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Working from home can be
a scary thing. Going through the motions to get to that point can be
even scarier! A ton of questions go through your mind- Can we make
it on one income if or until my business takes off? Can I focus
enough to get a business off the ground? Am I qualified for what I
want to pursue? What kind of business do I want to get into? What if
I fail?- These are very scary things. Of course compounded by the
fact that you have children to provide for and to complete the
circle of these thoughts, the whole reason you are even going
through this is so that you can be there for your children.
It is a doable process and is a rewarding venture once you know how
to start and accomplish your goal.
First and foremost, I have to stress networking and support!! Those
are two words that should not be far from a work at home mom’s mind.
Not only in your professional life but your personal life as well,
these two things are essential. You will find that once you are a
work at home mom, your professional and personal lives get somewhat
blurred together at times, even more reason to keep those two words
close at all times.
Support- Having a support team is one of the first steps in my mind
because #1, you will feel more at ease as you go through the rest of
the steps and #2, you need to know that as you get further down this
path, you will not be alone.- Is your spouse on board with you? Have
you spoken about the financial cuts this may bring to your family?
Is it understood that you will have to invest time in your new
venture? That you may have to invest money? Have you discussed the
possibility of being away from home on evenings and weekends if you
are going into a business that requires you to give home parties?
Have you spoke about the fact that though you may be home during the
day, you are still working and need support with the household as
you would if you were working outside the home?- Do you have friends
or family who are willing to step in once in a while with childcare?
Do you have someone to lean on when you are frustrated or feel like
giving up? Are your friends and family behind you in your venture?
Will they understand that what you are trying to do is hard work,
deserves the respect of a work outside the home job and that you are
in no way taking the easy road? Do they know your reasons for
working from home? These may seem like negative, harsh thoughts but
they are all things I have encountered over the years with women who
wish to work from home or start their own business. Essentially, you
are not doing this alone and you need to have a solid support
foundation under you.
Networking- For me, networking is an extension of support. It can
mean different things in different situations. You want to get a
solid foundation of networking underneath you. In this case, women
in your situation on all levels. Women who have made it successfully
to a comfortable spot with their business, women who are just
starting out and women who are still on their journey to success.
It is amazing how much you can learn from another woman who is
where you are or was where you are. Women seem to be afraid to
network, I guess it is in our nature. Afraid of competition, afraid
our ideas may get stolen or afraid you will not measure up. I was
once there. I avoided networking and support groups like the plague.
But you get to a point where you realize you NEED this foundation.
It was like a breath of fresh air when I finally took the step
toward building my networking base. I found that contrary to my
beliefs at the time, women are awesome at motivating, supporting,
inspiring other women and are great at getting the word out for each
other. I have made many great friends and business connections by
opening up my mind and giving my time to other women in business. It
is a step that is essential to your success. So where do you start?
Get online! Join a yahoo group, there are a ton of wahm and women in
business groups. Go to Google and type in key words like wahm, women
in business, wahm resources, wahm advertising, wahm blogs, you will
find a whole world you had no idea existed! The wahm world is a huge
network of blogs, resource websites, advertising websites, radio
broadcasts, retail stores, ezines, newsletters and more! Get
involved! Join your local chamber of commerce, find other women in
your area who own shops or sell for direct sales companies, joinan
expo or home show. There are endless ways to find other women to add
to your networking group. The key here is that you find them and you
listen to your instincts when adding them to your networking round
table. Not all women get along, not all women are right for each
other’s networking group, you need to be comfortable with the people
you surround yourself with. This is not to say that anyone is a bad
person, you just need to surround yourself with people you can get
along with, open up to and be able to trust. Don’t give away all
your trade secrets but have a group (even just one or two people)
you can go to to bounce ideas off of, get help when you are in a
rut, people who will advertise for each other, do a favor to help
out your business, things that will help all involved.
