Notesale: Turn your study into money

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction

xi

Part 1

Sounds Like a Nice Idea

Chapter 1

Why work from home?
Why work from home?
Who can work from home?
What’s so good about homeworking?
The downsides of homeworking
Is homeworking for me?
Questionnaire – are you ready for homeworking yet?
Resources

3
4
8
9
11
13
13
15

Chapter 2

Will working from home work for me?
Why personality matters
Why people see things differently
What makes you get up in the morning?
How do you keep time?
Decisions, decisions
Questionnaire – are you suited to homeworking?
Resources

17
19
26
29
30
31
32
34

Chapter 3

Can I make money at home?
Homeworking ‘opportunities’ – approach with caution
Is working from home as an employee the right step?
How to negotiate with your boss to work from home
Making money at home as your own boss
Getting to grips with the red tape of self-employment
Managing your finances when you’re self-employed
Useful people to know when you’re setting up in business
Resources

35
35
36
39
41
47
51
54
57

Part 2

Making It Happen

Chapter 4

How do I create my perfect workspace?
Setting up or improving your workspace

63
63
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Should I invite people into my workspace?
Alternatives to meeting people at home
Resources

74
76
78

Chapter 5

Can I be productive at home?
Productive or fat, depressed and lazy?
Finding your most productive homeworking style
Creating a structure for your day and staying focused
Making the most of your time
Avoiding time wasters
Procrastination and what you can do about it
Resources

80
80
82
84
88
89
93
95

Chapter 6

What about my professional image?
The importance of confidentiality
Providing excellent customer service
Looking and acting the part
Keeping up with the game when you’re employed
Consistent branding for the self-employed
Resources

Part 3

Secrets of Success

Chapter 7

Won’t I feel isolated?
Coping with isolation
Staying connected
Getting out more
Why is everyone networking?
Online networking
Resources

117
117
119
121
124
129
130

Chapter 8

How do I separate work and home?
Taking care of yourself while working from home
Managing family and friends
Looking after your main relationship
Children and homeworking
Working from home when you have teenagers
Coping with customers in your home
Resources

132
132
139
140
145
148
149
151

Chapter 9

What if there’s a crisis?
What could go wrong?
Financial worries

152
152
153

vi

97
97
98
102
108
110
114

C

Family and domestic emergencies
IT glitches
People problems
Bad luck
Getting stuck
Running out of time
A golden opportunity
Ways to manage crises while keeping your head
Get away from the problem
Have a plan
Put it in perspective
Use a fallow period constructively
Choose your response
Don’t ask why but do ask for feedback
‘You can’t win ’em all’
Even super-successful people have failures
There is no failure, only feedback
Share the pain
Just get on with it
Understand what’s going on
You’ve got to laugh
Resources

ONTENTS

154
155
155
156
156
156
157
157
157
160
162
162
163
164
164
164
165
165
165
166
166
167

Afterword

169

Index

171

vii

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to everyone who helped me to make this book possible and I would like
to thank: Nigel Heminsley who inadvertently got me started on the homeworking
path, Sara Barrett for all the cups of coffee and moral support, Susannah Marriott for
her inspiring and thorough teaching, Ron Trewellard and Margaret Chamberlain for
giving me useful feedback and boosting my confidence, and all the homeworkers who
gave so generously of their time and experience in telling me their stories – I have not
been able to mention them all but every one of you gave me vital information and
inspiration
...


ix

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INTRODUCTION
Are you one of the millions of people who have already discovered the rewards of
working from home? Or one of those thinking about taking the plunge and
wondering what challenges you will face? If so, this might be the book that will
change your life
...
Over 12 years I started, built up and
finally sold a very profitable cleaning business, which I ran from a spare bedroom
...
All I had to do was sit down at my desk, get out
my timesheet and immediately I was earning!
There’s a lot of my own experience in the pages of this book, but don’t just take it
from me
...
From
designers to B&B owners, from sales managers to craftsmen, they have explained
their solutions to common challenges that you might face
...

We have all encountered our fair share of joys and mishaps, and our ways of handling
them may vary, but we all agree on one thing – we believe that the pros of
homeworking far outweigh the cons and cannot imagine ever wanting to work any
other way
...
If I have a deadline, I can set my alarm early
and start work in minutes
...
If my energy or enthusiasm dip during the
day, I go for a walk, have a nap or head out to do some errands
...

I accept that there will inevitably be drawbacks - everyone I interviewed for this
book mentioned dealing with issues like isolation, procrastination, and balancing
work and family demands – but I still believe working from home is by far the
best way to organise your life
...
In other words, you have a far
better quality of life when all your activities are centred around one location
rather than two, or even more
...
Given this, I decided
to write a guide to working from home which can be used both by employees and by
those who are self-employed
...
Or as I read somewhere – work is what you do, not a place you
go
...

This is a down-to-earth, practical and friendly guide to getting the best from working
from home
...

What you will find are true stories from the people who have balanced the working
from home conundrum in their own unique ways and continue to do so
...

There are lots of options in this book to help you choose and develop the style which
best suits you and your family
...
Clayton, however, (see page 67) has discovered
he much prefers to work in the living room where he is available to his young son
...
Liam (page 83) uses ear plugs to keep out distracting sounds and
help his concentration, whereas Robin puts on rousing music when he is starting to
flag
...
Completely different solutions, but they work
for each individual
...
If you are pushed for time, you will find a summary of the main points at
the start of each chapter, plus a list of useful resources at the end so you can start
making changes straightaway
...
This is simply because it is easier to choose a word and stick to it, not
because I am excluding the many people who work in a shop, restaurant, factory,
workshop, hotel, studio etc
...

Judy Heminsley www
...
com
xii

Part1
Sounds like a Nice Idea

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1

WHY WORK FROM HOME?
It was not so long ago that going off to work each morning was the accepted thing to
do, and anyone who worked from home was the exception
...
Since the Office for National Statistics started collecting data on the subject
in 1997, the number of people working from home has trebled
...
1 million people, or 11% of the UK workforce,
were working from home full time, and many more for part of the working week
...

It’s a fact that
...
One in five were so keen to do so, they said they would even
accept a pay cut
...
You may have considered homeworking yourself, and maybe you
dismissed it as impossible, given your circumstances
...
This chapter aims to help you assess the realities of your own situation by
reviewing the reasons so many people have already chosen home in preference to the
office
...
The reasons why more than 3 million people already work from home and why
this number is set to rise sharply
...
How you can work from home whether you are self-employed or working for
someone else
...
The advantages of working from home for you, for business, the community and
the environment
...
The downsides of homeworking – factors to consider carefully before making a
decision
...
A questionnaire to find out how prepared you are to become a homeworker and
what kind of information will help you to gear up to homeworking
...
We entertained the occasional sales rep
...
Deliveries of cleaning products
arrived at the front door and our signwritten Suzuki jeep was parked in the street
...
At my busiest times I employed over 20 people part time, and it was all
entirely manageable from that bedroom base
...
I’m now in my fifth home office and it feels entirely
natural to be able to organise my whole life – including the shopping, washing, cleaning,
visiting family and friends, going to the hairdresser, and so on – from one place, and not to
have to jam all the so-called ‘domestic’ or ‘personal’ bits into the brief times between and
after office hours
...
I suppose that’s what we mean when we talk about
work/life balance
...


Why work from home?
Over three million British homeworkers and rising can’t all be wrong, and the
increase in numbers is not surprising when we look at all the diverse factors –
economic, social and political – that are contributing towards fewer people travelling
to a central place on a daily basis
...
These range from the desire to lead a
less stressful life and see more of their family to the need to cut the costs of transport
at a time when housing and utility bills eat up more disposable income than ever
before
...
Let’s look at each of these factors in turn
...
The advent of broadband has enabled huge files to be sent
and received which previously would have required physical delivery
...
Sophisticated
search engines mean we have access to experts wherever we are
...
Salesmen access up-to-date prices and stock levels on the company
intranet before seeing clients, and submit orders online immediately afterwards
...
Run your own business, and with a professional website, noone will know or even care where you are based
...
And when you want to save all that precious information, you can back it
up remotely to make sure it’s safe from fire, flood or theft and complies with statutory
requirements
...
He was fortunate to be
working for a forward-looking charity that agreed to let him work full time from home; an
enlightened attitude at a time when homeworking was almost unheard of, the internet
was in its infancy and there was no broadband
...
Eventually he gave up the job to
become a freelance report writer
...


HAVE A BETTER WORK/LIFE BALANCE
Employees are fed up with wasting their precious work and leisure time in traffic
queues and crowded trains when they could be at their desks or with their families
...

Working from home gives you control over every aspect of your life, so you can
forget about conforming to office culture and do your work the way you want, when
you want
...
You can fit in all the pieces of the jigsaw in the way that is most
convenient to you
...
I have had all kinds of
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commitments throughout the UK, sometimes at short notice, but somehow, with the
freedom I have in my working life, it’s all worked out and everything gets done
...
With her husband, she runs a website enabling
teachers to find destinations for school trips
...
People here are easier going; people in cities are more stressed
...
I used to enjoy being part of a big office, and all the socialising
...
’ As
their work can be done at any time of day, Clare and her husband work three days and
two evenings a week, and use the other time to get out and explore the countryside
...
If you drive your own car
you have to pay for petrol and parking, possibly road tolls and the congestion charge,
depending where you live
...
If you use public transport you have to contend with ever-increasing fares for
ever-more crowded services, delays and unexpected cancellations
...
You want to fit in and not be thought
standoffish or peculiar, so you go along for the coffees, the lunches and the drinks
after work; maybe some meals and nights out as well
...
You
need to have enough clothes to mix and match so you’re not the sad one who wears
the same thing day in, day out, and have you noticed that suits and ‘office clothes’
always need dry cleaning?
If you have children or want to start a family, you will know that the cost of nursery
care has risen consistently over the last few years, at well above the rate of inflation
...
How
much better to juggle your work to fit around naps, playgroups and bedtimes?

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It’s a fact that
...
By 2007,the cost had risen by another 6%,to almost »8000 a year
...
BT have found that for every member of staff
who works from home, they save an average of £6000 per annum on office costs
...
Many business plans just don’t stack up if buying or renting
commercial property is added in
...

HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE
A few years ago there was widespread concern about the ‘food miles’ involved in
flying food from places like South America and Africa to British supermarkets
...

But have you heard of ‘work miles’, or the distances clocked up by commuters
travelling to and from their workplaces every day? If not, it may not be long before
you do
...

With unusual and extreme weather events now regularly occurring in the UK, such as
the torrential rain that caused the summer floods of 2007, there is more public debate
about the effects of climate change and how cutting down on carbon emissions from
driving could help to halt or reverse the effects
...


In 2006 David Miliband, the then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs, proposed the idea of personal carbon allowances or carbon credit cards
...
Those not using their allowance could sell surplus points to a central bank,
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from which heavy users could buy more points
...

It’s a fact that
...

Source: WWF, 2007

CONSERVE OIL SUPPLIES
The western world has been founded on the availability of cheap oil and constant
economic growth, so ‘peak oil’, when world oil supplies can no longer meet demand
and start to decline, is a controversial and emotive subject
...
It’s mind-boggling to anticipate the impact
this would have on our daily way of life
...


the UK has one of the longest commutes in Europe
...
‘Extreme commuters’, who commute at least
three hours per day, make up 3% of the population
...
The most obvious and immediate effect could be that fuel
would be rationed, as mentioned above, and that eventually driving would become too
expensive for most people
...
Living and
working in the same place might one day be a necessity rather than a choice
...
Anybody in the IT industry has
a head start on homeworking, as you can utilise your skills wherever you can carry
and connect a computer
...

The latest development in call centres is enabling more people to work from home
...
Companies in industries that require staff to have detailed knowledge of
their market are now ‘homeshoring’ and offering customer service positions to people
at home in the UK who work flexible hours
...

Texperts’ office is in the UK but they contract people living all over the world to
answer the questions their customers send in by text
...
You
can’t work from home if you are a nurse, a lorry driver or a restaurant chef
...
Or perhaps you need to be in regular face-to-face contact with
colleagues and clients at your office
...
Or
you might put a new spin on your existing skills and practise them from home on a
self-employed basis
...
The lorry driver could start up a courier business
run from a spare room
...


What’s so good about homeworking?
Sarah, a sales executive who works from home in a remote rural area, was so
convinced that working from home was her best option that she persevered for a year,
through many rejections and finally a gruelling three-hour interview, until she found
an employer willing to give her a chance
...
What
exactly is it that we appreciate so much? Well, there are benefits not only for you as an
individual, but also for businesses, for the community and the environment
...

ADVANTAGES OF HOMEWORKING FOR YOU
o If you’re an employee you save money on travelling, childcare, buying and
drycleaning work clothes, on drinks, snacks and impulse shopping
...
You can
use that time to sleep in, get organised, play with the kids, do the cleaning or
whatever suits you best
...


o

Forget the stress of worrying about being stuck on public transport and arriving
late, or of negotiating traffic jams and avoiding dangerous drivers on the
motorway
...
You can make a living or earn pocket money even if you are tied to the
house and retain your job even if you move hundreds of miles away
...
At home you have greater independence and
flexibility
...
You can take work calls outside office hours, or personal
calls in office hours, and work at the times you are naturally more productive
...
m
...
30 p
...
’ and take the first available appointment to see
the doctor and dentist
...
Time for community activities is a real possibility
...
Exercise
can be slotted between tasks to benefit brain as well as body
...

According to Work Wise UK, Microsoft has been encouraging flexible working
for its staff and in so doing has managed to accommodate 400 more staff at its
Reading headquarters
...

o

10

Small home-based businesses avoid expensive commercial rents and mortgages
and the associated utility bills
...


o

Employers find it easier to retain these high quality staff and save money on
expensive recruitment and training
...


ADVANTAGES OF HOMEWORKING FOR COMMUNITIES
o You and your neighbours all benefit from the security of having someone in the
house all or part of the day
...
Homeworkers get their paper from the local
newsagent and their stamps from the post office
...


o

The roads get less congested at traditional rush hours
...


o

Turn down the heating, get better insulation and switch off computers and
appliances to keep utility bills down
...


The downsides of homeworking
It has to be said that there are those who are less than impressed by the idea of
homeworking
...
I’ve also read a
response to an internet article in which the writer declared that if you are able to work
from home full time, you obviously have a useless job!
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These outbursts are probably prompted by a wish to stir up controversy, but of course
there’s a price to be paid for everything and I’d rather we look at the potential pitfalls
of homeworking at the outset
...
This side-effect of homeworking was mentioned by
every one of the homeworkers I talked to when researching this book
...

o

Being in closer contact with your family, on the other hand, might cause friction
unless you can agree and adhere to workable boundaries
...


o

Spending all your time in one area may feel claustrophobic, and you might miss
the stimulation of a change of scene, your colleagues, and shops and restaurants
...


o

On the other hand, some people find it hard to switch off when work is so close
at hand – you might become a workaholic addicted to your ‘CrackBerry’
...

o

Sometimes managers are opposed to the idea, fearing a fall in the quality and
quantity of work produced
...
My bosses all work from home too and so they
understand what it’s like
...
’
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o

Managers may regard home working as a perk which should be reserved for
management, or fear for their own jobs as more and more staff work out of the
office
...
’

o

Team spirit might suffer if you are not all in the same place, so effective
communications need to be set up to counter this, to share information and
keep the consistency of your results
...


DISADVANTAGES OF HOMEWORKING IF YOU ARE SELF-EMPLOYED
o With no public presence, home-based businesses can be almost invisible,
making it harder to get established and increase your market
...


Is homeworking for me?
I hope that has given you an honest idea of the issues relating to homeworking
...
The aim of
this book is to maximise the advantages and help you minimise the drawbacks
...
If some do not immediately
appear to be ideal, there may be ways to work on them to give you the best chance of
success
...

Answer as honestly as you can, not as you wish you were! Award yourself one point for each
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statement you believe is true for you, add up your overall score and read your assessment
below
...

o My home is big enough to accommodate my work
...
)
o My family understands and accepts my need for space and peace while I am working
...

o I am sufficiently experienced to be able to carry out my work without regular support from

others
...

o I trust my family to adhere to the boundaries I set up with them regarding work and home life
...

o I already have, or have confirmed it is possible to arrange, the facilities essential for my work

(phone line, broadband connection, access to post box etc
...

o If you are self-employed: I have investigated the legal requirements of working from home e
...


council permissions, licences, insurance etc
...
Look
closely at the statements that are not yet true for you
...
Go to Chapter 2 for more about the importance of
personality and knowing yourself
...

4^7 You are well on the way towards homeworking but there is still work to be done
...
One of the best sources of help is people who
are already doing it, so tell your family and friends what you have in mind and listen to their
experiences
...

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8^10 You are almost at the point where you can move to working from home
...


