© 2002 Elena Fawkner

For many people, working from home sounds like an ideal arrangement. You don't have to waste time commuting to and from office, you can be home for your children when they come home from school, you don't have to answer to anyone but yourself and you can work hours that suit YOU, not your boss. All very well in theory.

On other side of coin, though, are challenges of working from home. Working your own hours all too often means working all hours if you don't set a workday schedule, while rowdy children can become an almighty challenge when you need to present a professional image to prospective client you're speaking with on telephone.

The fundamental key to a successful transition to a home- based business is to keep your business and personal lives as separate as possible. Decide up front how many (and which) hours of day you're going to allocate to your business and stick to this schedule. What you don't get done during today's business hours can and should wait until tomorrow. Don't succumb to temptation of allowing your business to encroach on your personal and family time.

One effective way to keep your business and personal lives separate is to have separate areas of house for each. If at all possible, allocate a room of your house or apartment exclusively as your business office. Make sure that all members of your family understand that when you're in that room, you're working and not available except in an emergency. Likewise, don't use that room for any non-work activity such as a TV room (this is also an important point if you intend to claim your home office as a tax deduction).

By strictly separating areas in this way, you'll reinforce in your mind (and minds of other family members) that your office is a place of business and is to be treated as such. Just as your family will learn to respect these boundaries, it will also help you to "switch off" at end of your work day if you can literally shut door of your office and return "home" to your family.

As you are discovering, David, building a stable of long-term clients with needs that match your interests can be a time-consuming and ongoing effort, but it's worth it in long run. It's up to you to build a company that attracts clients with higher-end needs. You can't blame small businesses for whom you are likely working for having a small budget and basic needs. As a sole proprietor, you can certainly understand working on a restricted budget.

So first thing you need to do is to focus on how you want to position your company in marketplace. What types of work do you want to do for clients? Do you want to avoid business card layout all together or will you do it if it's for a client who does or will have larger needs in future? Do you want to develop a niche in which you specialize in doing full-scale marketing campaigns within a specific industry, such as restaurants or high-tech companies? You get idea - begin by determining what type of work you want. The world of graphic design is big and broad, so it's your job to narrow your focus which will make your company more attractive to potential clients in that field because you spend more time working on projects similar to theirs as compared to a jack-of-all-trades graphic designer.