Ten Home Base Business Pitfalls

Once one has chosen one’s home base business one must avoid the pitfalls that can get in the way of one’s success.

1. Figure out how much it will cost to run you business and add about ten percent for miscellaneous expenses. This will be your operating budget. Once you have determined this figure stick to your budget. Many businesses have failed or at least gotten into trouble for spending more than they should. If you see something you want for your business wait two days before you buy it, you may decide you do not need it. Spending too much money is a major home-base business pitfall.

2. Lack of planning is a major home base business pitfall. One should make a list of the things one needs to do every day, week, and month and so on for one’s business, write them down, look at them and prioritize each item. If one does not know where one is going, it will be so easy to be side tracked.

3. After one has made one’s list of things that need to be done one needs to make a schedule. Schedule things that need to done daily, weekly, monthly and so on. Stick to your schedule, except for emergencies. This is treating one’s home-base business as a business.

4. Another pitfall is outside interruptions. Do not take personals calls during work hours and if someone stops by the office for a non-business related reason, stand-up, do not offer the person a seat and walk the person toward the door or even into the hall. Keep non-business conversation short, and go back into the office and close the door. This will make others take your home base business seriously or at least let them know that you take it seriously.

5. Another pitfall is doing things that are distracting during your break. For example, do not surf the Internet because time slips away when one is surfing the Internet for fun. During one’s break, one should make a cup of coffee or tea, go to the powder room, stretch, and go back to work. Do not get involved in activities that could keep cause one to delay getting back to work.

6. This pitfall is especially for women. It is import to separate one’s housework time from one’s business work at home time. Women are good at multi-tasking. For example, a woman can but a load of clothes in the washer and then go to her office and work. When the washer stops, she can then leave her office and put the clothes in the dryer. However, this going back and forth can disrupt creativity. It is better to divide one’s day into work time, housework time, and quality family time.

7. The inability to delegate is a major pitfall. If one is working from home and keeping a home, one should ask other family members for help. Let them know as diplomatically as possible that fruits of the home-base business are for everyone. When other family members clean the house, give them praise for their help, and overlook any imperfections. No one will clean the house the way you do, but let what he or she do be good enough until your business is making enough to hire a housekeeper.

8. A pitfall that can really hurt your home base business is neglecting one’s spouse. Set aside special time for just you and your spouse every week. Do not talk about business. Even though he or she may be the reason you are doing this, your spouse may not share you excitement about the everyday details all the time.

9. Going it alone is another pitfall for people who have home base businesses. Take the time to talk to like-minded people. There are forums and business associations where one can connect with others home base business owners to share ideas, find out about business services, and small business-coops. Do not pass-up these valuable resources.

10. Neglecting one’s self is my last but not the least of home base business pitfalls. One should take care of one’s self emotionally, physically, and spiritually. One should get plenty of rest, eat well, and get a little exercise. Remember it is your business and you can schedule things to your benefit.

Of Course, theses are not the only pitfalls that can put one’s home base business at risk; however, one should be aware of the harm they can cause.