is aimed at small businesses, who have been up and running for at least two years and want to increase their sales, profits and improve their cash flow and increase your bottom line.  It is practically based and the one to one mentoring gives an opportunity to identify and work with your individual needs.
Neil O’Brien 086 3644 668  qbs@eircom.ne