Summer Sanity for Moms Juggling a Home-Based CareerWritten by Lesley Spencer
by Lesley Spencer, MSc; Founder & President HBWM.com Inc.The relaxed pace of summer is peeking just around corner. And it is definitely welcome to many of us, but challenge and sometime stressful moments of balancing motherhood and work is not always so welcome. Like much of motherhood, being flexible is key and planning in advance is a necessity. To help you make this summer best it can be with as little stress as possible, here are some tips for balancing your many roles during summer: -- If you don't have a laptop, now is a great time to consider getting one especially with wireless Internet connection. You can work just about anywhere with your laptop and wireless connection. That means portability to work in any room in your home as well as work at locations in public with wireless connection - coffee shops, public parks, airports, shopping areas, skating rinks and more. -- Take convenience a step higher and make your laptop your desktop computer by using a docking station. A docking station allows you to still use your monitor and keyboard like a desktop without hassle of using two computer and transferring files and emails back and forth. Laptop prices have dropped dramatically and some laptops are as low as $500 while docking stations start around $60. Now may be time to make your business work around your busy life more than ever. -- If you know your workload is going to be overwhelming, start planning now what you can delegate. Perhaps, its time to hire a Virtual Assistant to help you in your business. There are many talented, capable VAs who can do anything from word processing to data entry, to answering calls to respond to email to much more. You can search for them and other talented home-based moms in a variety of professions at: http://www.HBWM.com/memberdir. Diana Ennen, a virtual assistant since 1985, of http://www.virtualwordpublishing.com states to start looking now and train them in what you want them to do to keep things running smoothly. Chances are you'll probably end up keeping them even after summer is over.
| | Checklist for Starting Your Home BusinessWritten by Lesley Spencer
by Lesley Spencer, MSc; Founder & President HBWM.com Inc.Once you have decided on your home business, you will need to take steps to set it up. The following checklist should help you get your business off ground. __ Before you begin your home business, check zoning ordinances in your area. Call or look online for your city or county government(usually planning department, building inspector or zoning administrator)to check zoning rules. Your neighborhood also may have restrictions. __ Decide if you will be incorporated. Talk to a lawyer and check out books on subject such as, John Kirk, Incorporating Your Business, TPR Publishing. Also decide if you will need patents, trademarks or copyrights on your work. __ If you will be incorporated, a partnership or have employees, obtain an Employer's Identification Number (EIN) through IRS. Also if you have employees, call Employment Commission for information on unemployment taxes you must pay. __ Determine if you should charge sales tax on your product or service (by calling State Comptroller's office in most states). __ Register your business name. Contact your county courthouse. (DBA-Doing Business As) __ Obtain any state or federal licenses if required by your business. __ Set up your business checking and savings accounts. You may want to deduct a percentage of your earnings to set aside for taxes. Shop around for banks that don't charge monthly fees (such as credit unions) and some others.
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