3 Common Challenges and Tips for Running a Home-Based Business
February 8, 2010 by
Matthew
Filed under
Productivity
Working from home sounds great. In fact it’s the dream of many nine-to-fivers and nearly every 7:00 a.m. commuter. That’s why a Yahoo! search for “work from home business” yields 2.5 BILLION page results. Who wouldn’t want the freedom to set your own hours, stay in your PJs all day, spend time with the kids, take a break whenever you want, even get a snack or go out to lunch when the feeling strikes? Sounds lovely, doesn’t it? News flash: this is the description of a sick day, not a work day.
For the serious entrepreneur, working from home does have its benefits, and it has its pitfalls as well. Like any success in business, it takes dedication and planning to make it work. Here are three common issues the work-from-home entrepreneur faces, and some tips to help overcome them:
1. Loneliness. While we entrepreneurs are typically independent types, we also tend to be people people. We thrive on interaction with other like-minded adults. So when we suddenly find ourselves home alone much of the time, it can be a struggle. Even those little pleasantries at an office job – “Hey Bob, how’re Marge and the kids?”; “Hi Susan. Love those shoes.” – really do mean something to us. A 2007 study by researchers at the University of Michigan even showed that just ten minutes of small talk improved study participants’ cognitive abilities. It seems human interaction is not only a preference for most of us, it’s actually necessary for us to be at our best. Tip: One great way to overcome isolation and loneliness is to participate in online forums (like the one here on YoungEntrepreneur.com!). While it’s not face-to-face contact, you’ll be interacting with adults who are interested in similar subjects, and you just might form some valuable relationships. Depending on your business, relating with other entrepreneurs in person might come from visiting clients. If not, be sure to attend plenty of networking events. You’ll not only fulfill your need for human conversation, you’re likely to pick up some business leads and great advice too. Check out Meetup.com to find networking events near you.
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2. What Others Think. Tell someone who’s never done it that you work from home, and you might be surprised at what they think that means. (See sick day vs. work day example above.) For the most part, who cares what others think, right? Right – except that people (including your own family) sometimes think that because you work from home you have all the time in the world. Time to run errands for them; time to volunteer to head up committees; time to coach little league; and time to chat for hours about how they, “…have to take Sparky to the vet for shots and I hope he’ll be ok, because he just hates to ride in the car. I know! Most dogs love to ride in the car, right?” Tip: When you start working from home, make it clear to everyone you know exactly what that means. Let them know the hours you will be working, and make your expectations clear about how you plan to manage your time. Don’t be afraid to explain to someone making demands on your time that you take your business seriously and don’t have much more “extra” time than someone who commutes daily. If you’re still having trouble with this, use caller ID to avoid all but business calls during your set work hours.
3. Productivity During Work Time. When you worked for someone else, you probably never took a nap at work, no matter what the night before looked like. Of course, taking a nap without losing your job probably wasn’t an option. Entrepreneurs who go to their store every day are self-employed and don’t have a boss to answer to, but they need to open at a certain time and might have customers and employees counting on them to show up and stay productive all day. Working from home though, having to be accountable only to yourself for how you spend your time, can be a challenge for many. For the home-based entrepreneur, it’s likely no one will know if you sleep until noon or catch the last round of the British Open on TV instead of working on your marketing plan. Tip: If you’re not as productive at home as you think you should be, don’t feel bad. This is a very common concern, and no one is suggesting that you’re lazy or that you can’t hack it. You just need concrete goals and a plan to achieve them. Focusing on the reasons you’re in business for yourself in the first place can help you stay on track. Try breaking your long- and medium-term targets down to daily goals where possible. This will give you something to shoot for every day and help you keep your focus. And if you’re having trouble getting your work day started, set an early morning business meeting with a client or colleague as often as possible. You’ll be up and ready more easily, knowing you have someone expecting you. (And don’t worry – you can always TIVO the Open!)
Sometimes a good idea might be to visit your local coffee shop and maybe bring your work out there so you can get some sunshine while drinking a nice cup of coffee… Also, you might even be able to strike up a conversation with someone out there and that’ll definitely change up your day a bit socially.
You are so right… Keeping productive when at home can be hard at times. I guess this is why many entrepreneurs like to “go to work” to a home office or a cafe or such. If you try to work sitting on the sofa, you gotta accept that you probably won’t get as much done as you could.
