Brass Tacks and Gold Standards: The Ups and Downs of Working From a Home Office

By Pamela Thorne



There's no doubt about it, operating a business from home offers tremendous independence, freedom and flexibility. But how do you separate your home life from work? What if Fido needs to be taken out for a walk just when you're on a conference call? Aren't those cute animal videos on YouTube just too tempting when you should be writing a proposal?

There are a lot of advantages to working from home.

Suzanne Kondner, a Baltimore-based management trainer, likes the flexibility a home office affords her. "I work harder than most folks who have full-time jobs, but I don't mind because it gives me total flexibility," she said. "If I want to work all day Sunday, then take Monday off, nobody need know. It's totally up to me."

Margarita Rozenfeld, a coach and trainer in Washington, D.C., likes the ability to control her schedule. "For the most part," she said, "I get to choose when to meet with clients, and often where. I am rarely in peak-hour traffic."

What about the downside? The most frequently cited disadvantage of working from home is the blurring of boundaries between work and personal time. After all, regular office workers can shut down their computer at 5 p.m. on Friday and go home.

"When you work out of a home office," said Rozenfeld, "times off are somewhat arbitrary - the computer is never off, and it's tempting to go down the hall to check e-mail, or work on a proposal in the evenings and on weekends."

"I often joke," she continued, "that when you work for yourself from home you get to choose which hours you work in the day - which 16 hours that is."

Dorothy Hammel, a sales representative for a steel tank manufacturer, works from her home in Pasadena. For Hammel, one of her biggest challenges is not having immediate backup and technical support. "It's the lack of having of having somebody right there to give you an answer," she pointed out. "You can't run to the next office to get an engineer."

Managing time is also a big issue. It's too easy to waste time on nonproductive activities when the focus should be on sales, customer service or marketing.

Kondner advises that it's critical to be well organized. She recommends a planner - either electronic or pen and paper.

"My To Do list keeps me on track," said Kondner. "I use vertical files that make it easy to see things. Plus, I have a Pending file and a Reading file, so that papers don't build up."

"If you're really disorganized, paying an organizer to come in and organize your office would be worthwhile," she added.

Maintaining a professional image is vital. "Even if you're taking a phone call in your pajamas, the client must not know," said Kondner.

Jay Hargis of the Talent Insight Group teaches Virtual Human Resources at Suffolk University in Boston. Hargis advises against doing household chores during office hours. He lists three things that are vital:

¥ Have a dedicated room with a door.

¥ Have a separate phone line.

¥ Pay for daycare if you have children.

"People think they can work at home and handle their kids at the same time. It's not really possible to present a professional business image when children can be heard in the background - though nobody seems to mind it if you have a dog. Customers seem to get a giggle out of it," said Jay, who has two dogs himself.

Running a business from home can be the doorway to financial independence and a lifestyle many would envy. With a little effort, the hurdles are easily overcome. Now, is Fido ready for his walk?





Checklist for Home-Based Entrepreneurs

q Am I disciplined in my use of time? Home-based entrepreneurs have to devise their

own schedule.

q Am I good at setting goals? Successful solo operators create milestones and reward

themselves when they meet them. A daily To Do list is a must, as are written long-

term goals.

q Am I in good health? A good diet and regular exercise are essential. Find a way to

handle stress.

q Am I a jack-of-all-trades? There will be no IT specialist to help solve computer

problems. The home-based entrepreneur will need to move furniture, shop for the

best deal in office supplies, do deliveries and keep the books.

q Am I disciplined enough to relax and take time off? It's tempting when there is so

much to do - and only you to do it - to become a workaholic. Wise entrepreneurs

structure relaxation time into their schedules.

q Am I focused enough to separate the pressing and urgent from the important? It's

easy to waste time on activities that don't produce immediate business results, such as

endlessly expanding a web site, instead of concentrating on sales or customer service.





Pamela Thorne is president of Viva Training, which offers training courses in time management and workspace organization. She can be reached at pam@vivatraining.com.