Resources
o

Your best friend – making such a fundamental change as working from home is
always easier when you have support from someone who believes in you, so talk
to them now about your plans
...
Warner Books, 2001
...


o

www
...
com
An excellent source of information on all kinds of homeworking, including a
forum where you can ask questions and share experiences
...
motheratwork
...
uk
A webzine for parents that includes articles, job vacancies and a directory of
employers with a good record of supporting employees’ work/life balance
...
careerathome
...
uk
If you are thinking about working from home, or need some information about
a particular aspect of homeworking, this site has useful articles on a range of
subjects, and a free monthly newsletter
...
workwiseuk
...
Their website provides information on
the benefits of home working and how they are promoting smarter working in
the UK, including Work Wise Week and National Work from Home Day
...
tca
...
uk
The Telework Association is a membership organisation offering information to
those who work flexibly
...


o

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www
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co
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2

WILL WORKING FROM HOME WORK FOR ME?
Regardless of the type of job you do, working from home has its own unique
demands, which you must be able to fulfil at the same time as carrying out your job
effectively
...

The ones mentioned most often, and the ones that seem to cause the most concern to
new homeworkers, are self-discipline and self-motivation
...

Of course, if you’re used to working with other people, it’s hard to know how selfdisciplined and self-motivated you would be when working from home until you try
it
...
If you are already a homeworker, this
information will help you to understand yourself better and recognise what is
blocking you from becoming more successful
...
How different traits affect your performance as a homeworker
...
How you perceive the world – whether you are a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic
type, and how knowing your type can help you to learn, relate to people and
express your appreciation
...
What motivates you – are you a ‘towards’ person or an ‘away’ person?
5
...
What prompts you to make a decision – are you proactive or reactive?
7
...

You will find out how your brain is wired, and whether it is presently wired in a way
that is helpful for homeworking
...

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This kind of self-awareness means that you are able to observe yourself objectively
and acknowledge when you need to make changes
...
Working from home can be a crash course in getting to know yourself
better if you are open-minded and willing to change
...
‘My first
reaction was ‘‘Oh, great, now I don’t have to get up so early!’’ and I did stay in bed late for
a while, but in the end I decided that I needed to be more disciplined, and so I started
getting up earlier
...
Keeping up to date is crucial in my industry, but sometimes it might
not be the highest priority
...
So I decided to analyse my use of time more closely
and I got hold of one of those timers you see at chess matches
...
’
Sometimes it’s necessary not only to be aware of your own behaviour and to manage
it so you produce better results when working from home, but also to manage your
behaviour in relation to other people
...

The Millionaire on the Doorstep

‘

One of my office cleaners once asked for the evening off and I reluctantly had to
stand in for her
...
’’ The
thoughts that ran through my mind were unprintable, but out of politeness and the
knowledge I was representing my business, I replied with a remark I no longer recall,
but was no doubt just as banal
...
All my cleaners are old and grumpy
...
‘‘No, no,’’ he replied, ‘‘I mean
office cleaning
...
He asked me for a
business card and made an appointment there and then for me to visit one of his
many properties and quote for the cleaning
...

______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

’

I’ve dined out on that story many times and always been grateful for that chance
meeting on the brass doorstep, but it’s only while thinking about this chapter that
I’ve realised that I wouldn’t have got the opportunity if I’d given in to my bad temper
and replied rudely or not at all
...

Just a thought

The information in this chapter is provided to help you get to know yourself better,to improve your self-awareness and help you to succeed in working from home
...
They are simply starting points
...


Why personality matters
Personality testing, also known as personality profiling, is widely used by employers
and you may already have taken such a test as part of a recruitment or promotion
procedure or on a training course
...
Three of these were created in the
1920s by Carl Jung, the German psychologist, in his study of people’s psychological
preferences and the way that these affect their way of dealing with life
...

You can now find out more about your preferences (extrovert/introvert, sensing/
intuition, thinking/feeling and judging/perceiving) by ticking which of the following
statements you agree with
...
If you tick the same number of questions for each type, it suggests you are able
to balance this part of your personality and you should cope well with the aspects of
homeworking related to it
...
So an
extrovert turns to the outside for inspiration, often to other people, and an introvert
turns inside to their own resources
...

Do you
a) get changed after a hard day at work and head off to the pub for an evening
chatting with friends?
b) tend to speak before fully thinking through what you want to say?
c) have many friends and acquaintances?
d) have a quiet night in with a good book or favourite television programme after a
hard day at work?
e) often get told you are a good listener?
f) have just a few very close friends you can confide in?
If you answered yes to questions a) to c), you have extrovert tendencies
...

If you answered yes to d) to f), you have introvert tendencies
...
Your love of company may mean you find working alone boring and
demoralising, so if working from home is to be successful and enjoyable, you will
need to maintain a strong support network
...

The introvert type
If you are the introvert type you get energy by looking within yourself and so you can
find other people draining
...
Being happy with your own company will make working
from home appealing, but you will still need contact with others
...

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Coping with isolation
Bearing in mind that isolation is generally regarded as the number one challenge in
working from home, it’s easy to see how your degree of extroversion or introversion
will have a big impact on how comfortable you feel working from home
...
It is
mainly a question of understanding your own needs and adapting your habits
accordingly
...

And of course nobody is entirely extrovert or entirely introvert; we are all at different
points on a sliding scale, and we can move up and down the scale depending on
circumstances
...

We can also train ourselves to cope with situations outside our comfort zone if there
is sufficient motivation, for example, if your job description demands that you
entertain clients
...

A Magazine Owner’s Story
Toni runs a business magazine from home with her husband Nick, who previously
worked as a journalist for national publications
...

Nick is happy with his own company and writes and edits the content of the magazine in
their home office, an old farmhouse at the end of a long lane
...
She is chatty and interested in
people
...
I have seen her in action – her energy and enthusiasm
are boundless and she talks openly and cheerfully to all kinds of people, from the catering
staff to the most influential guest
...
Nick confirms that she would never be this
outgoing in a more informal situation
...
To find out whether you tend towards sensing or
intuition, ask yourself the following questions
...

If you answered yes to questions d) to f), you are intuitive
...
They are
interested in what is happening right now, and they value order and systems
...
They are fascinated by the future, are open to
possibilities and are more likely to be innovators
...
You set up
your own systems to make sure processes happen at the right time, and put checks in
place to make doubly sure
...
But this emphasis on present efficiency can make
you neglect strategic planning for the future and hesitant to take up opportunities
when a leap of faith is needed
...
As you are more likely to
be thinking about the future than the day-to-day systems required by homeworking,
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you get bored with routine work and tend to hop erratically from one task to another
...

Sensing and Intuition in Practice

‘

My partner is an intuitive type, while I am sensing
...
A pattern emerged
where Andy would come up with what he considered to be a wonderful idea, and I
would respond by immediately bringing up all the potential problems
...
After many arguments we have
finally learnt that we both want to achieve the same thing – a successful, vibrant
business______________________________________________________________________________
____________________coming__________________________________________________________
___________________________ ______from______________________________________________
________– but are ________at it _____ different directions
...
To find out how you go about making decisions, answer these questions:
Do you
a) base your decisions on objective information?
b) make a point because it is logical and not because it will keep the peace?
c) prefer to tell the truth even if people don’t want to hear it?
d) base decisions on other people’s feelings?
e) put yourself out to accommodate the wishes of others?
f) try to avoid conflict?
If you answered yes to questions a) to c), you are a thinking type
...

THE THINKING TYPE
If you are the thinking type you use objective information as the basis for your
decisions
...
When working
from home, you need to remember to make time to keep in contact with people, just
for its own sake
...

THE FEELING TYPE
If you are the feeling type you make decisions based on subjective information –
‘How do I feel about this?’ – and on how decisions will affect others
...
Try to keep your own goals in mind and don’t be
overly concerned with the opinions and feelings of others
...
A confidant who understands your work
will help you to keep things in perspective
...
We decided that, as I have plenty of experience in this field,
I should gradually take on more responsibility for looking after the finances, recordkeeping, and so on
...

My business experience tells me he should ask his clients to sign a contract when they
commit to using his training services, agreeing to pay on a sliding scale in the event of
cancellation
...
He wants
to run things more on trust, while I want to get it all in black and white
...
The
judging and perceiving scale analyses how people respond to their environment
...

If you answered yes to questions d) to f), you are a perceiver
...
The perceiver can allow you to be spontaneous and take
advantage of the freedom that working from home brings, whether it’s in the form of
unexpected good weather or a social visit, and the judge lets you enjoy the time off,
knowing that you can trust yourself to catch up later
...
You may need to
develop your own strategy to deal with this
...
You have a
carefully devised plan and you stick to it
...

A Businessman’s Story
Pete sees himself as a natural entrepreneur
...
But that in itself is a problem, as Pete is always
convinced of the brilliance of the latest idea and is constantly trying to juggle lots of projects
he doesn’t have the time to see through to the end
...
A little more of the judging quality would give
him a chance to establish an idea and develop his business
...
All kinds of people do it! But it’s good to take a look at
yourself to identify where you might need to pay more attention
...
The first
three – visual, auditory and kinaesthetic – are the most important in the context of
working from home:
o

The visual sense allows you to see both what is happening around you – the
people walking by – and the images you are creating in your own head
...


You experience the world through a combination of all the senses, but often you have
a favourite, or predominant, sense
...

You can find out which senses you and other people favour by listening closely to the
language you habitually use
...
‘I hear what you’re saying’ means the auditory
system predominates
...
You may have a favourite system, closely followed by another
...

Just a thought

Phrases to listen for:
Visual: ‘That’s one way of looking at it
...
’ ‘That’s not very clear
...
’
Auditory: ‘That sounds like a great idea
...
’ ‘I’m all ears
...
’
Kinaesthetic: ‘Let’s bite the bullet
...
’ ‘It’s only scratching the surface
...
’

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I have a strong visual sense and get very irritable when my desk and office are messy
...
Those who favour the auditory sense may hate working
in a noisy environment or in a place where they could be disturbed
...
All of these factors
are important considerations when you are organising your workspace at home
...
As homeworkers,
knowing how we learn most quickly and easily is very helpful as generally we have to
take responsibility ourselves for assimilating new information, often in a limited
period of time
...
I can assimilate information much more easily if I
can read it or look at it for myself
...

Learning for the auditory type
You will learn best by listening to a lecture or to instructions given verbally, so elearning with a strong auditory element may be useful
...
Even
when not consciously listening, you will take in a huge amount of information
...
Have you ever tried learning a new procedure on the computer by
watching someone else do it? I might be visual, but my kinaesthetic sense is close
behind, and I find watching someone else explain a program, whether in a lecture or a
one-to-one situation, infuriating and impossible to absorb
...

So if you are having difficulty learning something, don’t beat yourself up by worrying
about being dense, try to get hold of the information in a format which strongly
relates to your preferred type(s)
...

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UNDERSTANDING HOW YOU RELATE TO PEOPLE
When you work from home you are often working independently without an
intermediary, so it is important for you to establish and maintain good working
relationships and not rely on PAs or colleagues to do it for you
...
(Although
bear in mind that we all use all the senses, and the predominant type we use may
change according to our mood and the situation we are in
...
You will stop trying to
make them ‘see’ something they just weren’t ‘hearing’! You might also find that you
develop much stronger relationships with the people you meet through work,
whether they are clients, suppliers or employees
...
The detailed knowledge and understanding you develop by working
closely with people as a homeworker can be put to good use
...
They will enjoy receiving a thank you card or a bunch of flowers they
can display
...

Thanking auditory types
Others may need to hear how well they are doing, and not just in the kind of words
spoken, but also in the tone of voice that is used
...

Thanking kinaesthetic types
If your colleague is a kinaesthetic type, they may be more likely than others to express
physical affection in a work situation, so don’t be surprised to get a hug when you
were expecting a handshake!
Just a thought

Once you know what makes you tick, you won’t get so wound up
...

‘How do I know I won’t spend the whole day watching television in my dressing
gown?’ is a common question
...

This section will help you to understand what motivates you on a fundamental level,
not just the pressure of paying the bills and with luck having some spending money
left over
...
It will also help you to understand why
some people do things differently from you, which might mean you can avoid
conflict in the future over these different habits
...
You might like to write your
answers down so you can analyse them thoroughly
...
Have a think about why you already
work from home, or the reasons you are thinking about doing so
...
Perhaps you resent
spending so much of your hard-earned salary on travel
...

When you’ve written down your own reasons for working from home, have another
look at the first paragraph of suggested reasons above
...
The second paragraph lists the things you like
and want to move ‘toward’
...
Are they things you
want to move away from, things you don’t want? Or are they things you do want, the
things you want to move toward? If you’re not sure which predominate in this
context, try thinking about other aspects of your life, like your choice of house,
holiday and friends
...


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MOTIVATED AWAY FROM
If we think in terms of the old ‘carrot and stick’ scenario, the generally ‘away from’
person responds better to being given something they dislike and want to move away
from – the stick in other words
...

MOTIVATED TOWARD
The generally ‘toward’ person responds better to the ‘carrot’ so promises of a pay rise
or promotion will be more motivating to them
...

Motivating yourself

‘

I tend to be an ‘‘away from’’ person and I find that I can get hooked back into the
negative emotion of the situation or thing I want to get away from, and getting
unstuck can be hard work
...
Try it
for yourself and see what works best
...
When it’s the ‘carrot or stick’ scenario, the skill is in
knowing whether it’s appropriate to dangle the carrot or apply the stick!

How do you keep time?
Understanding how you think about time is a helpful predictor of how well you are
likely to be able to manage your time when you work from home and there is no-one
to clock-watch for you
...
You might tell your colleague you are about to do something and then get
distracted by another job, and then something else, and forget what you were doing
in the first place
...
The first person is ‘through-time’ and the second is ‘in-time’
...

THROUGH-TIME PEOPLE
Through-time people who work from home are likely to have less trouble with time
management
...
If you are
meeting someone who is in-time, you could try getting there a bit later than arranged,
or take along something to read so you aren’t wasting time until they turn up
...

You might set your mobile or alarm clock to remind you to move on to another job
...
If you find it difficult to prioritise your work, write down all the jobs
you have to do in strict order of priority (there is more on this in Chapter 5, page 88)
and stick to it, only moving on when you have completed each one
...
As we both work at home we often decide to have a break at a
certain time to go out for a walk or have a coffee, but I find I need to remind him
about fifteen minutes before, or time will drift by until it is too late to bother
...
__________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___ be ____________

Decisions, decisions

’

When working from home, there is nobody else to tell you what to do and how to
react when a decision needs to be made
...
Which description below best sums up your attitude to
decision-making?
1
...
Or do you like to take things into your own hands, act now and think later? Does
bureaucracy enrage you?
REACTIVE AND PROACTIVE
If the first description sums you up, you are what is known as a ‘reactive’ person
...

The type of work you do may indicate which type you are – proactive types make
good salespeople, reactive types are good at analysing and researching
...
Can you classify them accordingly?
Just because you tend to be reactive does not mean you shouldn’t work from home,
as there are plenty of jobs where your work flow is controlled by your manager or
outside factors or where you are required to respond to an external demand, such as
telephone enquiries coming in to your phone line at home
...
You may already be proactive in some situations
and reactive in others – often we behave differently at home to the way we do at work,
for example – and just need to get used to applying that strength in a different
context
...

This questionnaire helps you to assess how well you might adapt to working from home
...

Don’t think about it too hard or answer as you wish you were ^ just go with what feels
right
...

This questionnaire is just an indication of how easily you may adapt to working from home,
so always trust your own instincts ^ it’s a good habit to get into
...

o I am happy to speak to anybody on the phone, regardless of their job title
...

o I work best when I am not disturbed by interruptions
...

o I am resourceful in a crisis
...

o I am flexible and can change my plans at short notice
...

o I can motivate myself to embark on a project and follow it through
...

o I am happy in my own company
...

o I am able to define boundaries for my family and friends and ensure my working time is not

unnecessarily disturbed
...

o I can organise information, both online and paper, and then find it quickly when needed
...
Take stock and discuss it with someone you can trust to be honest before
making any decisions
...

5^8 You may want to spend some time developing skills relating to self-reliance and
motivation before starting to work from home
...
Ask your boss at work to start encouraging you to work on
your own more, and find out whether that feels like something you would want to do more
of
...

9^12 You already have some of the characteristics required for working from home
...
Be sure to keep in regular touch with
other people so that you do not feel isolated
...
Read Chapter 6 if you are wondering
how to maintain a professional image when working from the kitchen table
...
You should find that you adapt well and soon find your feet
...
If you are concerned about
blurring work and home life, read Chapter 8 on establishing boundaries
...


Resources
o

o

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
...

