5 ways to a happy home business -- and kids

By Jeff Wuorio

If you're reading this column, chances are you're giving serious thought to a home-based business. And it's likely you have children in varying numbers and sizes around that home.

Hold on. Does this spell the end of your work-at-home fantasies? Are kids and home-based businesses like oil and water, or politics and polite conversation?

By no means. I can attest to that. I've owned a home-based business for about 20 years and for more than half of that time I've had one (and, later, a second) kidlet in the work vicinity.

But that's not to suggest that children and home businesses fold together naturally. It takes some planning, flexibility and, perhaps above all, guidelines. Here are some tips to get you started.

1.

Break the news that you're in business. "You should cover everything from friends coming over during business hours to whether they can run the vacuum or the dishwasher," she says. "If you don't, these topics can flare up four to six months down the road." 2. Tackle the "who's on kid duty" issue. However you set things up, don't assume that working from home eliminates the need for child care. If you're an ambitious, focused entrepreneur, that thought may never have dented your skull, but, for others, it's a serious misconception to think that, since you're working at home, child care is a fait accompli. You will find that in this instance you can't walk and chew at the same time -- particularly if your children are young and require a fair amount of ongoing supervision. So, one of the first issues you'll confront as a home business owner will be child care. If your spouse is available, you're in luck. Trade off child-care duties so that at least one adult can see to job-related responsibilities. Often, your spouse will not be available. Arrange for a sitter for a few hours every day, so you have a block of time for uninterrupted work. Arrange for the little one to go to play school, or even trade play dates with a neighbor. Follow more than one route, and get creative. For instance, one young mother I know set up a play group with neighbors that gave each parent one morning with all the children, and four mornings free for work. 3. Rethink your work hours and your productivity quota. Along those same lines, consider carefully how much productivity you're willing to give up. As a home-based business owner with kids careening about, it's important to acknowledge that you occasionally may not get all the work done you'd like to get done. If that seems a small price to pay, fine. But if you cringe at the notion of changing diapers while your voice mail takes customer messages, give serious thought as to whether working from home is a good idea at all. Even if you have child care, it's a guarantee that disruption will figure into your daily work routine. In many ways, the mix of a home business and kids drastically alters the very definition of a work schedule. Pursuing the uninterrupted 9-to-5 workday regimen is akin to rooting for Don Knotts to get the girl -- don't bank on it. Moreover, if you're thinking about a business that's confined to "usual" business hours, as many service-based operations are, chances are your children will eat into the hours you're able to work each week. But here's hope: If you're willing to approach a home-based business with some flexibility, kids and work can happily coexist. For instance, if your kids demand some attention during conventional workday hours, schedule a deliberate break during the day and then do some work in the evening, after they've conked out. Another strategy is to use "fun time" as motivation for sterling behavior -- the kids give you four hours of continuous, hissy-fit free work time in exchange for an hour or so at the skating rink or swimming pool. You need to be flexible and unbending at the same time. If you're organized in your approach to an uncertain schedule, your productivity goals won't suffer so much. 4. Create an official "kid-free" workspace -- with rules. There are other strategies and tactics that you can employ to ensure a happy union of commerce and kinfolk. One essential item is an office or workspace that's completely separate from other parts of the house. Setting up an office not only guarantees some sort of privacy; it can also be used as a clearly drawn line in the sand. This is the room where the kids simply are not allowed to go. Laying out a reasonable lineup of rules also helps in managing children and workspace considerations. Let your kids know in no uncertain terms how they are to behave if and when they're allowed in the office. If you have younger children, try to enlist older ones to help with guideline enforcement. And if you'd rather not have your kids come into your office at all, post a pad or pencil outside your door. That way, short of nuclear conflict or dismembered limbs, you find out what the kids want at your discretion. A little iconography can help, as well. One of Gordon's clients puts a "Hush Bear" (a carefully chosen teddy bear) outside his office door. That way, his twin daughters know silence is an absolute must. 5. Discover the opportunities, too. While kids and work at home may seem to boil down to constraints and compromise, bear in mind the possibilities that the arrangement can offer. Again, my family is a case in point: Discouraged by our school system, we recently decided to begin home-schooling both of our children. Had I worked in some cubicle in an office complex outside my home (an image that turns me to ice), home schooling would have been out of the question. But, with my office only a few feet away from our "classrooms" (our dining and living rooms), I have the joy of watching and taking part in my children's growth -- physically, emotionally and intellectually. Yes, I make some trade-offs. But I get a valuable experience in return, made possible because I work at home.

