If you are an Entrepreneur, than you probably have a history of influence or experience in field. For me, it was my father who owned and ran a sign shop. And in my own life, I constantly pursued earning an income ‘the hard way’. From babysitting, to jewelry design, to graphic art and data entry – I cringed away from ‘steady’ employment to find my own path.

Yes, my experience has also opened my eyes to devastation of bankruptcy, unreliable business partners and misleading (even deceitful) ‘home business’ schemes.

However, once you have taste of independence that self-employment offers, it is mighty hard to fight back! So now, as a mother of two small children, I am more determined than ever, that I, and hopefully my husband as well, will BE self-employed with a certain amount of security and obviously, a reliable amount of income.

So… Can I do it? Can YOU?

I swear to you that opportunity is out there. I see it, and taste it, and more importantly, I know it’s been had by others. What I have also learned is that there are at least FIVE important steps we must take to realize true satisfaction in this game. Let me share them with you.

1)Perseverance. There are probably more types of work-at-home businesses (or ‘schemes’) than pebbles on a beach. This can be overwhelming to a new entrepreneur. But it also means that there will certainly be something you would like to try your hand at. Keep reading, keep surfing, keep asking questions. Knowledge is everything when you’re planning a real business. You’ll learn as much (or more) from your failures as you will from your success.

“Managing Your Time In A Home Business”

Is your business still an inspiration, or has pressure of time and responsibilities started to dull your enthusiasm?

Find your best working strategy, and you’ll save time and energy that can be better spent on creative avenues of business and with family.

“Defining Your Space”

Defining your space is admittedly more about organization than time, but there’s an undeniable link between two. Have you scanned 100 emails to find that important reference code? Are you still sorting piles of necessary documents on your kitchen counter, just so you’ll know where they are?

Here, then, is reason for creating a specific working area. You may be using family computer, but make space for a file, incoming mail and a notebook. Enforce necessity of a cleared working area by providing bins or drawers for other family members, or your own ‘non-work’ related items. (If you choose to organize them as well, all better, but stick to your priorities.)

If it’s a small business, create at very least five files. One for Expenses, one for Income (let’s hope!), one for Reference Material, one for Correspondence and one for Projects (or Customers). If you deal with very many clients, or companies, give them separate files, otherwise one should suffice.

Consider setting up your email with similar ‘folders’ to keep everything organized and easy to find. Perhaps you can sub-categorize even further as there is not physical space issue.

This section could easily go on and on, but for simplicities sake, it would be best to start out with this system. If you’re already well over your head, creating this simplistic organization system may be best first step, you can refine and itemize bulk of it easier if you take time to make these first main files.

“Getting Busy”

We’ve all done it. A moment arises where you have chance to get some work done and you go to your computer, or workshop or otherwise, and for 5-10 minutes you browse emails or papers, trying to figure out what needs to be done.

With any home business (and this is especially true when children are in mix) you need, or have created, flexibility to work when YOU want. So don’t waste time figuring out what you’ll be doing.