Daniel Goleman’s first, groundbreaking book about why understanding your
emotions and how to manage them can be more important than your IQ level
to achieving success
...
Bloomsbury, 1999
...
It gives lots of
corporate anecdotes but is of equal use to interested homeworkers
...
O’Connor and I
...
Thorsons, 1996
...
The sections in this
chapter on self-motivation, dealing with time and decision-making are my own,
simplified interpretations of NLP
...
andrewbibby
...
html
An extract from writer and journalist Andrew Bibby’s 1991 book Home is Where
the Office is, now out of print
...


o

34

Your mother or someone who knows you very well – if you’re not sure what
kind of person you are in any of the categories in this chapter, they will certainly
know
...
andybritnell
...
uk
The website for our training and coaching company where you can read more
about personality profiling as an aid to self-awareness and purchase your own
detailed profile, followed by a coaching session on how to adapt your personal
qualities to homeworking
...
The answer to that question in many cases is ‘yes’,
and if it’s not currently, then with a little planning and application, it could be at
some point in the not-too-distant future
...
A warning about heavily advertised homeworking ‘opportunities’
...
Factors to think about if you are employed and would like to work from home
...
How to negotiate with your boss to work from home
...
Different ways of making a self-employed income at home
...
Dealing with the red tape of self-employment
...
Some basic points about managing money when you work for yourself
...
Who to ask for help when you are self-employed
...
That means there
is a large market for the type of con artist who plays on people’s insecurity in order
to make a quick buck
...

Or you might have received unsolicited emails or seen the adverts on search engine
sites offering high earnings ‘with cast-iron guarantee’ for operating an online
business
...
They play on the human desire to believe
in something that sounds like a quick and easy answer to a problem, while not
looking too hard at the facts
...

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If an advert seems plausible, but on enquiring further, you are asked to send money
up-front, either as a registration fee or to buy stock, the alarm bells should start
ringing
...
If a payment is requested, someone is trying to rip you off
...
homeworking
...
The site includes a
forum where you can post your own experiences and ask fellow users for their
feedback
...
Don’t
assume that working from home is impossible for you, just because you are working
for someone else
...
Here are some
things to think about as you weigh up the idea
...
If you are ambitious
and want promotion, you need to consider whether or not your chances will be
adversely affected by working from home
...
‘When I go to meetings,’ she says, ‘I
find that higher management always remark ‘‘Oh, so you’re Rachel
...
’’ It’s clear that they know my name but not my face
...
’
IS WORKING FROM HOME RIGHT FOR MY FAMILY AND HOME ENVIRONMENT?
Unless you live alone in glorious isolation, you will need to consider the impact of
homeworking on your home life and family
...
How will working from home fit in with
looking after children or elderly relatives? What will happen in the school holidays?
It’s vital your family understand how the change will affect them, and their role in
making it run smoothly, before you start working from home
...

CAN I ASK MY EMPLOYER TO LET ME WORK FROM HOME?
Any employee can ask their employer for flexible working arrangements, which can
include job sharing, varying working hours, taking holidays at specific times of year
or, the interesting bit as far as we are concerned, working from home for part or all of
the week
...
The government has also announced plans to extend this right to all
employees with children under 16 years old
...
The employer must
consider the request and may reject it if it will, for example, entail extra costs or have a
negative impact on business performance or the organisation of work among other
staff
...
But in order to
stand the best chance of success with your application to work from home, first have a
good look at your particular circumstances to decide if working from home is a
realistic option for you
...

Having spoken to a number of homeworkers about how they managed to negotiate
homeworking with their bosses, it seems that there are two important factors at play
here
...

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Company culture
If you work for a business with an old-fashioned outlook – and by that I mean a very
structured organisation with a clear hierarchy and its own bureaucratic way of doing
things – it will probably be more difficult to convince them of the benefits of
homeworking than a more forward-thinking business
...
Particularly if you are the first
person to ask to work from home, there may well be concerns about the quantity,
quality and delivery of the work you will be producing
...
Over the
course of a year I kept applying for jobs but they couldn’t get their heads around the idea of
not having someone in the office
...
Interestingly, many more people in the
company now work from home too, since Sarah has proved that it is possible to get good
results without being in the office
...
BT is
an acknowledged leader, having started out with 400 teleworkers ten years ago
...
If homeworking is your ultimate goal, it will pay to do some
research and make enquiries about prospective employers’ attitudes to homeworking
whenever you apply for a job
...
No matter how enlightened and progressive your
employers, there is no way they will entertain the idea of you working from home if
you are known for slapdash work, poor timekeeping or difficulty in relating to
customers and colleagues
...

It’s up to you to be brutally honest with yourself on this one
...

On the other hand, if you are a valuable employee, your bosses may be surprisingly
flexible in order to retain you
...
To
her surprise her bosses responded by offering her the option of moving out of the central
office, something she’d never even considered, because her contribution to current projects
was so vital
...

CAN I EASILY DO MY WORK AT HOME?
That should be a pretty straightforward one to answer
...


How to negotiate with your boss to work from home
You might want to use the DBERR template to make your application to work from
home, but at some point you will need to sit down and talk to your boss
...

o

You’ll perhaps feel a little nervous about this conversation, especially if you have
a lot invested in the prospect of working from home
...

Explain clearly why you are making the request and the positive effect it will
have on your work performance
...
It will help if you have anticipated the
objections that might be raised and can offer suggestions to overcome them
...


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An Exhibition Organiser’s Story
Nicki had only been working for a small business for a few months when she and her
family decided to move to a new area
...

o

Think in advance whether there are any cost-saving implications in your
suggestion
...
if fewer people are physically present
...


A Marketing Manager’s Story
Rachel, the marketing manager mentioned previously, emphasises the importance of ‘giveand-take’ to the success of working from home and says she finds it very motivating to be
trusted in this way
...
’
o

Suggest a trial period to test out the idea and see how it works in practice
...


o

Agree how to assess the effectiveness of your plan – will it be quantity or quality
of output, maintaining good communication with other staff or a measure
unique to your particular job? An objective yardstick will avoid the arrangement
being jeopardised by someone who is prejudiced against homeworking or is
envious of you
...


Tim, the magazine-editor-turned-consultant featured in Chapter 1, says that once he
was working from home and organising his own time and workload, he felt like a
freelancer, and from there it was an easy step to decide to make the move into selfemployment
...

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Making money at home as your own boss
It’s estimated that about two thirds of homeworkers are people running their own
businesses
...
Setting up at home keeps
your costs down while you test the market and find out if there is a demand for your
product or service, and if you are suited to being your own boss
...


more than half of all new businesses are run from home and more than1400 new home businesses are started
each week in the UK
...

Source: Enterprise Nation Home Business Report, 2007

Being self-employed and running a small business often turn out to be very different
experiences than you imagined them to be
...
Chapter 2 covers elements of self-awareness that
may be useful if you haven’t read it yet
...
It has been challenging in so many different ways
...
I’ve really had to take personal responsibility; there’s nobody
else looking after me and I can’t blame anybody else if things aren’t going right
...
Empowering is the word I’m looking for
...
We’ll look at each option
in turn and you’ll find sources of more information in Resources at the end of the
chapter
...
Many times I have heard people say that they
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are sick of making money for their employer and so they have decided to go it alone
...
We look at the financial
implications of going freelance later in this chapter
...
Many high street names operate as
franchises, including Clarks shoe shops, Kall-Kwik printers and Toni and Guy
hairdressers
...
All this does, however, come at a price and
you will lose your investment if the business fails
...

Buying an existing business
Taking over a business that has been up and running for a while might seem like a
tempting prospect, but you need to do thorough research and negotiate the purchase
price carefully to avoid being sold a white elephant
...

Businesses for sale are listed in the national press, on the internet and in print
publications like Daltons Weekly
...

The Power of Word of Mouth

‘

I sold my cleaning business after months of unsuccessful advertising when my
accountants put out an email to their contacts to the effect that they knew of a small
cleaning business for sale
...


’

The key question is to find out why the business is being sold and it may not be easy to
get a direct answer to this, unless the owner is ready to retire
...

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So you need to carry out a process known as ‘due diligence’ where you examine the
whole business
...
A business is only worth the amount someone is willing to pay
for it, so use the results of your due diligence to negotiate the price
...
As direct selling can easily be done from home on a part-time basis, it is
an obvious choice for mothers and for employees wanting to start a small business
while keeping on the day job
...
Or salespeople may sell by
personal referral and talk to their family, friends, neighbours and other contacts in the
hope of making a sale
...

You may have heard of network marketing, sometimes called multi-level marketing
(MLM)
...
Those who are successful at
recruiting new salespeople can end up making a great deal of money, and these
affluent lifestyles are used by network marketing companies to promote their
recruitment activities
...
(I am looking at this in detail
as, unlike buying a franchise or business, which requires considerable research, a large
outlay of capital and the advice of professionals, it is much easier and cheaper to start
out in network marketing and you may find it harder to get objective advice
...
You need to know that it’s
going to be around in the future to provide the income you are working hard to
generate now
...
Read the literature, go to the
presentations and get a flavour of how business is done and how people behave
towards you and each other
...
Think about what the company is
selling and find out their market share
...
They must be good quality and good value
and you must be enthusiastic about using them yourself or you’ll never sell them
to other people
...
If the
products are one-off purchases you will constantly have to find new customers
...
In pyramid selling
there is little in the way of product and most of the money is made through
recruitment, so that only the people in at the start of the scheme tend to benefit
...


o

It helps if your sponsor is local and you can meet up for support or to shadow
them on meetings and presentations
...


Having spoken to a number of people who have been involved in network marketing,
both successfully and unsuccessfully, I also have a few suggestions for things to bear in
mind before making a decision
...

o

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People who already run a business start network marketing with an advantage
...


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o

Those who have made a lot of money have worked hard for it and put in the
time and commitment
...


o

You should be equally clear about your goals
...
– and your sponsor won’t be able to help you
achieve your goals unless you both know what they are
...
Joining a network marketing company will not change your
basic personality traits or turn an introvert into an extrovert
...


o

To be successful, you will have to push beyond your normal ‘comfort zone’ and
do things that initially feel uncomfortable
...

Many people overlook this personal growth aspect when they get involved in
network marketing
...
You should be aware right from the start
that there will be many ups and downs along the way
...

The word ‘geek’ here is a clue – unless you are passionate about IT and possess the
appropriate skills, it’s going to be a struggle, and paying someone else to do the
technical stuff can get very expensive
...

Similarly if you’re selling goods or services and hoping to expand your customer base,
a website can seem like the ideal solution
...
The search engine optimisation to achieve the former, and
the design and programming to do the latter are both skills that are time consuming
to learn and expensive to buy
...

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COMING UP WITH A BUSINESS IDEA
Many successful businesses are started by people who are looking for a specific
product or service, feeling frustrated that nobody seems to provide it and deciding to
do it themselves
...

She started out in a room in her boyfriend’s house where she packed the orders from
her twelve-page mail order brochure until forced to find more space elsewhere
...

Sometimes you might take an existing business idea and twist it slightly, by
improving the product you sell or upgrading its image
...
Talking to the owners of large houses
outside the city, he spotted a gap in the market for a window cleaner with a smart
image and good reputation, light years away from the stereotypical image of a bloke
driving a rusty car with a couple of ladders on top
...

______ contacts to ___his first _______ who bought into ___reputation and __________

’

Be open to the possibility that your original idea might transmute into something
you would never have imagined at the outset
...
If
you look carefully at the long-term prospects of a new opportunity, you might find it
actually offers more mileage
...
We were surprised by
the offer and at first doubtful, but on consideration we felt it might be a fruitful
avenue to go down and accepted the contract
...
There is no way our business would have developed in the
way__________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________stuck____________________________________________
____________________________we _______________________________cleaning
...
I have never met anyone starting a new business who is not taken aback
by the amount of official paperwork it involves
...
If you do not, there may be financial and
legal penalties
...
But you do need to ask
...
You should also check
in case there are other legal issues specific to your industry relating to qualifications,
licences, ongoing training, and so on
...
There are other implications too so it is essential to get some
objective advice before deciding, from a business adviser, accountant and/or solicitor
...

Sole trader
The simplest form of business is to operate as a sole trader, working on your own and
invoicing clients directly for your services
...

Partnership
You could go into business as a partner with another person or a number of people
...

They are all ‘jointly and severally liable’ for debts that the business incurs, which
means that if your partners do not pay their share of the debts, either because they
don’t have the money or they refuse to pay, you could be liable for it all
...
I
have heard so many people say things like: ‘We’ve been friends for years
...
No point in thinking about problems
before we even start; we’ll just deal with things as they come up’
...
Discussing all the ramifications
of being in partnership and signing a partnership agreement before taking the plunge
will shed light on how you each think about topics such as money, time off and
individual responsibilities
...
A solicitor can provide objective help to resolve all these potentially
contentious issues and will draw up a written agreement so all parties know exactly
where they stand
...

A Builder’s Story
Nick set up a building firm in partnership with an old friend from school
...
At the outset they agreed verbally that Nick would take slightly more
money out of the business each month to reimburse him for doing the books and the
marketing
...
The situation escalated until one day Paul walked out, saying he was being
ripped off, and leaving Nick in the middle of a large job with no help
...

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
A limited liability partnership is a similar structure to a partnership, but the liability
of each partner is limited to the amount of money they have put into the business, so
it is not as financially risky if the business gets into trouble
...
This means that you are not
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personally responsible for business debts, but there are many legal responsibilities that
go with being a director including the filing of company accounts and annual returns
at Companies House every year
...
I’d suggest that you make contact as soon as you’re
thinking of starting a business, as free workshops on how to deal with your tax are run
throughout the country by Revenue staff and it’s good to understand your
obligations as soon as possible
...

Sole traders and partnerships are required to complete a tax self-assessment form each
year, while the tax for limited companies is more complex and requires a qualified
accountant
...

NATIONAL INSURANCE
You pay National Insurance contributions, also administered by HMRC, to cover
your State pension and other benefits
...
When you register as self-employed you start paying Class 2
National Insurance contributions on a monthly or quarterly basis
...

VAT
Value Added Tax is a tax on certain goods and services supplied in the UK
...
You may also register voluntarily if
your turnover is less than the threshold
...

The VAT man is perhaps the most feared bureaucrat for those in business as he has
far-reaching powers if you do not keep your affairs in order
...
In fact, I have always found being registered for
VAT a distinct blessing, as it makes me keep my books up to date
...
You are required to complete a risk
assessment to find out the risks involved in carrying out your work and to put sensible
measures in place to control them
...
So you can see that nobody and no occupation can claim to be
exempt
...

DATA PROTECTION
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, any business that stores personal information,
such as the names, addresses and other personal details about its staff or customers,
should check to find out if it needs to register as a data controller with the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)
...
There is a massive amount of legislation relating to the recruitment,
payment, discipline and firing of staff
...
) and time (interviews, training,
supervision, sick leave etc
...
This is a piece of red tape no business owner should object to –
when you conserve resources and minimise waste, not only do you stay on the right
side of the law, but you could save money and gain a PR advantage as well
...
I’d suggest you have enough money to pay your bills for at
least six months as there are enough pressures at this time without adding financial
worries to the pot
...
She feels she was naı¨ve about many things at the outset, money being
one of them: ‘I didn’t realise how long it would take for a new business to start earning
money
...
I’d wake up in a cold sweat at four in the morning, thinking ‘‘What on
earth have I done? I’ve given up a secure job and now I’ve got no money coming in
...
) before earning any money for themselves
...

If you are a sole trader, it’s likely no money will come in if you’re not working, which
means you need to earn enough over the course of the year to cover your holidays and
possible sickness
...
’

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I think it’s the prospect of those opportunities that attracts many people into selfemployment, and their scarcity that sends some back into employment
...
Taking into account the lack of benefits like sick pay,
holiday pay and pension schemes, you could be approaching retirement considerably
worse off than if you stayed in employment all your life
...
If finances are most important to you, then
you’ll be much happier finding a job you like and sticking to it
...

Money for Nothing?

‘

As a business adviser it was clear to me that the public perception of the amount
and availability of grant monies bears little resemblance to the reality
...
I have also known cases where clients had borrowed and even spent
money on the strength of getting these theoretical funds and were then either not
eligible______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______ or had their applications rejected
...
The application process will almost certainly require you to provide a
business plan describing your projected performance in detail, backed up by the
figures, and this kind of forecasting is time consuming
...
You may be expected to display their logo
prominently in your premises or on your literature and to participate in PR exercises
to promote them
...

If you are applying for start-up funds, try to find a business adviser to guide you and
make sure you are providing all the information that is needed
...

o

Make sure you really are eligible as the ‘criteria’ – who can apply and the
conditions they have to meet – tend to be strict, and there is no way the funding
body will ‘bend the rules a bit’ no matter how brilliant your business idea
...
If your application isn’t complete it won’t even be
considered, simple as that
...
Yes, it is difficult
to estimate when you haven’t even started the business, but think hard about
how much you can realistically produce, how many customers you can service in
a day, how much you will need to pay somebody, and so on
...
Search on the internet, look at what is being sold already, check
the price range, talk to the customers who buy your product
...


o

Yes, this is all a lot of hard work, but it’s supposed to be – this organisation may
be handing over a wad of cash and they want to be sure you are serious about
this and won’t waste it
...
This might actually be all to the
good of new businesses for whom the first few years are the riskiest, as it’s tempting
to take out a loan to finance stock, tools, premises, and so on in the high spirits of a
new start
...

