Working and running a family
Jun 05 2008
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Here are some tips for business mums from SmallBusiness.co.uk and Gillian Nissim, founder of Workingmums.co.uk.
It’s not uncommon for “mumpreneurs” to start and run businesses from home.For many of us, the catalyst to start our own business has come from having children and wanting (and needing) to use our skills, earn an income but at the same time maximise the flexibility we have to manage work and family life. Working from home can seem like the perfect solution.
For example, it can significantly reduce the logistical complexities and stress of getting to and from nursery, school and the office on time and it can enable us to better manage work and family life - and find more cost effective childcare solutions. In addition, for start-ups and young businesses, being home-based helps to reduce the costs and overheads renting office space can bring.
Advances in technology, including broadband, skype and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), are making it easier than ever to run a business from home – and to employ home-based workers.
If it works well, it can bring huge benefits such as increased motivation, reduced travel costs and reduced sickness leave. But working from home doesn’t suit all types of people (or all types of business) and there are definite issues to consider to ensure working from home is right for you. If you’re thinking of running your business from home, here are some points to consider:
1. Childcare is key. Homeworking is difficult with children around, even if they sleep for long stretches, or are good at amusing themselves – don’t kid yourself into thinking you can get a business off the ground by working in nap times or while they’re doing jigsaws. Working from home can certainly help you be more flexible with the childcare you have but you need to make sure you structure your childcare arrangements clearly. You need to get regular childcare – whether it’s friends and family helping out for a few hours a week or more formalised arrangements with a nursery, childminder or nanny to ensure you have clear quality time to spend on your business. It will also help you to separate work from family in a positive way.
2. Do you work well on your own? Some people find they need the stimulus of other people around them and feel isolated and demotivated on their own. Working from home needs a great amount of self-discipline and you also may need some tactics to help ease the isolation of being home-based. For example try to ensure you get regular face to face meetings with clients and suppliers (particularly if you’ve got no employees in the early days), networking events are good for this and getting togther socially (and by instant messanger) with fellow home-workers can be motivating too.
3. Do you have the right technology in place to help you do the job? Finding a good and reliable broadband internet provider (one who also provides good IT support) is essential, and if you’re working from home, having a reliable source of IT support will pay dividends too. You may be covered by the deal you have on your computer for computer-related problems. There are also a host of internet-based sites which help with IT support such as homeworking.com - and remember to back up your files regularly.
4. Think about where and how you’re going to work. Working from home can make it harder to separate work from family life. Having a separate space to work in – ideally a separate room - is invaluable.
5. Get organised. Working from home, running your own business and your family - means being really organised and planning things in advance. There are always time when things go off kilter – whether for family or business reasons - but if you have planned and you’ll find it easier to get back on track.
6. Get help. Business Link provide a great mentoring service for pre-startups and early stage businesses for free. Their website also provides very useful information on the technicalities of setting up a business from home - http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/
Comment by claire towler
Sunday 14th September 2008So some of you maybe already working at home, others may be thinking its a great idea. Well here are some things that I have found out that are great about working at home -- though this doesn't mean that you get any actual work done: The Pros: You get to wear slippers to work and make calls to friends, even long distance friends. No one is watching your phone bill. You are allowed to read your horoscopes before your emails and your 'boss' (you) okays this action You can keep up to date with your soaps and other TV shows while 'working' Can easily schedule your day to fit your needs in and around your other responsibilities, i.e. laundry, grocery shopping. Take as long of a lunch hour as you want, even going 'out' for lunch and taking a two hour siesta afterwards if you have had some 'liquids' during your lunch making you drowsy. You can take a coffee break as many times as you want through out your day. If you smoke, you can usually smoke right in your office, no need to go outside in the dead of winter while your co-workers look at you in disgust. There is no one looking over your shoulder to see you have started another online 'scramble' game instead of preparing those invoices. No one but you will know if you take a sick day when you aren't really sick. You get to be with your children and pets throughout the day. The Cons: You get to be with your children and pets throughout the day. You may find yourself not showering as often. You can easily get distracted by the needed housework and mess that may sit all around you in your office area and household. Sleeping in is easier and since no one will know you are 'late' to work, you may find yourself actually getting more sleep than ever before. Distractions can come from anywhere, and a lot easier when you work at home versus at the office taking away from you actual work hours - there's the telephone, your friends, etc. You may find you gain weight easier since you are sitting more than usual. You could actually overwork and forget about taking out time for yourself and for your family and loved ones. You don't actually work at all Both these lists could go on and on, and I am sure you have your own pros and cons. Maybe you have thought about starting a home business for awhile. What I will tell you, first, is don't leave your day job just yet! Be thankful you have a job in the first place. During these lean times, having a home-based business is ever harder than before. But with a well-designed business plan, you can easily start a side business at home in your chosen field while you are still working your day job. And yes, you will need a website and understand marketing concepts to boot. And yes, it will take time. But there are so many great things about running your own business besides all the risks.
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