I actually work more now that I work from home, if you are not self motivated, working from home may not work for you.
I know entrepreneurs that rent a cheap office just to separate work from home…
the biggest challange is, people (even family) saying get a real job. as if its not a real job. i guess in their mind, real job is one that you wake up early for, get dressed up and commute. lack of entrepreneurship and vision is very hard to overcome. people think you have no guarantee with this kind of businesses. but where do we have guarantee really?
Well its only been a week and I can honestly say I am not lonely, but that could be because I have not truly settled in and don’t have the complete peace of mind the a real steady income should bring.
Although I am a little concerned about what my family & friends think but haven’t said yet, I know that I have to make myself happy as opposed to worrying about their opinion of my working situation.
I think running business from home is really a challenging job and to be succeed in this home business is really very hard job. To be succeed in your home business for we need to be very committed and dedicated, it is not easy to run a business from home. And if you want success then you need to work hard with dedication and consistency.
I believe that home based business is really difficult, it is possible as a side business for many people but as a main source of income one needs lot of determination.
These three points are exactly one needs but the extent with which one suffers from loneliness or less productivity or what other people are thinking, varies from person to person and situation to situation.
Nice Article!
Great post. I’ve been working from home for almost 4 years. It does get lonely at times, but for the most part I get much more work done. I’m sure its not for everyone, particularly those who aren’t good at self motivation.
I find that I have to have a list of goals that I must meet every day. Sure, I don’t always meet them, but I try my best. Meeting my goals gives me a feeling of accomplishment and speeds up the day (because my day is occupied meeting goals). Thanks for sharing these common challenges.
Wow, those are some eye-opening points. I agree, some of the aspects of a 9-5 job are essential to most humans. I also know of quite a few home-workers that let their new freedom go to their head and their business took quite a slump.
Till then,
Jean
All I can say is that those people who blog or work from home face special challenges.Learn when to walk away and take a break. There’s plenty that needs doing in the house if you want to change task, but don’t sit at the desk and idle. If your concentration is broken, learn when to walk away to refresh, so you can come back renewed.
I also published 5 challenges of working from home on my blog. I didn’t covered these 3, may be I didn’t notice this happening with me, but now I realize I could have added these 3 too. But you did a great job by providing tips on how to overcome these challenges.
Not everyone can work from home. It takes discipline and focus. Many people don’t feel like they are at work unless they get dressed and leave the house every day. I know many people who are brilliant but failed at working at home because they simply could not focus. Good article!
Awesome article! Being in the executive suite business, I see a lot of people come through my center telling me that they face these exact challenges, and they are the reasons why they are out looking for office space.
I totally agree with Suzanne Wells, “Not everyone can work from home. It takes discipline and focus. Many people don’t feel like they are at work unless they get dressed and leave the house every day.” Executive suites are a great solution! I don’t say this, just because I am in the business, but I say it because I totally believe in executive suites! I think it’s nice to come to a place that has a community, a place where you can step outside your door, and maybe meet some people in your field or maybe not, maybe just a place where you can mingle with people of different trades, even network. A place where you can bounce your ideas off other people… and well frankly, a place where you won’t feel so lonely.
Great post. For most people staying focused while working from home is the biggest challenge. Most people aren’t used to that kind of freedom. So they take advantage….sleeping in, watching lots of tv, doing extra outside errands, or taking whole days off.
Many people would overlook #2: what others think. I personally ran into this a lot when I worked from home. Whenever someone needed a ride to the airport or some other help during the week, they always assumed I was available. They had some kind of belief that people who work from home don’t actually have responsibilities and important work to do.
Thanks for the post, Matthew! #3 is on point… I’m glad I’m not the only stay-at-home entrepreneur who finds himself succumbing to naps at random from time to time! Lol… seriously though.
Great post!
Garrett
Great article
I have a rule of no TV during the day I find that helps a lot
Good aeticle Thank you.
Great post.
Thank u.
The main issue I have encountered is procrastination. This happened during the first few months of my freelancing career. There are lots of distractions, and no one could shout at me and tell me to focus. You really have to figure it out all by yourself. Discipline was really a big issue but through hard work and tons of self-control I could say that I was millions time different from before.