If you do decide to apply for a loan, make doubly sure your figures stack up, if
necessary by getting professional help, and that you have some leeway between
income and outgoings
...
If you can’t keep up your
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projected level of turnover and fall behind, you might also fall behind with payments
to the bank and risk going bust
...
Certain kinds
of business insurance are a legal requirement however, so find out what applies to
your own circumstances
...
If you employ
staff, you must have employers’ liability insurance
...
As we’ve
seen, self-employed people can’t afford to be ill, so if you can afford it, look at a
private health insurance that will get you into hospital and back to work quickly
...
Check the small
print carefully on all policies to make sure they cover exactly what you need or the
policy may not pay out when you claim
...
You should
concentrate on your own area(s) of expertise (usually those that bring in the most
revenue) and rely on others to provide specialist help
...

Other people’s recommendations are useful, but remember that you and your
business are unique, and the person who is invaluable to an acquaintance may be less
helpful to you
...
You must be able to ask them what to you feel
like stupid questions and know that you will always get a straightforward and
understandable reply
...
(Also see Chapter 7 for how to build your own informal and
formal support networks
...

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I would recommend that, as soon as you have some idea about the kind of business
you wish to start, you find your nearest Business Link or enterprise agency office and
ask what kind of help is available to you
...
The business adviser will at the very least provide a variety
of contacts and information, and at best turn out to be instrumental in getting your
business off the ground
...
The Prince’s Trust, for
example, has a great record of providing financial and mentor support to people aged
18 to 30 who are unemployed or underemployed but want to start their own
business
...

A business adviser will be able to help you come up with a business plan, which is a
way of putting some flesh on the bare bones of your business idea
...
Sometimes the results can be unexpected – that
apparently wonderful idea doesn’t generate any profit after all – and you will have to
rethink
...
You can find outline business plans on the internet or in the
information packs provided by the banks for new businesses, but an adviser can
interpret some of the business language for you
...

An Objective Viewpoint

‘

While running my cleaning business I attended a course on business finance run
by my local enterprise agency and was impressed by the course leader, Michael, who
turned out to be a freelance small business adviser
...
It was a
good investment that gave me the objective viewpoint of an experienced businessman
not involved in my business on a day-to-day basis
...
In the end Michael
actually worked himself out of a job, as it was through our regular discussions that I
realised I had no interest in growing the business and that it was time to sell up and
do_____________else
...
To my mind, however, unless you have a very low turnover, an accountant
will probably pay for themselves by identifying where you can claim tax allowances to
offset your tax bill
...

But even if you use an accountant, it’s wise to also have a basic understanding of how
to put together your accounts and how to read them, so that you can ask appropriate
questions about the financial performance of your business and what you could do
better
...

BANK MANAGER
It pays to shop around for your business bank account
...
You may have to pay bank charges if you
exceed a certain number of transactions a month, so try to estimate how many
deposits and withdrawals you will be making
...
For example, if you have lots of domestic customers who pay you in cash,
which you then need to bank, this kind of account is unsuitable
...

Remember that bank managers are employed to make profits for their employer, not
to advise you completely impartially on the best way to run your business
...
However, it’s common for bank staff to be regularly transferred to other
branches or other duties, so also be prepared for a change of face
...


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If you have decided that incorporation as a limited company is the way to go, you
might also want to involve a solicitor, but it’s not essential
...

COACH OR MENTOR
A coach is useful if you feel you could achieve more with the input of an objective
outsider who can help you assess your opportunities and challenges, motivate you to
do difficult things you might normally put off doing, and inspire you to tackle
challenges you would otherwise find too intimidating
...

A mentor is someone with greater experience than you who has already achieved a
measure of success and is willing to give you a helping hand
...
Start
by inviting them out for a coffee and a chat, and see how the relationship develops
...
You will normally be required to pay an annual subscription to
join once entry requirements are met, but this is often a good investment
...
Membership can give you benefits such as the right to display the association
logo on your literature, which gives you credibility in your customers’ eyes, and
opportunities to network with other people in the industry
...
berr
...
uk/employment/employment-legislation/employmentguidance/page35663
...


o

www
...
org
...


o

www
...
com
This comprehensive homeworking website gives advice on spotting a scam and
case studies of all kinds including network marketing
...
Element Books, 2000
...
If for you that also
means starting your own business, have a look at Nick’s website www
...
com and download a free e-course that covers some of the key
points in the book
...
Harper Collins, 1994
...
It’s unfortunate that I didn’t discover it
until after I had sold my cleaning business as every single episode he described
happened to me
...


o

The Small Business Start-up Workbook: A Step-by-step Guide to Starting the
Business You’ve Dreamed of by Cheryl D
...
How To Books, 2005
...
There are also some fascinating insights
from successful entrepreneurs about the mistakes they have made and what
failure taught them
...
thebfa
...
Go to their website for comprehensive information on
choosing a reputable franchise
...
dsa
...
uk
The Direct Selling Association regulates network marketing in the UK and their
website is a great resource for anyone thinking of becoming involved
...


o

58

www
...
co
...


www
...
gov
...
It provides links to sources of help on all the subjects

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covered here, and interactive tools to help you decide what steps to take next
...
smallbusinessadvice
...
uk
Submit an enquiry to a business adviser online and find your local Enterprise
Agency
...
cobwebinfo
...


o

www
...
gov
...


o

www
...
gov
...
Here you can download information and forms about tax, VAT, National
Insurance and employing staff
...


o

www
...
gov
...


o

www
...
gov
...


o

www
...
org
...


o

www
...
org
...


o

www
...
org
...
law
The Lawyers for your Business scheme offers a free half-hour initial consultation
with a solicitor who belongs to the scheme, to assess your situation and estimate
likely costs should you wish to proceed
...

This chapter covers:
1
...

2
...

3
...


Setting up or improving your workspace
There are a great many factors you might wish to consider before deciding where and
how to make your workspace, and they are listed below
...
All of the factors
below are equally applicable to both employees and the self-employed
...
If you are able to work from home, you might be
thinking of moving out of the city, especially if you have children to consider
...
Have
you and the other members of your family ever lived in a rural area, not counting a
couple of weeks in a holiday cottage in summer? How will your daily life be affected if
there is no handy post office or printshop around the corner? Can you do your work
properly and efficiently if every small errand is a drive away?
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Not So Idyllic, After All

‘

When I began work on this book we lived in a pretty cottage in a hamlet in midCornwall
...
Sounds great, the perfect combination of working from home and
regular exercise
...
We decided to relocate to a small town where we can walk to the bank,
library, and market
...


’

Think about how you spend a typical day, and if you normally like to pick up your
paper at the newsagent’s in the morning, buy a few bits and pieces at the supermarket
at lunchtime and have a stroll around the block when you need a breather, you
probably need these facilities to be accessible to your home office as well
...
Despite the widespread and increasing reliance on broadband,
we all need to have face-to-face meetings sometimes, and good road, rail and air links
can help you to arrive in good shape
...

WHAT ARE THE LEGALITIES RELATED TO MAKING A WORKSPACE AT HOME?
As we saw in Chapter 3, the fact that you are working from home doesn’t mean there
are no rules governing your activities
...

Mortgage provider or landlord
If you own your home and intend to run a business from it, you should check your
title deeds in case there are any restrictive covenants relating to commercial use
...

If you rent your home, you need to check your tenancy agreement as the tenancy may
be for residential use only
...
work
...

Insurance
Remember to tell your insurance company that you are going to be working from
home or your policies for buildings and contents insurance may become invalid and
not pay out if you claim
...
If not, they may simply alter the wording of your policy and not charge
any extra premium
...

Health and safety
Even if you are working alone, you still have a duty to keep yourself safe, so don’t
forget all those office rules about trip hazards like trailing cables, sticking-out drawers
and fraying carpets
...

If you are an employee your employer will probably ask you to carry out your own
risk assessment and arrange for Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) for your computer
and any other electrical appliances you use
...

Planning permission
If building work is required to accommodate your new workspace in the house or out
in the garden, remember to check what permissions are needed from your local
authority before starting work
...
Don’t
assume that you can just go ahead on the quiet; many a business has been closed
down following a complaint by a disgruntled neighbour to the council
...

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WHAT SHOULD I TELL MY NEIGHBOURS?
You may not be generating any noise or other antisocial side-effect but it’s wise to tell
the neighbours about your plans now rather than have your work life disrupted later
if they are unhappy
...

HOW MUCH ROOM WILL I NEED?
You will need enough room for at least a desk, chair, storage and whatever area your
work demands, not forgetting to leave enough space for you to open drawers, gain
easy access to sockets, change supplies in your printer, and so on
...

Just a thought:

Information relating to your tax returns must be kept for at least six years if you are self-employed and this
includes receipts, copies of invoices, cheque and paying-in books, bank and credit card statements etc
...


If you work for someone else you are bound to accumulate lots of paper and other
things which will need to be stored
...

WHERE SHALL I PUT MY WORKSPACE?
When deciding where to put your workspace, assuming you are in the privileged
position of having a choice, look at the space already available in your house and
garden and how you can adapt it for use as a home office
...
If you need to keep a lot of heavy supplies
or equipment, or if your work involves moving heavy objects – sofas and chairs, if
you upholster furniture, for example – then that spare bedroom on the first floor may
not be an ideal place
...


SHOULD MY WORKSPACE BE IN A SEPARATE ROOM?
I’m always reading in articles about working from home that it’s essential to have a
door you can close to keep your home office separate from the rest of the house, so
you can work in peace and quiet, and then close it behind you and forget about work
once the working day is over
...

A Charity Campaigner’s Story
Clayton works as a part-time campaigner for a national charity and has a notably
laidback approach to working from home
...
He likes to stay
available to his young son as he works and so moved back onto the living room table
...
Clayton finds this flexible approach works best for him even if it
means finishing off work at midnight
...
To avoid this
you could arrange the furniture to partition off your working corner, or use a screen
so that you’re not staring at your desk all evening
...

IS A HOUSE WITH A DEDICATED WORKSPACE WORTH MORE?
Consider the impact your changes are likely to make on the value of your house and
make sure you are adding value, not making an eccentric permanent change which
suits you but will put off a future buyer
...
An estate agent will be able to advise
you on the best changes to make to enhance the appeal and value of your house, so
consult one before undertaking significant changes
...
Bear in mind that you can get very cold sitting still at a computer for
hours in winter, or very hot without any ventilation in the summer, so you need
adequate, adjustable heating and a source of fresh air, ideally a window you can gaze
out of when in need of inspiration
...

If you need artificial lighting, make sure it is even and doesn’t reflect off your
computer screen
...
It may be possible to use furniture you already have, but
do balance that against the need to feel comfortable and have your back properly
supported when you are working
...
You’re going to be spending many hours using it and it has to
feel comfortable
...
That way you get properly designed pieces at a
competitive price and you can feel you’re doing your bit for the environment
...

The amount of furniture and equipment an employer provides you with will
probably be in proportion to the number of hours you spend working from home
...

If you are buying new furniture, look at the ranges available from domestic furniture retailers, as these are
designed to fit into the home
...
A
matt surface is less tiring on the eye
...
Five spokes at the base will be more stable than four
...
Use a
footrest if you can’t comfortably rest your feet on the floor and if you have back
problems, look for an ergonomic or kneeling chair
...

Storage
You’ll need some kind of storage to keep papers and bits and pieces in order
...
Traditional office filing cabinets eat up piles of paper
and their deep drawers will hide away small bits of equipment
...

HOW SHOULD I ORGANISE MY WORKSPACE?
Unless you are lucky enough to have a very large area for your new workspace, most
rooms already have factors like doors, windows, radiators and electrical sockets that
limit where you can place your furniture and equipment
...
Using your workspace is the only way to
find out whether it is practical and efficient, so treat your first layout as a trial run and
tell yourself you will change it round if it doesn’t work well for you
...

SPACE-SAVING IDEAS
Space is usually at a premium in home offices so get the most out of the room
available to you with these space-saving ideas:
o

A small pedestal cabinet on castors can be rolled neatly underneath a desk or
used as a surface for a printer
...


o

Consider having a laptop as your main computer
...


o

Buy multi-function machines that copy, print, fax and scan, to save space,
electrical sockets and money
...
A low, wide shelf will
hold a printer where there’s no room for a piece of furniture
...


WHO PAYS FOR THE RUNNING EXPENSES OF MY WORKSPACE?
As a self-employed person you will be able to claim against tax for a proportion of the
running costs of your house
...

It’s likely an employer would take the view that any costs incurred through working
from home will be offset by your savings on commuting, and they may therefore be
unwilling to contribute to the costs of heating and lighting your home office
...
and add on a few more for future requirements
...
If you are starting from scratch you could consider putting sockets above
desk level, rather than just above the skirting board, so you can reach them easily
...
The advantage of separate lines is that you always know how to answer
when the phone rings, a formal business reply or an informal hello, and you might
want to ban the kids from answering the business line
...
)
A Financial Adviser’s Story
Rhodri is a financial adviser who used to work from a spare bedroom and could never
resist answering the business line out of working hours, although he knew he should have
been relaxing
...


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Computer
Your job will dictate whether you use a PC or Mac, and space whether you stick to a
laptop
...
You should be able to use your mouse
with a relaxed arm and straight wrist, and get up for regular breaks to rest your body
and eyes
...
For example they suggest a five to ten minute break every hour in preference to
20 minutes every two hours
...


Your employer is likely to have rules on whether you can use their equipment for
personal use or allow other people to use it
...

Broadband
Broadband is now available almost everywhere in the UK but it’s worth checking that
you can get it and what the speed is
...

If someone is working with you, or your children will be playing computer games at
the same time as you’re working, you will lose a lot of your bandwidth, so consider
having two broadband connections if the bandwidth is insufficient to support both
activities
...
Home use is cheaper, but
you share the bandwidth with more people
...

IT support
It will pay dividends to find a competent and reasonably priced computer engineer
now rather than waiting until something goes wrong
...
Your stress levels benefit from having contingencies in place
to deal with such crises, even if you never need to use them, so have a look at
Chapter 9 too
...
You can offset the expense to some extent by claiming for a proportion of your
household bills when you do your tax return, and you might also want to check how
well your house is insulated and glazed
...


o

Turn off your monitor when you have a break
...


o

Look for the Print This Page button when printing from the internet, or cut and
paste only the required information into a Word document
...

(This can be found with the print properties button in the print window of your
computer
...


o

Recycle printer cartridges and mobile phones as well as paper, cardboard and
plastic bottles
...

When the project is complete, rub out the name and start again
...


o

Fix a thermostatic valve to the radiator in your workspace so you can adjust the
heating independent of the rest of the house
...

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Send e-cards at Christmas
...
Donate
the amount you save on cards and postage to your favourite charity – it soon
mounts up
...
It doesn’t have to look
like an office at all, although bear in mind the impression it might make if you ever
have visitors
...
It’s a good idea to
display mementoes of your achievements and successes, such as qualifications,
certificates, awards, and letters of thanks
...
Photos of family will remind you why you are working hard and give you
an incentive when you’re flagging
...

Some people are inspired by having a ‘dream board’ over their desk, a notice board
where you stick pictures of what you want to achieve, whether that be a car, a house, a
holiday destination, professional recognition, a major contract, and so on
...
It’s got to be worth a try
...
Not only do they provide a shot of life
and colour but they also filter pollutants from the air and increase the negative
ionisation and oxygen content of air, mitigating the effects of electronic equipment
and making you feel better
...

SHOULD I KEEP MY WORKSPACE PRIVATE?
Now your home workspace is set up, you and you alone can decide who comes in and
when
...
In the meantime, here is an example of how
working from home can benefit the extended family:

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The New Chick in the Office

‘

Nick and Toni publish magazines from the home office in their old farmhouse,
and an assortment of pets and animals roam happily around the garden with their
three children
...
Our conversation was
accompanied by a cheerful cheeping and pecking
...
So you
are spared the decision self-employed people often have to make about who, if
anyone, should visit them at home
...

o

Your materials, literature, records and so on are stored at home and it would be
inconvenient to transport them elsewhere
...


o

Your visitor might enjoy the lack of formality and getting to know your home
and family
...


DISADVANTAGES OF HAVING MEETINGS AT HOME
o You may be operating very efficiently from your kitchen table but what kind of
impression is it going to create on customers or suppliers? Is it going to make
you appear less professional and more of a dabbler?
o

o

74

Your whole home and lifestyle will be under scrutiny as well as your business
...

What impact will your meetings have on other members of your family? Your
spouse and/or children may resent having to stay quiet or out of sight for the
duration
...


o

Your client may be unsure how to behave when the boundaries between a
business and personal visit are blurred
...


o

The level of intimacy involved in going into someone’s home may be too high
for some people and make them feel pressurised into doing business with you, so
they opt out instead
...