Research- I think that this is the step we as women have the hardest
time with. We want to work at home, we want to do it now and we run
with that. Taking the time to research is something I did not do
enough of. I learned from trial and error. That method taught me a
lot and I would probably not change how I learned but I like to put
this step in to help save other women the frustrations I
encountered. When you are deciding if you should be a wahm and what
kind of work you should do, research!! Do you want to go into direct
sales? Do you want to run an affiliate website? Do you want to start
your own online business selling items you make? Do you want to open
an online shop using a drop shipper? Do you want to do other work
such as typing or data entry from home? Do you have a talent or
degree in graphic or web design or marketing? Get online, go to
Google or Ask.com and plug in some key words, read as much of what
comes up as you can. I have gone as far as 32 pages into s search
reading and taking all I could from other sites. I have checked the
page ranks of other wahm sites, I have looked at who advertises with
them, how many hits they have gotten, the whole nine yards. I have
taken bits and pieces of knowledge from hours and hours of just
looking at what other people have done and then translating it into
what I have wanted to get across. I have not copied other women,
just noted what they have done that has worked or not worked. I have
read articles and e-books, blogs and group postings. I have taken in
all that I can in the wahm world and there is still so much I have
not gotten to yet! Talk with other women who are doing what you want
to do. Find out their obstacles, their challenges, their
accomplishments. If you find a company you want to work for,
research them until you can’t read any more! I am telling you,
Google is my best friend some days! I use it all the time! Keep a
binder of information that you want to refer to later, bookmark
sites you have taken inspiration from or would like to learn more
from. Do all you can to get as much information about the path you
want to take. Then decide whether it is right for you or not.
Realism- I like to include this step because it is one we tend to
side step. I never had any focus on the “what-ifs” because that was
just not positive and I did not want to get myself down. Then
reality hit. It is so important to keep a positive attitude, don’t
get me wrong, you can not be successful without it but it is also
important to keep perspective about things. Chances are, you are not
going to be a huge success off the bat. It does happen from time to
time and that is awesome but don’t get discouraged or beat yourself
up if it does not happen. It is not realistic to go into the path of
being a wahm with the idea that your business will take off, you
will be rich and life is going to be a piece of cake from then on.
It is a lot of work to work from home and run a successful business
whether it is working for a direct sales company or starting a
business from scratch. It takes determination, willingness to accept
defeat from time to time and a whole lot of “You Go, Girl!”. Chances
are, you will not succeed at your first attempts. Great, you have
learned what not to do and what to do better and you go again. You
may have chosen a direct sales company that is not right for you
after all. Okay, move on to another. You may have started with one
plan for your business and ended up with something totally
different. Kudos to you! The most important thing is that you
realize you are not a failure ever because you tried and that
successful people get that way from falling, learning, adjusting and
getting back up again to do it all over. This is the time when your
support and networking are so essential!
Planning- Once you have decided the path you would like to take. Sit
down to form a plan. What will you need for this venture? Do you
need to invest money-where will it come from? Do you need to sit
down with your family to talk about a new schedule? Do you have the
space you need for a home office, inventory or workshop? Do you have
a plan for recruiting your downline or finding customers- or at
least a way to find someone who can help you with those things? Do
you have a strategy for advertising and getting your name out there?
Do you need marketing materials-business cards, flyers, a website?
How will you get these things? Have you started looking into forming
a solid networking foundation? Do you need to find a mentor in the
business you are going into? Do you need to invest in supplies- how
will you do this? Do you need to be bonded or have insurance? Do you
need to have a business plan written up? Will you write and submit a
press release-how do you do this? Do you have a “plan B”? These are
some of the questions I have encountered either with the businesses
I have run or with women I have helped in finding out where their
path was leading them. There are of course a different set of
questions for each person but these are some of the most common I
have encountered. You need to sit down and write our your plan.
Having an informal business plan, maybe just a list of goals and
ideas is a great idea! If you have a question you don’t know the
answer to, get on the computer and find it! There are so many women
out there willing to help.
I have almost 10 years under my belt as a wahm. I have learned
through trial and error and the observation of other whams and women
in business. I have had two moderately successful businesses that I
no longer promote but still do business for existing customers. I
have gone down many paths thinking they were the right ones and
ended up on a totally different path. That is okay, it has been
awesome! It has taught me so much and brought me to meet so many
people that I have learned so much from. Let your path be a journey
that not only is lucrative but joyful and fulfilling. I think as
women we do what we think we have to to take care of our children
and homes. We lose ourselves in there somehow. I know there is the
very real notion of making money to feed the family. I was a single
mom and HAD to work even though I wanted to be home with my brand
new baby girl. When I finally had the chance to stay home, I made
the most of it and dove into being a wife and mother. There is
nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with being a wahm and finding fulfillment in your business as well as your
family. As I said earlier, the two get blurred sometimes and it is
hard to pull them apart when you are working form home. There is no
reason you have to give up one to have the other or that you can not
find joy in both. Not all women are cut out to work at home just as
not all women are cut out to work outside the home. We need not
judge each other but follow the path that is best for us. If you do
decide to be a wahm, know that there are so many women out there who
are willing to help, support, mentor, inspire and take you under
their wing. Networking is the key, I just can not say it enough!
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