Your Home Business Management- ConclusionIn
previous articles, I've mentioned some of
key elements of managing your online business when you are working at home: finance, marketing, time, purchasing and computing, plus of course
need to manage yourself. This series has been about
need to manage your business, even if you do work at home alone, rather than just let it drift with
flow of
days, weeks, months and years.
For this last part in
series, I will partially recap, but also add in a few more suggestions that may help you deal with
transition from employee to “own business manager”. Of course, this is a subject I could write a book about, so this short series has been merely an introduction, to get you thinking about your business in a slightly different light to
way you might have done. I hope
following points may assist in that process:
• Always be patient and do not expect instant results. The business world is not like that. Maybe over
years you will have one or two lucky breaks, but do not expect them soon.
• Take a long term view of
business from
outset. This may be your one opportunity to do things right and make a decent income with
freedom of working from home. Set yourself a target for 5 years’ time, then
stepping stones to that target will emerge, one year at a time. Looking ahead 5 years you can set your targets high without being unrealistic.
• Always remember that
knowledge you are acquirin g will be a growing asset. All of a sudden you may find others viewing you as something of an expert, and you will realise you have knowledge that is valuable, not only to you but to others.
• A piece of knowledge is like a building block. Add these building blocks you are making one at a time. Remember, if you try to put a roof on a building before
walls are in place, it won’t be much of a building. Be patient in placing one block at a time, and there’s a good chance you will stand proudly in front of this building in awe and think: “wow, I did that!” And
roof will be snugly in place.
• Spread your learning across all parts of
business, especially those you don’t like. Never forget, every part of your business is inter-related. You need to be able to piece them together and bind them strongly.
• You will make mistakes, so do not expect otherwise. Marketing in particular will require risk and experiment. Before diving in and inflating your expectations, find out what others are experiencing from what you are wanting to try. Then there will be fewer disappointments and unpleasant surprises.