Fortunately we had plenty of private parking, but the house wasn’t the easiest to find
and sometimes clients arrived flustered or late after getting lost
...
If they wanted to use the bathroom, they had to go upstairs
...
In
addition, I either had to arrange to be out when a client was there or make sure I
had organised plenty of desk work to do so I could close myself off in one of our offices
upstairs______________________________________________________________________________
_________where_______________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______ ______ I was out of earshot
...
You could try out one of the alternatives
described below or think about investing in the ideal solution – a totally selfcontained office complete with its own entrance – so that there’s no need for your
visitors to set foot in your home at all
...
This was
unsatisfactory for various reasons – there was always a risk of someone coming to the door,
it was difficult for her to relax in the same space after work, and it was impossible to avoid
moving things around, when a therapy room should be kept the same to allow the therapist
to process changes in the client
...
My clients love the cabin for its peacefulness and feeling
of safety
...
’

Alternatives to meeting people at home
If you decide that your circumstances are not suitable for having business visitors to
your home workspace, there are a number of ways to get around it
...
Most people are too
busy to even notice that you always go to them and will simply be glad not to have to
make a journey to see you
...

In the case of private individuals it may be most convenient to visit them at home, if
they are amenable
...

Interviews at Home

‘

I regularly needed to interview applicants for part-time cleaning jobs and I
discovered a number of ways of dealing with the situation, each with its own
advantages and drawbacks
...
You might think
that people would object to a prospective employer coming to their home, but it
seemed to be a common practice of cleaning firms and nobody ever refused to let me
visit
...
I felt happy with it if the
individual had come recommended by someone I already knew, but if they were a
total stranger, I would take along my cleaning supervisor, mainly for my own peace of
mind, but also for her second opinion
...

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COFFEE SHOPS ETC
...
Trying to shout over the clattering of crockery is tiring and
unbusinesslike, while talking to a stranger in a quiet place while other customers
eavesdrop is embarrassing and offputting
...

JOBCENTRE
If you are an employer recruiting through your local Jobcentre, there may be an
interview room they can offer you free of charge
...

RENT SOME SPACE
Beauty salon/complementary health centre
If you are a therapist or counsellor of some kind, your local beauty salon or
complementary health centre may have rooms available to rent for the day or halfday
...

´
Rooms in cafes/restaurants/pubs/hotels
´
If you need to hold a meeting or interview a number of people, cafes, restaurants and
pubs often have private rooms for hire for an hour or half-day
...

Community halls
Village and community halls are often of a high standard these days and eager to rent
space to make money
...

Serviced office accommodation
In many towns and cities you can rent serviced office accommodation, paying to use a
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desk, office or meeting room for a specified period of time and to use services such as
printing, photocopying and making phone calls
...
Workhubs provide a reasonably priced venue to meet clients on neutral
ground, or just to get out of the house into a stimulating change of environment and
network with other businesses and potential associates
...
Workhubs are also being used as a focal point for the delivery of business
advice that might otherwise not reach businesses closeted away at home
...
Live/work properties are designed from the outset to accommodate both
living and working space, as distinct from houses in which a spare room has been
converted or added as a home office, and in which the predominant use is still
domestic
...

A number of issues arise with the new concept of live/work properties, including
getting planning permission to build them, when land use has traditionally been split
into domestic and business use
...
At the time of
writing a live/work unit owner’s liabilities regarding council tax, Capital Gains Tax
and VAT are still far from clear-cut
...


Resources
o

o

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www
...
com/home-office
...
work
...
insight
...
com/Topics/Where-you-work
BT pioneered home and flexible working long before other employers and has
an obvious vested interest in its growth
...

o

www
...
co
...


o

www
...
co
...
If you are tempted by the prospect of relocating to the end of the
garden, Alex is your man
...


o

www
...
gov
...


o

www
...
com
An introduction to the idea of workhubs and what they can achieve for homebased business, with links to successful hubs in Shrewsbury, Penzance and
Dublin: www
...
co
...
digitalpeninsula
...
thedigital
hub
...
liveworkhomes
...
uk
This colourful and clearly written site showcases live/work properties around the
country and is packed with information about buying or renting a live/work
property
...
It’s
understandable that many people worry that, despite being away from the office
politics and constant interruptions when you are working from home, it could be
difficult to achieve anything when there is no external pressure to get your work done
...
Discover that homeworkers can be much more productive than their colleagues in
the office
...
Develop your own most productive style of working from home
...
Create a structure for your day to keep you focused
...
Become aware of common time wasters and how to avoid them
...
Understand why you procrastinate and what you can do about it
...
A third of the people polled believed they would sit watching television and
eating all day, while a fifth thought the lack of company would be demoralising
...
Even this figure, although impressive, pales into
insignificance compared with results from the SusTel (Sustainable Teleworking)
project by the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development,
published in 2004
...

It’s a fact that
...

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The people I spoke to when researching this book certainly believe that this is the case
– higher productivity was one of the positive factors of homeworking most often
mentioned
...
When work is on the dining room
table or behind the study door, it’s very easy to keep working away until you have
very little time left for personal and family interests, and then to pop back in after
dinner or at weekends to check emails and phone messages
...
She requested
home working from her employer because she was fed up with wasting three hours on
commuting every day and finds she is now ‘a lot more productive, because I work a lot
more at home
...
I
carry on working while I eat lunch, pick the children up in the afternoon and then go back
to work
...
And nowadays I never touch it at
weekends
...
We’ve all come across the people
who never do a stroke of work but somehow manage to convince management they
are performing well
...
com, American workers admitted wasting more than two hours of work time
every day surfing the net, chatting with other staff and carrying out personal business
...

A Designer’s Story
Kevin has worked at home for eight years in TV, DVD and web design
...
‘Having
worked on my own for a while, I found it very difficult to go back to an office environment
and my motivation dropped while I was there
...
Even knowing
what to wear was a problem, as I’d become used to being really casual at home
...
’
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Finding your most productive homeworking style
I suggested in Chapter 2 that you give yourself the best possible chance of success in
homeworking if you understand your personality and how you are likely to respond
to the challenges of working from home
...
In order to think about your habits a little more objectively,
ask yourself the questions listed below
...
You are building up a picture of the
best working pattern for you and it might take a little while to complete
...

WHAT TIME OF DAY ARE YOU AT YOUR BEST?
Do you wake up in the morning raring to go, or do you need several cups of coffee to
ease you gently into the day, only hitting your stride by mid-morning? You might be
one of those people who doesn’t get creative until the evening, when the distractions
of the day are over
...
I usually go to bed at 4
a
...
and get up at 10 a
...
It doesn’t make me particularly popular with my partner, but
she works with me in the business and we see it as an investment for the family’s future
...
In theory you can now slop around in your pyjamas and
dressing gown all day, although I’ve never met a homeworker who does, perhaps
because they quickly realise that clothes have a profound effect on your mood and
hence your productivity
...

He finds that he needs to put on his suit, just as he would if he was going to the office
or to visit a client, if he is to get into a businesslike frame of mind
...
You might need to rethink your wardrobe as a homeworker, and maybe you’ll
need to buy some new outfits
...
She finds that her isolation breeds a kind of sartorial inferiority
complex which makes her believe that she must be very scruffy compared to the people who
work at her publisher’s office, but she enjoys the change and the challenge of ‘dressing up’
when she goes to London to meet her publisher
...
Write down your own preferences
...
When Liam started freelance writing at home, he put in earplugs to help him
‘get in the zone’
...
He doesn’t really understand the habit, just that it works for him
...

Which jobs are you always putting off? Try making a list of your tasks in reverse order
of preference
...
Use your list when creating a structure for your day,
which we will come to later in the chapter
...

Try making a chart which divides your day into quarter-hour chunks, like solicitors
do so that they know how much to charge clients
...
Then after a week or so, check through to find out how you
are really spending your time
...
If you are, don’t despair – read on to the sections about
time management and procrastination later in this chapter
...

Just a thought:

Keep a pad of paper and a pen handy in various places around the house, and with you when you go out
...


MAKE SURE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES
You probably feel sometimes that there aren’t enough hours in the day and that you
are constantly running to keep up with all the changes in your industry or profession
...
Make a point of stopping briefly to give yourself a pat on the
back, maybe ring someone to tell them how pleased you are, and give yourself a treat,
lunch out or a little present
...


Creating a structure for your day and staying focused
Once you understand what makes you tick and what your preferences are, you can
design a workable structure for your day
...

USING A DIARY
As a homeworker, it’s essential to have a diary, whether it’s the traditional book and
pen, a program on your computer or a hand-held gadget
...
If you are just starting to work from home, you could
include breaks and the time you plan to finish work
...

FITTING IN HOUSEWORK
I find that just as you probably don’t have time to do much housework before leaving
home to travel to work, it’s best to ignore all but the quickest and most basic
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household tasks if your office is at home
...
After all, it is work of a kind and you’ll feel
virtuous doing it, but unfortunately it doesn’t actually earn you any money
...
We look at
establishing boundaries in Chapter 8, but for now just bear in mind that first thing in
the morning might be a good time to ignore the household chores
...
When you work away from home,
the trip to work not only moves you physically to another space, it also allows your
mind to switch from personal to work concerns
...

I have heard of people who get up, dress smartly, and go out to walk around the block
before returning home and starting work
...
Experiment for
yourself and find out what gives you the message that you should now switch into
business mode
...
Change yours when it gets too
predictable and you’ll feel more energised
...
When she gets home, she puts on the computer
...
Sara takes a break when her teenage son
returns from school and wants her attention
...

STARTING YOUR DAY
So here you are at your desk or workbench, but perhaps you’re still not in the mood
for work
...

o

Always check your diary first thing so you don’t miss any early phone calls or
appointments
...
(See Chapter 2 ‘How do you keep time?’ for tips on keeping
tabs on time)
...
They can be related to work or
pleasure
...
If you belong to
an online network (see Chapter 7), now is a good time to check for new
messages in your inbox or on the forums
...
My business adviser used
to say there is no excuse for not knowing exactly how much money is in your
account at any time
...
Not to mention the motivation your current balance
can supply, either because it’s satisfyingly fat or worryingly slender
...
Nikki noticed the difference when her internet went down
for several weeks and her publishing company had no email to check first thing
in the morning: ‘It was quite difficult to get going
...

They tend to set the tone for the day and dictate what I do and what my
priorities are
...
Speaking to other people will motivate you and perhaps
provide some deadlines or help to prioritise your work
...
Put your break times in
the diary just as you do meetings and appointments
...
It is tempting to think you can just keep on working,
but you will become less and less productive
...

GETTING SOME FRESH AIR
I find it essential to get out of the house at least once a day, even if it’s only to pop
down the road for a paper
...

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Most of us are not very productive immediately after lunch, so this is a good time to
have a walk and get some fresh air and a fresh perspective
...
While you are out,
make a point of talking to other people
...

TAKING NAPS
I know many people are unwilling to take naps during the day as they feel guilty
about wasting time
...
After completing my admin
...

I was sometimes so physically tired that an afternoon nap was essential
...
It gives my unconscious mind a chance to come up with an idea
while my busy conscious mind is switched off
...
We simply cannot work all the time; we need time to absorb and
assimilate information if we are to use it in the most efficient way
...


Winston Churchill, that famous homeworker at No
...
‘You must sleep some time between lunch and dinner, and no half-way measures
...
That’s what I always do
...
That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imagination
...
’
Source: The Churchill Centre, transcription of a conversation in spring, 1946

EATING
What about the ‘fat’ part of the ‘fat, depressed and lazy’ fear expressed by those taking
part in the Australian magazine survey on homeworking? (See the start of this
chapter
...

Chapter 8 looks at ways of maintaining your weight and fitness when you are working
from home
...
A handful of pumpkin seeds will provide your
daily recommended amount of zinc, which helps your thinking ability and memory,
and nuts are a source of Vitamin E, also linked to memory enhancement
...
I’ve noticed while
writing that a recurring use of the word count button signals I am running out of
inspiration and it’s time to stop
...

ENDING YOUR DAY
You may like to set a finishing time in advance when you are planning your daily
schedule, perhaps at around the time that your office-bound peers are logging off and
joining the queues of commuters
...
Getting out of the house and putting some
physical distance between you and your tools or the computer can really help you to
switch off from thoughts of work
...
But
it’s very simple – when you think about it, you can’t manage time at all
...
There’s a famous
story about this
...

THE BEST-PAID TIME MANAGEMENT TIP EVER?
In the 1930s, Charles Schwab was the head of Bethlehem Steel, America’s largest
independent steel producer
...
This was Lee’s advice:
1
...

2
...

3
...
If other jobs arise during the day, only deal with
them if they are more important than the one you are already working on
...

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4
...
It’s not a problem if you can’t do everything on the list – at least
the most important jobs will be completed
...
A month later, he sent Lee a cheque for
$25,000, equivalent to almost $300,000 in today’s money
...

Give it a try and you will find it does work beautifully
...

Just a thought:

Don’t worry if you can’t seem to churn out work at a consistent rate
...
Without that bitty day you
wouldn’t have the resources for the productive one
...
They can easily become pure procrastination
...
These are the ones to watch out for
...

Here are my favourite email tips:
o

Only download your emails two or three times a day – mid-morning and midafternoon would be good times, as it gives people time to send stuff to you in the
morning, and in the afternoon you will have time to respond before the end of
the day
...
It’s easy to think ‘I’ll deal with that later’ and then
forget
...
Your inbox will then only contain emails requiring action or
those awaiting a reply
...


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o

Be specific when writing subject headings and try to use information which will
easily identify the email, such as names, dates and times
...


o

Draft standard responses to regular enquiries and keep the templates in your
Draft folder, but be sure you personalise every detail before sending them out
...


o

Emails may be great for keeping in touch, but sometimes phone calls are still the
faster and easier option, for example if you need to contact a group of people to
change arrangements
...


o

It can be tempting to use email to avoid talking to someone, particularly if there
is a problem to resolve, but this is the very time you do need to speak to them
...


o

Always re-read emails before pressing the Send key to pick up typing errors and
check for possible misinterpretation
...
If the
matter is important, try to leave enough time to draft an email and go back to it
after a while
...


o

I hesitate to mention this last point as it seems so obvious, but I still come across
it from time to time – EMAILS TYPED IN CAPITALS
...


CONDUCTING MEETINGS
No longer having to attend the frequent meetings imposed on you at work is
undoubtedly one of the advantages of working from home, but sometimes a face-toface meeting is still the best way of communicating
...


o

Circulate an agenda to everyone at least a day before so they can come prepared
...


o

Have a finishing time as well as a start time
...
Don’t interrupt
proceedings to recap for latecomers or you will end up overrunning
...


o

Do you ever get invited to meetings and wonder why your presence is required?
If you have nothing to contribute, and nothing to learn, don’t feel obliged to
attend; make your excuses and ask for the minutes to be sent to you afterwards
...
My personal pet hate is people who
ramble on and on, repeating themselves and not taking their cue when you attempt
you wind up the conversation
...
These are my rules to stop calls eating up my day
...
I am completely opposed
to the expectation that we should all be available 24 hours a day
...
As far as I am concerned, my mobile phone is for my
convenience and no-one else’s
...
Just make sure you
listen to your messages at the earliest opportunity and remember to ring back
quickly
...
It’s
exasperating for the person you’re talking to, and embarrassing for you, if you
don’t have obvious details like account numbers when you make a call
...

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o

Are you in the right frame of mind to make this particular call? Your mood is
conveyed by your tone of voice and will be picked up by the person you speak
to
...
But don’t
let it turn into procrastination
...


o

Watch out for spending time chatting after you have resolved your business
query
...


CONTROLLING PAPER
When I was at school in the 1970s, I remember being shown a film about the office of
the future, the ‘paperless office’
...

As with so many predictions about the future, these two have proved to be illfounded, and paper rolls into our lives in an unstoppable and ever-increasing flow
...
Here’s how to deal with it
...
Every time I have my annual session on the shredder I am
amazed by how much stuff I’ve carefully kept and then completely forgotten
about
...
Much can be dumped or recycled
immediately, but in these days of identity theft, remember to shred anything
that reveals personal information
...
If you are tempted to keep
something to ‘read later’, be aware that it will probably never get read, just
accumulate on your desk in a growing, depressing pile
...


If you find you are constantly picking things up and putting them down to ‘sort
out later’, get out a red pen
...
With any luck, the proliferation of red dots will encourage you to deal
with it and get it out of the way!

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Just a thought:

Someone once gave me some excellent advice on the options for dealing with every piece of paper you
receive
...


