Positively Parenting

By Sally Anders

With 21 million people generating almost $1 TRILLION in income, 1-person businesses are a force in our economy. In a recent survey, 35% of home-based businesses reported earnings over $125,000 annually! This is serious business. But where do you begin to build your dream business around your family?

Start by defining your product or service.

• Cory sells handmade greeting cards—each a work of art!
• Marian is a virtual assistant.
• Tanisha provides tech support in her industry.
• Jon designs belt buckles for skydivers.
• Allan and Kari design apps for iphones.
• Judy creates one of a kind, high-end baby clothes.
• Jamie sells pole dancing clothing, shoes and props to housewives.

What's Your Great Idea?

Identify your customers and find out how much they might be willing pay for your product or service. Know how you will connect with your customers. The ability to have a store or office in cyberspace for about $10 a month attracts multitudes of new startups and makes it crucial that your message stands out from the crowd. Make sure your promotion looks professional and inviting to your customers. Spend your money wisely.

Rhonda decided she needed a professionally designed website for her consulting business in order to appeal to corporate clients. When Rhonda's website was done, her logo, designed by her spouse, looked like it was . . .  designed by her spouse. Rhonda bit the bullet, paid the money for a new logo and mustered the courage to tell her husband his design had to go.

Claim your workspace.

It is crucial that you have a designated work or office space. Even if it is only the dining room table, push it off to the side, set up bookcases, file cabinets or even just tape on the floor to delineate this exclusively as your workspace.

This doesn't mean that your family cannot enter this space. But it does mean you're in charge of who, when and for how long, anyone stays in this space. I often shared my home-office with children who were playing "business owner" in the corner while I answered emails or filled orders. Sometimes I paid them to help me put folders together for a program, or to replenish the supplies in my training kit. Integrate work time and family time whenever you can.

Define your work hours.

Taking care of your family is important work that our society often undervalues. You don't want to start a business that is going to compromise that commitment. Lay open a calendar with your waking hours from Sunday though Saturday. Block off family (and me) time first. Then, work business hours into the remaining time. Eileen got up at 5am to get 2 uninterrupted hours of work in before her five children started their day. Sharon worked from 8 to 11pm after her children were down for the night. You decide what works best for you, your family and your business.

Sally Anders has been a speaker in her own 1-person business for over 20 years, and now conducts workshops across the country on how to design your own Dynamic Business Duo. She is a past-president of Wisconsin Women Entrepreneurs (Now the National Association of Women Business Owners—NAWBO) where she worked with many one-person businesses, and partnered with the SBA and the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison to support women owned businesses. She is also a past-president of the American Society for Training and Development, SCW Chapter, and the National Speakers Association of Wisconsin. You can contact her at: sally@DynamicBusinessDuos.com.