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At-Home Business Growth - Six Tips to Growing Your Business
Owning and running your own at-home business is hard work. If you are like me, you spend hours and hours in front of the computer actually hoping that no one will come to the door or call unless it is for business. Every minute spent at home must be spent working, working, working.
But what if you are working every minute, not taking personal calls or visits, and you are not seeing any growth in your business? You will begin to get discouraged and jump from one business-building idea to the next with little or no success. Instead, use these six tips to get out of that rut and start growing again.
1) Get organized
Clean up the clutter in your office or work area. If you have filing to do, do it now. If you have phone calls to return, make them now. If you need a calendar or day planner to organize your day, buy it now and start using it. Nothing zaps productivity like being disorganized.
2) Schedule your time wisely
Look at your time commitments on a monthly, weekly, and daily basis. Use your calendar or PDA to set appointments at times that work with other errands. If you have to pick up the kids from school in the afternoon, plan errands and appointments before or after their pickup. If you run errands and make appointments for the morning then have to pick up kids later in the day, you have left yourself very little time in the middle of the day for work. If you run errands, make appointments, and pick up kids all in the afternoon, you have all morning to work before leaving the house.
3) Outsource
No, I don't mean send your work to another country, unless your business is too large to run yourself, but outsource your home tasks to others. If you have children who can do the laundry, let them do it. If your wife will take over paying the bills, let her do it. If you don't have time to clean, hire someone to do it for you even if it is just once or twice a month. The money you spend will be well worth having a clean house that you are not obsessing over because you just can't do it all. You might even have friends or other family members who will help you with these chores.
4) Focus on one task
Identify and focus on one aspect of your business that you would like to change. Often when people are working toward reducing or eliminating debt, they focus on the smallest bill first. When that is paid off the sense of accomplishment compels them to work on the next smallest bill, then the next, and so on until the debt is gone. Accomplishing one task might seem small now, but it will bring great rewards in your business. You may choose the hardest task or the easiest, but choose one and complete it.
5) Try something new
Research something that you have heard of but don't know what it is or how to put it into practice. Curious about viral marketing? Research it. Want to write an article and submit it? Do it. Want to start your own newsletter? Get tips and advice online and start working on it today. There is nothing like learning something new to spark your creativity and give you fresh insight.
6) Take a break
How many days has it been since you went for a walk or took a bike ride? When did you last visit the local museum or art gallery? How long has it been since you went to the park and watched the babies or the birds? Get your coat on and get out of the house. Call a friend to meet your for coffee. The fresh air will do you good and the exercise will do wonders for those muscles that are tired and sore from sitting all day.
Owning your own business can be the best thing you've ever done, but it can also be very hard. When business is slow and you seem to spend hours working and not getting anywhere, you need to step back and get a new perspective. Getting organized, managing your time, outsourcing daily chores, focusing on one task, trying something new, or taking a break could make all the difference in your business today.
About the Author: Claudia Pate is a home business entrepreneur and is the owner of The Anniversary Shop. She is writing her own internet marketing success story with Plug-in Profits, a multiple-streams-of-income plan with a complete 30 Day Guide to Success, and CommonSenseEbiz.com, a guide to internet and home-based business.
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