Procrastination and what you can do about it
This is the big one for homeworkers, isn’t it? I think we all procrastinate to some
extent
...
You put it off to try and make life more
pleasant, but often end up making yourself feel stressed and guilty instead
...
See
if you recognise any of these
...
You tell yourself this is vital background information but in
fact you are just putting off the evil moment
...
You can’t start that job until you have absolutely the
right equipment, furniture, computer, reference materials etc
...
It’s all useful activity but
underneath you know very well it’s not getting you any closer to achieving that
dreaded task
...
In the simplest instances, it’s because
you find the job boring or perhaps you don’t quite understand what is required
...
Doing
the books is a prime example, and you can also get other people to deal with
correspondence, chase payment of invoices and make sales calls
...
Often they will have ideas to get you
started and if not, just chatting to someone else can really put things into perspective
...
Just identifying them can help you
to start overcoming them
...


o

You might be afraid of failing – ‘I’ve never been any good at this sort of thing
...
You might want
to read everything you can find on a subject before starting to write it up, and
keep finding new material
...


TACKLING PROCRASTINATION
Don’t wait until the situation is desperate and you’ve made yourself miserable before
you get started
...

o

o

As long as cleaning and tidying your office isn’t one of your ways of
procrastinating, having a good old clear up can be a way of kick-starting the
brain
...


o

Remember that the most difficult moment is the first moment
...


o

94

You know that horrible sinking feeling when despite yourself the thought of that
long-postponed task slips into your mind? Sometimes actually getting down to
it can come as a relief
...
’

Break the job into a number of small, easily-achievable chunks
...
Continue
like this in short bursts and you might find the magical momentum building up
...
Maybe it’s not
the logical place to start, but if it gets you fired up, you can slot it into place later
...
Have a brainstorm and write down all the ideas you associate with the
subject
...
The hard work is done; now you can concentrate on
expressing your ideas
...
Take a deep breath, sit down with a
piece of paper and list all your jobs in order of priority
...

Then go on to the second most important job etc
...


Resources
o

The kettle – taking frequent breaks will stop your brain getting too tired and
maintain your productivity
...
Piatkus, 1998
...


o

www
...
com
A site full of articles and tips on how to increase your personal productivity
...
hassleme
...
uk
Keep forgetting to do the things you know you should? You can ask
hassleme
...


o

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by
Steven Pressfield
...

Read this book and stop putting off the things you really want to do but never
seem to get round to
...
You can sample an excerpt at
www
...
com/books/war_art
...
mozarteffect
...
Research has been carried out into the music of Mozart, which has
been found to be beneficial to learning and health
...


o

www
...
org
...
There is also a Corporate TPS
...


SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR SITES TO BROWSE AS YOU GENTLY TUNE IN TO WORK
o www
...
co
...
telegraph
...
uk

o

www
...
co
...


o

www
...
org
...


o

www
...
com
Receive an email every weekday recommending quirky books, films, music,
websites, and the latest arty adverts
...
enterprisequest
...


o

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www
...
co
...
thesartorialist
...
com
A fascinating glimpse of people and fashion in New York and other stylish
capitals around the world
...

This chapter covers three areas crucial to all homeworkers whether you are
employed or working for yourself, followed by sections tailored firstly to the needs of
those in employment and then those who are running home businesses:
1
...

2
...

3
...

4
...

5
...


The importance of confidentiality
Working in the privacy of your own home, away from the eyes of colleagues and
visitors, it can be easy to slip into an over-relaxed attitude about the confidentiality of
the information you’re dealing with
...
Failure to observe this could result in the loss
of work or your reputation, and that is hard to recover from
...

o

Have your own separate space for you to have somewhere to read documents and
make phone calls without being overlooked or overheard
...


o

Make sure you lock documents away in a filing cabinet when you have finished
using them and keep computer passwords away from other family members
...
)
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Just a thought:

Choose a shredder that is up to the job ^ you can get them for home, office and heavy-duty use, and the type
designed for home use may not be adequate if you use it often
...

o

If you are self-employed, find out if you should register as a data gatherer under
the Data Protection Act
...


o

Make arrangements for daily data back-up, off-site if necessary
...


o

Be careful when using your mobile phone in a public place; you never know
who might be able to hear you
...
It’s all too easy to inadvertently mention a name
when your business and your casual chats are conducted in the same space,
possibly even on the same phone
...
’ can slip
out before you know it, so if in doubt, don’t mention that topic or get into the
habit of always adhering to the Chatham House Rule
...
The Rule says ‘When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the
Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but
neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other
participant, may be revealed
...


Providing excellent customer service
We all have customers, although the people you work for may not pay you directly
for the work you do for them
...
Or your customers could be your colleagues in the same or
another department, who rely on your efforts to support them to deliver a service
...
If you get your customer service right
you have a much higher chance of hanging on to your current customers and not
having to spend the time and money to find new ones
...
It’s not my intention to give you exhaustive coverage of the
subject here, just to provide some points I’ve found particularly pertinent while
working from home and running a small business
...
If the quality is variable they will gradually stop coming
back, even if they like you
...

We had a lovely evening and enjoyed delicious, well cooked food served by friendly
and efficient staff, so we returned on another occasion
...
And another time we arrived to find they had
unilaterally decided to seat us at a table in the garden, just as the sun was going down
and it was getting chilly
...
Occasional
brilliance____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________it
...
And what’s your reaction when you do come
across one of these gems? You can’t stop talking about it, telling people how amazing
it is, and you go out of your way to use it as often as possible
...
To quote Woody
Allen, ‘80% of success is showing up’ and in some trades that is enough to put you
head and shoulders above the competition
...
They say ‘‘Your
husband’s just been’’ and I say ‘‘Yes, that’s right, you were booked in for today’’ and
they’re just amazed
...
They give you an estimated delivery date and so you mentally prepare to
wait until then – but then the book turned up several days before
...
This is so easy to do that it’s hard to believe that so many
businesses get it wrong
...
Make sure you over-estimate the time instead, so that when you
deliver ‘early’ the customer is thrilled and amazed by your efficiency
...
You may espouse certain values and beliefs and yet
fail to convey them to your customer or to act in accordance with them
...
If they are left with a negative
feeling it is unlikely they will return
...
All very well and good, but unfortunately the young
staff appeared to be quite unaware of these claims or at least unable to deliver on
them – as we found a table, looked at the menu and waited to order, they did that ‘I
can’t see you’ thing that many shop assistants have down to a fine art
...
The food was OK but we left
feeling___________________uncared-for________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_______unwelcome __________________________doubt_we’ll____________________________
______ ____________and ____________ and I ______ _____ return
...
What counts is how you respond, not the
fact there has been a complaint
...

Occasionally when I was running my cleaning business, I’d get a call from a client
complaining that a bin hadn’t been emptied the previous evening
...

Not all complaints are so easily rectified and sometimes the event that gave rise to it has
already occurred and cannot be changed
...

They will be so delighted at your response that the complaint will be forgotten
...
You just never know where they will pop up next
...
I always feel slightly aggrieved if I have to do the
chasing
...

o

Make courtesy calls to confirm upcoming appointments or just to tell them
there is no news yet, but you’re keeping on top of it
...
I’m not suggesting you
shouldn’t make every effort to meet a deadline, but if you are struggling to finish
on time a quick phone call might get you an extension
...


o

Don’t forget the old-fashioned methods of communication – sometimes it’s
quicker and simpler to ring instead of emailing, and snail mail still has its uses
...
Put all contact details (phone numbers,
fax number, business address, email address and website URL) on all your
stationery and as a signature on your emails
...
It sounds completely unprofessional and starts
business calls off on the wrong foot
...
Some people may be
charmed, but for others it is a real turn-off
...
side of her husband’s plumbing business: ‘I have trained my
daughters not to answer the phone and to be quiet when I am making calls to customers
and they are very respectful of that
...
’’ ’
Train older children to answer the phone as you would, and to take a message
...

o

Record messages on your mobile and telephone so people know they’ve reached
the right number, and update them to reflect your current circumstances – ‘I’ll
be in conference until Thursday 20th but I’ll be checking messages and will get
back to you as soon as I can
...


o

Don’t pass on chain emails or jokes to business contacts or customers; they are
unlikely to thank you
...


Looking and acting the part
You’re working at home and nobody’s going to see what you’re wearing so it doesn’t
matter what you throw on, does it? Actually clothes do have a huge effect on mood
and confidence, and their impact on productivity is discussed in Chapter 5, but in
this section we’re concerned with those times when people are going to see you, either
in your home office or out in the big, wide world
...
It’s therefore crucial that your appearance and
behaviour project the right image to your clients, associates and the general public
...

THE RIGHT CLOTHES
I know it’s glaringly obvious but always wear the kind of clothes appropriate to your
occupation
...

When Jeans are Business Clothes

‘

My clients were all professional people with their own image to keep up
...
I therefore always wore clean jeans, T shirt and jacket or cardigan to
visit existing and prospective clients, to convey the message that I was a hands-on boss
who would roll my sleeves up if necessary to get the job done
...
He was wearing a natty navy blazer, shirt, tie and slacks
...
That would
have_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________clients,______they_were_______________________
______________________________________________________________ ______________________
____ been perfectly acceptable to some _______ but ____ _____ not my market
...
If you’re not sure about asking friends for help – and
the danger is that you end up as their clone – many department stores offer a free
personal shopper who will handpick a selection from across the store for you to try
...
The friend might come in useful if you feel you
need moral support or a second opinion
...
Wearing the colours that
suit and uplift you makes a huge difference to your appearance and confidence,
whether you are male or female
...
Once
you know that you will wonder how you made mistakes so often before and you’ll
save lots of money by not buying anything that doesn’t flatter you
...
’
Vivienne Westwood, fashion designer

PERSONAL HYGIENE
It might seem superfluous to mention personal hygiene now there are so many
grooming products for both men and women, but the fact is I do still encounter
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people in work situations with BO, bad breath and dirty hair
...
Seriously though,
stressful situations like interviews and tricky meetings can literally make us sweat, as
can public transport in the summer, so be prepared and don’t be the subject of office
gossip
...

BAD HABITS
I used to know someone who ran his own business and was popular with everyone
who knew him – but I can’t have been the only person to notice his habit of
constantly scratching his groin
...
Most aren’t quite as extreme as my example, but
repeated nose scratching, hair pulling or playing with jewellery can be irritating and
undermine your professional image
...

ACCESSORIES AND EQUIPMENT
Anything you wear or carry with you is as much a statement about you as your
clothes, so think about the little details too
...

o

Don’t neglect your shoes
...
Keep them well polished and in good repair
...


o

Don’t wear more than a minimum of jewellery (whether you’re male or female)
...
A classy
watch, cufflinks and wedding ring are enough
...
That said, it is supposed
to be helpful for women’s confidence to wear a necklace or a scarf; something to
do with covering the throat, a vulnerable part of the body
...


o

Don’t show cleavage, ladies, much less a flash of bra
...
Do you really want your business colleagues staring down your shirt as you
discuss sales figures? Skirt lengths tell their own stories as well – too short and

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you risk looking tarty, too long and you are entering hippy-dippy territory
...

o

Don’t wear ‘jokey’ socks or ties, chaps, the kind with cartoon characters and
lurid colours
...


o

Don’t forget your briefcase/laptop/mobile/handbag – all affect your image so
choose them accordingly and keep them in good shape
...
Instead I went back to a colourful African
basket that held everything I needed, including spare cleaning supplies
...
People with dogs or small children are at a disadvantage
here, I’m afraid, and there’s no getting away from the fact that smokers’ cars smell
horrible to non-smokers
...
Until I was
able to replace it with a newer car there were several occasions when I was forced to
park some distance away from a venue and walk the rest of the way, so as not to
detract from my new besuited image
...
If you
can do that, your professional reputation will benefit
...
If you’re one of the unfortunates who find it difficult
to be on time, you’ll end up working hard to win back all the brownie points you’ve
lost to irritated colleagues if you don’t give yourself enough reminders such as setting
the alarm on your mobile
...

o

Switch off your mobile as you approach the restaurant, as it’s easy to forget once
the greetings and introductions start
...
If you
meet again, then take your turn to foot the bill
...
Leaving it till later might make you anxious
and lead to one of those embarrassing ‘No, please, I insist’ conversations
...
This is not the best time to order messy
food (hold the spaghetti bolognese) or complicated dishes that you are not
familiar with
...


o

Many business meals are conducted with no alcohol and you will feel awkward
if you are the only one who indulges, so follow the lead of your host
...
If there is alcohol, drink moderately
...
If
there is a serious problem or you already know your host quite well, make them
aware of your concern and let them take it up with the waiter
...


o

If you are making the arrangements, establish from your guests how much time
they’ve got and choose the venue accordingly, preferably somewhere you know
and can trust to provide a good experience
...
You might want to avoid peak times or
very noisy places
...
Speak to the head waiter or manager in advance if
you have a special request, such as a table in a quiet corner where you can’t be
overheard
...


Just a thought:

‘Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others
...

Emily Post, American writer on etiquette

Entertaining
Every Christmas, newspapers and magazines produce the usual articles on how to
behave at the office party – don’t get blind drunk, photocopy your bottom, try to kiss
the temp etc
...
But what about social gatherings organised by business associates
or networking groups when the rules don’t seem quite so necessary? Can you kick
back and relax, or is there still a need for a little propriety? I was once invited to a
party held by someone I’d met in a business context who also invited lots of other
business contacts
...
I couldn’t keep that
school-boyish behaviour from tarnishing my impression of him in his work role
...

Say thank you
Saying thank you is one of the most powerful ways to make a good impression and is
all too easily overlooked
...
I
learnt this over and over again in the cleaning business, where we could clean an office
for months and never hear a word, but I’d get a phone call of complaint if a small
detail was overlooked on one occasion
...

People love to be thanked for what they do, out of all proportion to the amount of
time and effort it takes to pick up the phone, fire off an email or write a card
...
) And on a purely selfish level, showing appreciation for someone is
the best way to make sure they keep delivering the goods
...

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DEALING WITH PEOPLE ABROAD
The world has shrunk due to the power and reach of the internet and modern
communications and it’s now quite common for even small businesses to deal with
people all over the world
...
Much more emphasis may be placed on
hierarchy, qualifications or family in other parts of the world, so do your research
before you depart on your trip to avoid making a faux pas and not even realising
you’ve done it
...
Cards are offered and taken with both hands, studied intently,
commented respectfully upon and kept on the table during the meeting
...
______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_______and so on
...
Just
because you work at home doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know all about your own
company, its competitors, trading partners, developments in the industry and
possible future trends
...

Keep stock
As well as being on the ball with regard to relevant information, it’s a good idea to
always have stocks of your tools of the trade, so you can cope with a sudden rush or
something breaking down
...


Keeping up with the game when you’re employed
There is a danger that working from home may not enhance your career or your
chances of promotion, either because company culture regards it as showing less
commitment (‘something women do after they’ve had children’) or because you are
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less visible to your bosses
...

o

There’s always somebody in any office who can be guaranteed to know what’s
going on
...

Let them know you appreciate them by finding out how they like to be thanked
(see Chapter 2)
...
Sarah is a sales executive whose head office is hundreds of
miles away from her home: ‘You have to go the extra mile because you’re not in
the office
...
’

o

If you are within striking distance of the office, attend all the meetings and
training sessions organised for your team, for the personal contact as well as
making others aware that you are still an active member of the team
...


o

Whatever you choose to wear in the privacy of your workspace, take care to
maintain the required corporate image when you visit the office or go out to see
clients
...
A senior manager of a blue chip
company I know of had a reputation for marching his sales staff to Marks and
Spencers to buy a plain, dark suit and white shirts if they showed up in anything
else
...


You need to devise ways of communicating well with your boss and in particular
letting them know about your successes and high level of productivity
...
A rabid football supporter is likely to be disgruntled the
morning after his team suffer a resounding defeat
...


o

Your job is to help your manager look good, so find out how you can help them
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most, with their personal as well as their professional objectives
...

o

Give them success stories to feed their bosses – if you look good, they look good
too
...


o

Take the time to understand how they like to communicate (see Chapter 2)
...
It’s
vital that those seven touches all communicate the same message or you may never
get through to your market
...

Your branding or identity, no matter how small your business, should be carefully
chosen to convey what you do and how you do business
...
A professional designer will
understand how people perceive colour and design, what is memorable and the
factors most likely to inspire people to buy, and so they are worth consulting if you
can afford to
...

A Roofer’s Story
When Vince started his business he designed a logo himself, which is featured on his van,
headed paper and compliment slips, scaffold banners and the polo shirts he and his
employee wear
...

Having decided on a suitable identity, the work is not over, as anything carrying your
logo must be clean and well presented
...
Emma and her husband run a plumbing business and ‘are very
aware of the image of a plumber as a bloke in a flat cap driving a clapped out car
...
’ To that end they clean the van every week
and Emma makes sure all the estimates, letters and invoices she sends out are properly
spelt and well written
...
Emma again: ‘Sometimes people ring
up and ask if ‘someone’ can come out to them, as though we have a team of
plumbers
...
’’ I say ‘‘My husband will come and
see you’’ and then they think they’re getting the boss
...
We parked it in the centre of Bath several times a
day while we were cleaning offices and it generated a lot of business as people noticed
it and rang to enquire about our services
...


’

It’s not just a case of making sure that the physical items representing your business
have the right image
...

