Working From Home? Let’s Get Organized!

This is YOUR business – Treat it like one.

success According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail within the first five years. Unfortunaltey, many people jumping into business have no real business training or skills which results in the very high failure rate. Below are several rules to follow if you want to be amoungst the 5% who succeed.

Working at home is not as easy as many want it to be. To be successful you must have a plan and schedule.
When organized you feel more successful, you will be more productive and reduce stress.

Communication – IN COMING CALLS
Have a separate phone line just for your business – it makes you look more professional. If you don’t want a seperate line at least get a seperate ring tone so you can identify work calls verses personal calls.

Set regular business hours – at the time you decide to “close for the day” you no longer answer your business line. All “Real” businesses have scheduled office hours – so should you.

Don’t take personal calls during scheduled “working hours”, Only take business calls in your “office” so you don’t have messages left all over the house on napkins and sticky notes. They are too easy to lose and then no follow-up because you can’t find them.

Voice mail – helps us manage our time, manage our customers, and service them better. Be sure to keep a phone log or note book to record calls so you can retrieve them quickly later. Keep this log with you so when you need to write something down you can and then have a safe place to find your notes. Again NO napkins and lose pieces of paper

Suggestion – when you are out and about and you think of something you want to remember – simply call your office and leave a voice mail for yourself. Then when you get home you can record it on your log.

OUTBOUND CALLS – make a list of calls you need to make so you are organized, this keeps you on track and saves follow-up

Mail – Keep personal and business mail separate – use a wicker basket or in box. Where ever you sort your mail have both a Paper shredder and waste basket close by so you can get rid of un-wanted /needed mail immediately to keep down clutter and protect yourself against Identity Theft.

Put all out going mail in one place so it is easy to find and less searching, NO PILES ALL OVER THE HOUSE.

Keep personal life and business life SEPARATE – you have a home business so you can spend time with family. By making a clear separation of the two – you can do just that!! You are setting a good example for your family that you can do both – AND be successful!

WORK SPACE – Does not have to be fancy – a card table will do but it DOES NEED to be efficient! A separate space JUST for your business – not the kitchen table!

Mentally it needs to be the place you conduct your business
Sort and purge. – What is the purpose of the space?
Filling system – File cabinets – Out of site out of mind
Milk crate / open filing box – easy to visualize what needs to be done
Straight line filing – easier the process
Filing is to retrieve – not store
80 /20 rule Reach shows we use 20% of our possessions 80% of the time– is this something I really need to save and retrieve again – can I throw this away?
Step file – the more important files that you need to be able to see – NO Piling
If it is on your desk – needs to be the MOST used items – Needs to be within reach
Bulletin board and dry erase boards – help keep things visualized and more usable

Keep your office space organized – and dedicated for work so your home stays your home and your office stays your business.

To be continued…

Curtosy of Corina Danielson ~ Senior Team Manager with
Tastefully Simple

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