Later on we’ll tell you some tips on how to conduct business in general. But let’s first find a part of your house that you can use as your
business or work area. It should be a spot that is comfortable but away from distractions. Your children deserve attention but not during your
working hours (more on that later). So set yourself up far from where the kids usually play. Too close to the kitchen isn’t wise because you are
too close to the “food or drink” temptation. A quiet spare bedroom can be ideal as can a finished basement or garage if they aren’t too hot or
cold. You may need an extension phone put there and, indeed, after your business gets rolling you may want a separate line just for business.
If you have a spare desk or table that’s fine, but a card table can do for a starter. Adequate lighting is necessary and a filing cabinet also is a
good thing to have on hand. You can add whatever other business devices and equipment you discover you’ll need as time goes by.
You and your Family
It will be necessary to explain to your children that even though you are at home, you are, in a sense “not at home,” that you are working. This
does not apply to an emergency, of course, but for nearly all-ordinary moments it means they are not allowed to disturb you. You may even have to lock the door that leads to your work area.
On the other side, there is the situation regarding other adults in the household, from whom you might want some help from in running the
business. This has been called the “honey-do” problem: honey, do this; honey, do that. It’s best to come to some understanding with your
spouse (and any other adult in your home) about just how you are going to handle this problem.
It’s quite sensible to desire the help of those other capable adults because they can take some of the burdens of the business off your shoulders.
However, from both a business viewpoint and from the human relations viewpoint, it’s best to have a clear understanding with each of them as to
what kind of things they will and should do (answer the phone, open mail, pack and ship merchandise, etc.) and what they definitely are not to do
(make payments to people without your authorization, make agreements, deals or contracts without asking you). Such advance agreements can
avoid a lot of aggravation and make everything go much more smoothly.
“Hello, this is Daddy’s business”
You must realize that there will be some (charming) complications to running a business from home and one of those complications is when a
fairly small child answers the phone for a business call. “No, this isn’t the Smith Company, this is my house” may throw a business associate
calling your “office” for a loop, temporarily. Most people react quite graciously to this, but it does point up the advantage of having a business number that rings only in your work area.
Getting temporary help
There may be more work at times than you and your family can do yourselves. Your volume of business may be greater on certain days of the week, certain times of the month, certain seasons of the year. At those times you may need extra help to handle the work. Or you might need a bookkeeper or secretary or clerk one week a month to help you keep up-to-date on your record keeping and paperwork.
When you need such help, the most convenient way to get it is to hire someone through an agency that provides temporary workers. Manpower and Kelly Girl, for example, are two of the best-known agencies in this field. Hiring through such an agency has these advantages: they will send a person who has the skills you require which means you won’t waste time training the person. The worker they send understands that the job is temporary and won’t make you uncomfortable by asking to be kept on permanently.
And, because the worker is employed by the agency (not by you) the agency takes care of the worker’s payroll records, tax deductions, insurance coverage, fringe benefits, and so on. You are free from those responsibilities.