HOW STAFF AFFECT YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
The legalities and bureaucracy involved in employing staff are covered in Chapter 3
but the human side of recruiting, training and supervising employees is an important
consideration on its own
...
To the world at large, your staff are your
business, and they have the capacity to cover you with glory or lose your reputation
with a misplaced remark
...
Many
small businesses have expanded to take on staff, only to shrink again when the
responsibilities became too onerous
...

o

Be selective
...
Start by getting clear in your own mind what you need an employee to
do, how they should do it, when, where and for how much pay
...
It could be
in the window of the corner shop, at the Jobcentre, in the local paper, or all
three
...
Start the
interview by repeating what the vacancy is for, the hours and so on, to flush out
any misunderstandings
...
Don’t be won over by offers to leave their present job without working the
full notice period – if they are willing to do that to their present employer,
they’ll do it to you too
...
It’s hard, if not
impossible, to make the ‘right’ choice; just try for the best choice given what you
know and have intuited
...
You may
want to wait until they have started before you tell the other candidates they
were unsuccessful
...


o

Get two references, preferably from present and previous employers, or at least
from someone you can reasonably rely on to give an honest opinion
...


o

112

When people respond, check they fit all the criteria
...
Make a shortlist of the most suitable and invite
them to meet you
...


Provide clear and straightforward training on the first and subsequent days, until
you are happy that they understand their duties
...


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From there on, I wish you luck
...
I would
like to say that the better you treat your staff, the better they will treat you and
the job, but I know that isn’t necessarily so
...
Everyone has to find their own style and that only comes with experience
...
The local business community invariably gets to
know who is dealing with whom and it will reflect badly on you if the company you
keep is of dubious integrity
...

o

Take into account factors other than the lowest price
...


o

Pay them on time, and before the due date if your cashflow allows
...


o

Say thank you for a good service and let them know about problems, not just to
gripe, but so they have a chance to put things right
...
A word-of-mouth referral is
the best (and cheapest) way of getting new business and it will be appreciated
...


HOW CLIENTS AFFECT YOUR PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
All self-employed people and small businesses need clients and particularly when you
start out, it can be tempting to grab at whatever comes up
...
As
well as steering clear of dodgy characters as discussed in the section above on
suppliers, working for yourself seems to go better if you follow your gut feelings and
only work with people you feel comfortable with
...
The first was in the early days and was a decision made
in great trepidation, but the person concerned seemed to be intent on catching out
our cleaner by leaving little ‘traps’ for them, to test their thoroughness and honesty
...

The other occasion was when the business was better established, but it was an
equally nerve-racking decision
...
A meeting was
arranged for us to discuss the situation, but the manager turned up late without
apology or explanation and informed me they wanted a ‘cheap job’
...

Lo and behold, a few weeks later I picked up another contract of equal size
...
ico
...
uk
The website of the Information Commissioner’s Office where you can find
more information about handling personal information and if necessary,
register as a data controller
...

Random House, 1994
...
As Peters is American, so are his case studies and many
will be unknown to British readers, but that doesn’t matter
...


o

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www
...
org
...


www
...
co
...


Part 3
Secrets of Success

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7

WON’T I FEEL ISOLATED?
In the UK we work the longest hours in Europe, according to the TUC General
Secretary Brendan Barber in 2007, so it’s not surprising that the people we meet at
work are important as colleagues and as friends and prospective partners
...

This chapter covers:
1
...

2
...
Pets are good company too
...
Networking gets you out of the house and is a source of help and potential new
business
...

4
...


Coping with isolation
How you deal with isolation is the key to whether you can happily work from home
or not, and all of the homeworkers I spoke to mentioned it as one of the crucial
challenges of working from home
...

A Clinical Psychologist’s Story
Susan worked in the NHS before starting her own practice: ‘I thought I understood about
working from home because I’d been a mature student, so I was used to spending hours at
my desk at home
...
I hadn’t
anticipated how much I would miss the interaction with other people
...
’

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As we found in Chapter 2, how happy you feel working alone will depend on your
personality, and largely on whether you are an introvert or extrovert
...
) But no matter how much you enjoy your own company, there
will inevitably be times when you want to interact with others
...

American psychologist Abraham Maslow published his famous Hierarchy of Needs
in the 1950s and it has since become one of the fundamental building blocks of
personal development and training
...
In other words, once you are
warm, fed and watered, and reasonably sure there aren’t any nasty surprises
threatening your survival, your most pressing requirement is that of companionship
...

A Trainer’s Story
Barry used to be a trainer for a multinational company, based at home on the days he
wasn’t delivering courses at the corporate training centre
...
So he’d take his
laptop to local cafes and hotel lobbies with a wireless connection and work there, soaking
up the energy of the people around him
...
I
regard this as a top priority, the next most important thing to getting your work
done
...

Just a thought:

The time you think you can’t possibly go out is precisely the time you need to go out
...
If you stay at your desk you will only fritter
away time worrying about how much you have to do and not getting on with it
...
She writes and illustrates children’s
books in a studio in her garden in a small seaside town
...
’
But for Margaret, the isolation is the hardest thing to deal with
...
When I lived in a small flat in London and
worked from home, I almost got agoraphobic
...
Because I’m afraid of bumping into people I know when I go out, and
ending up wasting time chatting, I don’t go
...
’

Staying connected
’Keep in touch!’ How often do we say this? And how often do we then neglect to
follow it through? Regularly keeping in touch with a group of useful contacts will
help you to be successful when you are working from home – some may be able to
connect you with other people, some may provide complementary skills to your own,
some may come up with good ideas, others may be objective when you can’t see the
wood for the trees and help you to make a decision
...
Building and maintaining a strong network will help you to retain your
sanity and perspective when working alone, by providing practical, emotional and
intellectual support
...
To me they were just
nice people I came across in the course of my work, and possibly my social life too, who
were able to help me in all kinds of ways, and whom I was also happy to help when I
could
...
When our contract
came to an end, he said I was still welcome to call him if I had any problems I’d like
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to discuss
...

Wheels within Wheels

‘

’

The great thing about networks is that once you’ve created them, you can tap into
your contacts’ networks too
...
The solicitor knew I would mention him to anyone
needing legal help, and take my own business to him in future
...
Current cleaners who
would do some extra hours, plus ex-employees who would occasionally fill in, were
invaluable in times of staff shortage
...
He mentioned it to a contact who worked in the largest solicitors’ practice in
Bath, and in due course the business was mine
...
Just having a good old grumble is
sometimes__________________feel_______________________________________________________
________________________________much_______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________ all you need to ___ ______ better!

’

Make sure you don’t just call people when you want something from them (see
Chapter 2, Thinking and Feeling), ring just to say hello and ask how things are
...
Instead make a diary note if
time tends to fly by and you forget to do it
...
Would they prefer to have a chat on the phone, meet up for a casual coffee
or arrange a more formal meeting to discuss an aspect of work you have in common?
Varying the means of communication keeps life interesting for you as well as getting
the best from them
...
No doubt you will come across
many other ways, depending on your profession and personality
...
So many times I’ve been complaining about a
problem I couldn’t solve, only to have a solution occur to me before I’d even finished the sentence!

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Getting out more
Working in an office, you may have longed to get away from the people crowded into
the train, pushing against you in the street or interrupting you at your desk
...
As we’ve seen in
Chapter 5, it can indeed help you be more productive, but when you work at home
you will start to appreciate human contact in a way you never did when you were
commuting every day
...
But sometimes she only sees her
husband and three-year-old from one week to the next and even though she doesn’t regard
herself as very sociable, at these times she gets desperate for some other company
...

Having good neighbours to pass the time of day with is a great help when you’re
working from home, and there are many other ways to brighten up your day with a
little light relief
...

LOCAL FACES
Working in an office, you see familiar faces every day – the receptionist, the cleaner,
the security guard, the woman who comes in to water the plants
...
When you work from home, you will have a
different set of familiar faces you may well come to value for the diversion they
provide
...
It can happen just by talking to the people you come
across in the course of your day
...

Just a thought:

You can get inspiration by talking to people in very different jobs, as they have a totally fresh approach and are
unaware of traditional ways of doing things
...


FRIENDS AND FAMILY
At the office, the only reminders of family and friends may have been photos on your
desk, unless you were able to make personal calls during work time
...
In
Chapter 8 we look at how to establish boundaries between work time and family
time, and how to manage working alongside other family members
...
I meet up with a home´
based friend about once a week for coffee
...
We quickly discovered
the places where we can sit for an hour or even two, without being moved on or
pressurised into ordering more
...


’

PETS
Being at home all day, you are in the ideal position to keep a pet
...
In a
survey of pet owners carried out in 1999, The Blue Cross animal welfare charity
found that 89% of owners believed their pets helped them to relax, 96% thought
they combated loneliness and 96% that they provided companionship
...
However, it’s not a good idea to get a new pet at the same
time as beginning to work from home
...

IF YOU ARE EMPLOYED
Think about the people you used to run into in the course of a day in the office, and
make the effort to keep as visible as possible
...
As well as boosting your own morale, it keeps you in the forefront of
everyone’s mind when you are not physically present in the office every day, a subject
covered in Chapter 6
...


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A Sales Executive’s Story
Sarah sells advertising space in a travel magazine from her home office in the country
...
She
gets to meet colleagues face to face four or five times a year at trade shows and the industry
awards ceremony
...

The list will include your clients, suppliers, employees, people who offer a similar
service, and so on
...
Why not set up a club which meets regularly for lunch or coffee to
share news and problems? You can either meet in each others’ houses or go to a
´
convenient cafe
...
‘Although we were all doing different jobs, they were all arts based and
sometimes introductions within the group led to offers of work
...
At home you may have to organise all this for yourself and you might find it
becoming more important to actually like the guy who turns up when your computer
goes down
...

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togethers out of the house, of course you don’t have to physically meet people to
build a supportive network – you can stay at home and use your phone, email and
internet forums
...
‘I work better on my own in peace and quiet,’ he says, ‘but I find I also
need other people to bounce ideas off
...

Using the internet he is in regular contact with a former colleague from the days he worked
for someone else, an old school friend from the opposite side of the country, and a lecturer at
Porto University in Portugal
...

Once you have been working at home for a while and have established a pattern of
phone use, check to make sure you are on the best and cheapest tariff, depending on
whether you make a lot of short calls, ring people abroad or are on the phone for
periods of an hour or more
...

Free online address books and calendars like Plaxo give warning of upcoming
birthdays, notify changes in contact details to fellow members and allow you to send
ecards
...


Why is everyone networking?
One way of getting out of the house on a regular basis, and possibly also of generating
more business, is to join a networking group
...
’
Maybe this is because so many people associate it with selling and nothing else
...
They then give up and will tell you that ’networking doesn’t work’
...

I don’t believe networking is about selling, and you will get the best results if you have
no expectations in that direction
...
This feels horrible and completely puts me off
the individual and their business
...
This
takes time and perseverance, but produces amazing results
...
That’s what I thought
...
I was always busy working when
the events were taking place, and in fact I was often responsible for getting a venue
cleaned beforehand and clearing up afterwards, so I got used to being out of sight
...

With great trepidation I joined the local Chamber of Commerce
...
Within a few months I had been asked to join
the social committee of the Chamber and to do some work for one of the businesses I
had come across
...

It was a real revelation to me to find that not only could I do this, but that it could
also be enjoyable
...
_
________ The only way it ________ familiar is by getting out there and ______ __

’

CHOOSING YOUR NETWORKING GROUP
In the last few years there has been a proliferation of networking groups all over the
country, and there are now groups for all professions and industries, for women,
young businesspeople, the self-employed and those in rural areas, to name just a few
...
To find out about groups in your area, contact your industry association,
the local Chamber of Commerce, your nearest Business Link office, or speak to your
business bank manager
...

You can network at breakfast, at lunchtime and after work
...
The latter tend to be more focused on
generating business and will offer a limited period where you can try before you buy,
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so take full advantage and ask some direct questions of a variety of members before
you commit
...
If you are a one-man band such as a business
consultant with a limited amount of specialist clients, you may not have the breadth
of contacts to do this
...
Standing in for an
absent member is an ideal opportunity to try the group out
...
Remember the
figures quoted may be accurate but they are averages and in my experience some
businesses do very well, sometimes to the point of being forced to leave the network
because they are swamped by work, whereas others do very poorly and see little or no
return on their investment
...

Questions to ask the network members
o How much business have you got by being a member of this network?
o

What are the features of the group you like and dislike?

o

What kind of businesses benefit most from this network?

o

Are there any charges in addition to the subscription?

o

What happens if I have a grievance or a complaint about another member?

o

What are the rules on attendance?

o

What exactly are my obligations if I join this group?

Just a thought:

If you are in any doubt, you might want to contact a recently resigned member to hear their point of view
...
If you are a ‘oneoff’ in the group, you may not get many referrals
...
I find that
in a fit of enthusiasm I tend to agree to attend an event, and then go off the idea as the
day approaches and cast around for reasons why I can’t go
...
I have never once regretted the decision, even when I was worried about
sparing the time
...

o

Until you get used to networking, go with someone you know, preferably
someone experienced at networking who will introduce you to other people
...


o

If you do know people at the event, be very disciplined and try not to succumb
to the temptation to talk to them all the time – after all, you are there to meet
new contacts
...


o

Remember that the other people at the event are likely to be as nervous as you,
or will remember that they used to feel nervous
...


o

Never feel you can’t approach someone, no matter how influential they may be
– they are there to meet people too and you may be just the person they are
looking for
...
So try not to be a ‘meerkat’ – don’t gaze over their shoulder around the
room and make your companion feel belittled
...
Don’t hesitate, join a group
straightaway
...


o

Sometimes your conversation will reach a natural end but you can’t think of a
polite way to move on
...
’ Ask them if they can
introduce you to someone else
...
If you strike up a conversation, you can put the plate
down or share it with your new friend
...
A little time spent following up can
produce great results:
o

The day after the event, send an email to each person you met, saying how good
it was to meet them
...
Use your judgement as to whether this is appropriate
...
You can have
a quick look at them before the next event
...


o

If you think of any information, like a website or an article, which might be
useful to someone you met, send it on to them
...


o

Diary further contact according to the situation and the personality of your
contact
...


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Online networking
Joining a local networking group means you make new contacts in your local area
...
Business networks you
might like to check out include LinkedIn, Xing, Ecademy and Ryze
...
I have come across both devotees of online networking and those
who don’t quite get the point
...
If you’re the kind of person who can’t wait to get away from the
computer when you’ve finished work, online networking probably isn’t for you,
although many online groups offer face-to-face events as well
...

o

Start with large, well established groups like Ecademy and LinkedIn and check
them out as a guest
...


o

The same principle applies to online networking as to anything in life – the
more you put in, the more you are likely to get out
...
You will be required to provide your
personal details and a profile about your life and career
...
This is your introduction to the world of
networkers and they will make judgements about you accordingly
...


o

Be prepared for a flood of welcome emails from keen networkers who contact
each new member in order to expand their own network
...


o

Online networks operate on the principle that the more contacts you have the
better
...
However
attractive a proposition that is, be careful to balance time building your network
with time spent getting your work done and with maintaining your local
network
...
Better
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to leave some time and re-read your draft before sending
...
That may include your clients, bosses and people of
influence in your industry
...
When Clare relocated her business from the city to the country
(see Chapter 1) she was able to recruit three well qualified employees simply by
posting an email on her local network for women in business, making a
significant saving in advertising costs
...
He uses activity on the Ecademy website as a way to ease into work (see
Chapter 5) and belongs to some of the Ecademy special interest clubs
...
Through Ecademy he has connected with professionals in his field who work
abroad and who will be handy contacts if he is ever visiting their area
...
Both online and face-to-face networking can pay unexpected dividends
at any time!

Resources
o

´
Your local cafe – preferably with good coffee, homemade cakes and a free
wireless connection, so you can work there when you’re fed up at home, and
have somewhere to meet friends and business associates
...

This is the twentieth anniversary edition of the classic self-help book which
explodes the myth that successful people are fearless – they’re not, they just get
on and do it anyway, and so can you
...
brnet
...
uk
Business Referral Exchange, a national organisation which hosts weekly local
meetings
...
bni-europe
...


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o

www
...
com
A women’s business network that holds meetings at lunchtime, so ideal if you
can’t commit to regular breakfast meetings
...
The network is run on a franchise basis, so may also be a business
opportunity
...
wireuk
...


o

www
...
com
Register on this site to receive e-news and podcasts about working from home
and to make posts on the forums
...
fsb
...
uk
The Federation of Small Businesses represents over 200,000 businesses across
the UK and lobbies government on their behalf
...


o

www
...
co
...


o

www
...
com
An online address book service
...


ONLINE NETWORKING SITES
o www
...
com
Based in the UK, Ecademy describes itself as a ‘social network’ for businesspeople
with over 150,000 members worldwide
...

o

www
...
com
Previously known as a social network, Facebook is now being used by
businesspeople too
...
linkedin
...
There are 12 million members worldwide, representing 150 industries
...
ryze
...
xing
...
You will find when your work is based at home that your concept of ‘home’
changes
...