Put Your Kids to Work!

The most ingenious way to run your business and not let your kids feel left out is: make them part of either

1. Your business itself

2. The other everyday things that you can't get to while you are running your business.

What I mean by that is- Have you been wanting to start collecting all your photos and organizing them? Have 8 yr olds and up do that for you.

Have you been yearning to take up to date pictures of your family? Have your 13 yr old do that for you for the day.

Take a look at your list of things that you have to get done besides your business. Is all of the everyday things being put on the wayside?

Enlist your kids in these little projects( sorting socks for the laundry, restocking the toilet paper, cutting coupons) and when you approach them with something like this, tell them that you need their help to reach your goal.

Take a look at this article about putting your kids to work.

It’s tricky to be a kid. My Four-year-old wants to be an equal partner in all activities my wife and I are engaged in, and she’s not exactly the best sit-still person for longer car rides. One trick we’re finding is that if we give her a job to do, it’s helping her focus and it keeps her much more engaged. Here are some of the ways one might help a child by giving them purpose at an event or on vacation:
Buy a cheap digital camera before going on vacation and give them a list of things to photograph on the trip (if they’re young, give them a list of drawings or photos to try and match). Continued....

Getting your kids involved in your business, little by little

You can be focused and in the moment, making those calls and getting ready for those meetings, but your kids will always need you at any moment. What I am proposing is that, if you need them, make time for them, you can make your business thrive in no time.
All you need to do is find things for your kids to do such as:

• Have them put your business labels on your business pamphlets and paraphernalia


• Have them stuff sample bags or deliver newsletters to your neighbors


• If you have older kids, have a script developed so they help you make sales calls as your assistant ( Which they are!)


• My daughter likes to organize my product and let me know when we are low in a particular item.


• Gives out Freebies to her friends and their mothers.


• organize company literature


• organize family calendar

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The little kids are a little harder to motivate, but with some original "out of the box" thinking,

they can also be involved in what you are doing like being your cheerleaders. Tell he/she that if mommy/daddy makes so many phone calls or sales or some kind of goal then the family take a trip to the ice cream shop or something of their liking. Knowing that, they will motivate you like you wouldn't believe!

Step 3. Make their goals, your goals

Now your family knows what you need. Now what do they need? Does your son want to play xbox or playstation for an hour with out interruption? Does your daughter want to go to the movies with her friend this week? Do your kids want pizza on Friday? Find out what your kids yearn for and tell them that if you make your goal, then you will make their goal. I guarantee you that if they know that something is in it for them, they will be pushing you to make your goal!

Step 2. Make Your Goals

Do you have goals? Did you write them down? Can Everyone is your family see them? If they can't, then how can they help you, especially in your time of need? You may not know it, but your family could be your gold mine that you have been looking for as far as business is concerned. But they cannot help you if you don't let them know what is going on. Sit them down at dinner and let them know that this is your goal for them month and that you need this to do it. They may have some ideas for you and their understanding for you being "behind the curtain" alot could subside, because now they know what you need to do and eventually they will reap the benefits.

So you chose to stay at home with the kids?

Well first off- it is a hard decision to make to stay at home. I had that same experience, but I have five kids and I knew that they would be somewhat of a distraction, I really didnt think that it would affect my business, but it did. And I love my kids, but it was time for some distraction plans and such. So I hope that you can take the ideas that I have and use it to your own and advantage.