This chapter covers:
1
...

2
...

(These sections complement Chapter 5, which is about creating a structure for
your day and working effectively from home, so are best read in conjunction
with it
...
Adapting your relationship with your partner, whether they go out to work or also
work from home
...
Ways of creating and keeping boundaries for children and teenagers
...
How to cope when coming into your home is the experience your customers are
paying for
...
Your work persona gives
you an element of emotional protection and enables you to shrug off some of the
petty or disturbing things that happen to you at work
...


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You are more vulnerable when you work at home, because you lack that protective
shell; you could have been putting the washing out just moments before that difficult
client called to berate you
...

Conversely going out to work can be a relief if there are problems at home
...
Staying put, on the other hand, constantly reminds you of what’s going
wrong and might also put you in constant contact with the person(s) you would like
to see less of
...

CHANGING YOUR MOOD
To get the best work results you need to be as positive and confident as possible, so
it’s vitally important that you are aware of your emotional and mental states and able
to exert some control over them
...
We’re not taught to do this as children and so at first it
can seem too difficult to overcome all those years of habitual behaviour, but it’s only a
question of practice
...
Think about the last time you felt really confident and remember in
detail exactly what that felt like
...
Use all your senses – how the food
tasted if you were eating, whether you could smell someone’s perfume, the texture of
the chair you were sitting in
...
As you imagine the scene,
don’t picture yourself in it but see it through your own eyes, as if you are really there
now and observing everything exactly as it was
...


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If you’re really feeling down in the dumps you might not be able to remember a time
when you felt like that, so instead imagine how it must feel
...

KNOWING HOW TO REACT WHEN SOMEONE UPSETS YOU
It’s natural to make assumptions about people on the basis of the way they behave
...
Your
reaction will probably be to think that either they are very rude, in which case you
don’t like them much, or to assume that for some reason they don’t like you
...

Stephen Covey tells a story about this in his bestselling book The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People
...
The man sat down next to him and closed his eyes, while his
children ran riot around the carriage
...
The man opened his eyes and replied that he knew he
should do something, but they had come directly from the hospital where his wife
had just died, and he was at a loss to know what to do
...

So why not assume the best about people if they don’t deal with you as you’d like?
Give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they’ve just had some bad news or
they are having an awful day
...
Sounds wonderful, but in fact she says that whenever she is
working, she is reminded that the garden needs sorting out, and vice versa
...
But if you spend too long
sorting that out, you start thinking of the work you’re neglecting in your office
...
Men seem to be able to
concentrate exclusively on one thing at a time, whereas women juggle lots, if only in
their heads
...
They suddenly have all the time that used to be spent
travelling and feel it must be used properly
...

It seems that feeling guilty is just one of the side effects of working from home that
you have to get used to, and it does lessen with practice
...
If you haven’t
already done so, have a look at Chapter 7 for ideas on getting out and meeting
people
...
It’s easier if you plan in
advance the time you intend to stop working and then keep to it, even if you’re
tempted to plough on
...
It helps to
make a point of switching off the computer and turning down the volume of the
answer phone if you can, so that your relaxation isn’t disturbed by incoming calls
...

Switching off completely may be very hard if you’re in a business where customers
might ring up at any time to ask for your help with an emergency
...
’
Claire, who does the admin for her husband’s roofing business

Sometimes switching off is not an option because work and life are inextricably
intertwined
...
For him, his work is
about maintaining an asset to pass on to the next generation, and he makes no distinction
between work and pleasure: ‘I do a lot of hours, but I don’t necessarily regard it as work
...
If I go
off for a shoot, I’m keeping the vermin down, but I don’t regard that as work
...
’
Or you might find that the boundaries between work and relaxation become blurred
in a positive way once you start working from home and your attitudes to ‘work time’
and ‘relaxation time’ are different
...

A Pyschologist’s Story
‘When I worked at the hospital I finished at 5 o’clock and I’d go home and veg out for the
evening
...
Now my life is much
more balanced and I have more freedom
...
It’s a completely different thing and I don’t resent
working in the evening at all
...
Making sure you look after your physical health
is part of the discipline of working from home, but it doesn’t have to be any harder
than resisting cakes and crisps in the office
...
It’s all too
easy to make snacking and cups of coffee a regular feature of your working day and to
resort to them when you run out of inspiration or as a reward for completing a tricky
assignment
...
A rumbling stomach makes your favourite treats and the current
BOGOFs hard to resist
...
You know
your weaknesses, so if necessary avoid that part of the shop altogether
...
Maybe your slender and immaculate neighbour,
your personal trainer or a member of your exercise class
...
You can
then plan your eating patterns accordingly
...
Having your main meal of the day then, and a
light snack later will help to keep weight off
...
Indulge in a controlled way, such as having a piece
of cake when you go out for a coffee rather than buying a whole cake to take
home
...


o

As a last resort, if you do have tempting foods at home and you don’t trust your
own willpower, there’s no shame in asking your partner to hide and ration them
...
Getting out into the fresh air will give a boost to both body
and mind
...
I’m the fittest I’ve ever been
...
Unlike your
office-bound colleagues, you can go to sports facilities at quiet times during the
day and to all kinds of daytime classes
...


o

A rebounder (mini trampoline) is a great way of getting exercise without even
having to put on your shoes and leave the house, so it’s ideal in winter
...
Playing upbeat music as you bounce keeps the momentum
going and quickly lifts your mood
...
You don’t have to rely on caffeine
or even leave your desk
...
If you’re feeling flexible you can
do the same thing by pressing below the ball of your foot
...


o

Breathe! Take three deep breaths, not just into your chest but deep down into
your lungs
...


o

Stimulate the acupuncture points on your ears by taking hold of the top of your
ears and pulling them up
...
Pull them down sharply and release
...


Physical therapies
Massage, reflexology, shiatsu and many other therapies are physically and mentally
beneficial for homeworkers and are a great way to switch off at the end of the week or
reward yourself for finishing a major project
...

Illness
If you work away from home and you’re feeling a bit off-colour, it’s easy to ring in
sick
...
You might think
homeworkers would be even more tempted to stay in bed, but in fact the opposite is
true
...

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It’s certainly possible to keep working between naps and doses of medication – and
I’ve done just that while suffering from a kidney infection, although now I think I
must have been mad – but taking a few days off would allow your mind and body the
time to recover more quickly
...


Managing family and friends
Much as you love your family and friends and enjoy their company, you might find
you need to put some ground rules in place to make sure they understand you are
working even if you happen to be at home
...


o

If you only have one phone line, always answer it during the day with a formal
business greeting
...


o

If they seem bent on chatting, tell them you have a deadline to meet or are
expecting an important call and will call them back after you have finished work
for the day
...


o

If someone turns up unexpectedly at your door, greet them with something
along the lines of ‘How lovely to see you and such a shame I can’t invite you in
...
Can I call you later to make
some proper arrangements?’ If you reluctantly let them in and start chatting it’s
much more difficult to dispatch them gracefully
...

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(If you haven’t yet read Chapter 5 on making a structure for your day and being
productive at home, it might help to have a look at it now as much of the material
there is complementary to this
...


You know those statistics that claim to calculate the stress levels of life events such as
divorce, bereavement and moving house? As far as I know nobody has yet attempted
to work out the level of stress incurred by you or your partner starting to work from
home, but you should regard it as a major life change and plan accordingly
...

A Market Researcher’s Story
When Sue and her husband both worked away from home they shared household jobs
roughly 50/50 and whoever got in first started the dinner
...
Then she started to work from home and found herself
taking a much more traditional wifely role and doing all the housework and cooking,
because she was around to do it: ‘There were no major rows, but I did go through a period
of resentment about it
...
’
Things didn’t fall into place immediately but now they have a cleaner and Sue continues
to do the washing and cooking as well as her paid work
...
I’m doing a well paid job, but I have time to do
housewifely things like baking cakes as well and I actually enjoy it
...

Just as communications in the form of computers and phones are vital to the ability
to work from home, communication is also key to looking after your personal
relationships when you do so
...

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o

You may have dreamt of this moment for a long time, but like any other major
change, it may take a while to get settled in, so make allowances for everyone in
the meantime
...
Go through your normal working day
and identify who will do what, whether it’s getting breakfast, taking the children
to school, doing the washing, ironing, meal planning, shopping, cooking,
washing up, cleaning and so on
...
He says
‘There are farmers’ wives – and my mother was a farmer’s wife – and there are wives of
farmers, and Hayde is one of the latter
...
I make decisions about the farm
and she’s in charge of the house and that works well for us
...


o

Try not to ‘keep score’ – ‘I’ve been doing the cooking all week and you’re just
sitting there in front of the television
...
Don’t chance it
...
Don’t wait until you can’t
hold it in any longer and it explodes in an outburst, even if you feel that saying
anything will make you look petty or childish
...
’ Just getting these corrosive little thoughts
out in the open can make the situation feel much better, while letting them
fester creates more poison
...
Out of a fear of seeming bossy, I have a tendency to ask for
something in an oblique way – ‘I’m getting hungry now, are you?’ which
translated means ‘Please will you get lunch ready because I’m concentrating on
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this and I need food very soon or I’ll get extremely grumpy
...

GIVING AND RECEIVING FEEDBACK
Discussing all these matters demands honest communication, and that can be
difficult even, and sometimes especially, with those who are closest to us
...
By feedback I don’t just mean criticism of your partner’s behaviour
or performance, even though from time to time you may want to offer that
...

Here are some basic ground rules about feedback that will stop the process becoming
a flash point
...
It can be a risky business because often you are pointing out a
blind spot – a characteristic your partner is genuinely unaware of – and
unwanted observations can be hurtful and destructive
...
When we lived in Cornwall we often drove to the beach for a
meeting and to report back on how we were doing
...


o

If you want to give feedback about a specific event, do it as soon as possible
afterwards
...


o

Keep your feedback strictly about the issue and don’t mix it up with personal
issues e
...
‘I’d like you to do more around the house so I can start work quicker
in the mornings’ rather than ‘I’m sick of you never helping me in the house
...


o

Be aware that listening to understand is so much better for communication than
listening for a pause so you can get your point in
...

o

Your partner is very aware of your strengths and weaknesses and so is in an ideal
position to point them out
...
For example, a wish to maintain
harmony between members of a team can be a drawback if it results in
reluctance to confront a member about poor performance
...
For example ‘That wasn’t a
particularly helpful response to the situation’ rather than ‘Why are you being so
bolshie?’

o

Concentrate on the effect that behaviour had on you – ‘When you said that to
the customer it made me feel really small’ instead of ‘Why are you always
running me down in front of customers?’

o

Once again, remember that this isn’t just a process for giving negative feedback
...


WHEN YOUR PARTNER WORKS AT HOME TOO
The old saying that goes ‘I married you for life, but not for lunch’ was once used
primarily by wives whose husbands had retired and were cluttering up the house
during the day, but now it could be a piece of advice for couples who both work from
home
...
My partner has, at
different times, worked in an office, been away for the whole of the working week,
and worked full time at home, and these are my suggestions for keeping a
relationship in good shape while both working at home
...


o

If you share the computer or other equipment, plan in advance who will do
what and when, so that you don’t waste time hanging around waiting for them
to finish
...
Even sticking your head
round the door when they are ‘in the flow’ and asking ‘Fancy a coffee?’ might
interrupt their train of thought
...


o

Too much time together can lead to staleness and put a strain on a relationship
...


WHEN YOUR PARTNER WORKS FROM HOME IN THE SAME BUSINESS
If working from home tends to magnify what is already happening in a relationship,
then working together in the same business magnifies it many times over
...
We both tend to be a bit perfectionist and so our
standards are similar
...
’
When things are going well, running a business together can be rewarding in many
respects and bring you and your partner closer together
...
Money
issues are a major cause of tension within relationships and are one of the points you
should look at carefully before going into business together
...
and customer relations
...
Write down a list of all the tasks required
to run the business and allocate them to each person depending on what they are
good at
...
People are amazed at their accuracy and they
help to identify latent talent
...
It could be a major
problem if whenever there is an opportunity to expand or do something
different one of you is gung ho and the other is cautious
...


o

It’s also important to agree on how much money you need to take out of the
business for your living expenses and what it’s to be spent on
...


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Remember to keep redefining your working relationship
...
Try different things out and see
how it works
...


o

Don’t talk about business all the time
...


o

Remember that you are in a relationship outside work and take time to nurture
that as well as the business by having regular evenings out and weekends away
...
)

o

Ideally you will be able to give each other moral support and when one is down
the other will provide reassurance
...
A little give and take may be required while adjustments are
made to the new arrangements
...
In theory it sounds like the ideal way of
getting the most from your professional and domestic lives, but in practice it can be a
tricky juggling act to perform
...

The Story of a Budding Entrepreneur
Martin’s daughters are disappointed when they are at home and he is out working on a
plumbing job, but they also understand this means he is earning money for the family
...
On being told that he did indeed work out the price for each job,
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she asked why he couldn’t simply charge more and make more money! Quite an insight for
a seven-year-old
...

A B&B Owner’s Story
Jane’s parents divorced and her mother ran a hairdressing business to support them
...
Luckily our children were older when we started our business but I’m sure
there are things we haven’t done as a family because of not getting regular days off
...
Small children may demand your attention at the very
time you need to concentrate on work
...
She may also work again in
the evening after bedtime
...

You will need to find your own ways of getting your work done and devoting time to
your children, but other people’s experience may help
...


An Event Organiser’s Story
‘After the birth of my first child, I went back to my full-time job with a racing team and
the baby went to nursery all day
...
It was an
awful decision to make but in the end I had to accept that now I was a mother, I was not
the person I was before, and I’ll never be the same again, because now I have the
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responsibility of children
...

o

Small children don’t understand the concept of ‘Don’t disturb Daddy; he’s
working’
...


o

Work flexible hours, when the children are at nursery or school, and in the
evening after they have gone to bed
...
Nicki does her best
not to pay for childcare as the cost would eat so far into her earnings
...
She looks
after her cousin’s children one day a week and her cousin takes hers for a day, so
that they each have a day clear
...


A Web Designer’s Story
‘If your work is good and your prices are competitive, the fact that you are working from
home and have small children shouldn’t be a problem,’ says Alex, who is self-employed
...
They are human beings, after all, and some have children too
...
I’m
lucky in that respect and I realise it might be very different if I had a corporate job
...
)
o

It might be prudent to keep your computer passwords out of the hands of your
children or they could unintentionally get you into a lot of trouble, as Hilary
found
...
One
day she was unexpectedly called into the office and asked to bring the computer with her
...
Hilary was in shock and the whole family under suspicion, until
eventually her young son admitted that he had gone to the sites under peer pressure
...
She has
since heard of people who have been sacked after many years service for letting someone else
use their computer or for using their work computer for personal purposes within work
hours, often not even realising they shouldn’t do it
...


Working from home when you have teenagers
Small children may demand more of your time, but they are more biddable and
easier to keep to a regular routine, whereas teenagers can be an unpredictable and
somewhat volatile force in the environment where you are trying to be professional
...

Everything that happens is a crisis they want to involve you in
...

They leap for the phone in case it’s a call for them and constantly want to make outgoing
calls
...
They’re also bad at
conforming to adult-imposed routines, which makes working in the school holidays
difficult as I never know when I’ll get a good stretch of time to myself
...
Your personality, your teenager’s personality, your family
circumstances, where your office is in the house – all these factors make your situation
unique and demand different responses
...

o

Set boundaries for phone use, acceptable volume for music, time when you
shouldn’t be disturbed, and so on, and don’t be surprised if they are repeatedly
crossed
...


o

Be as philosophical and flexible as you can about what you can achieve
...


o

Make the most of times when they are sleeping in (with any luck till early
afternoon), out with friends and at school or college
...


A Massage Therapist’s Story
‘My mother’s antennae get tweaked when my son’s around,’ says Diane, who runs her
practice from home, ‘so I take my case notes and go off in the car to somewhere quiet with a
nice view
...
Or I’ll take a book and
´
have a coffee in a cafe while I’m reading up on something
...
’
o

Have a separate phone line put in and keep it out of bounds to save rows over
phone use
...
‘Send them off to walk the dog or go shopping
so you can guarantee some peace and quiet for a while
...
’

o

Involve them in your business if possible, and let other people demonstrate the
way to be professional
...


Coping with customers in your home
In Chapter 4 we dealt with the issue of whether or not you should have meetings at
home
...
Added to
the issues of finding a way of working happily together and switching off when not
attending to their customers, the next three couples also had to learn to cope with
strangers being in their personal space
...

The Cafe Proprietors’ Story
‘You’ve got to have a good relationship as working together can put a strain on it,’ says
Roger
...

I have a more rigid line between work and relaxation, what I consider my time, so I
´
would have liked to stop serving cooked food at 4
...
m
...
m
...
Susannah’s view is that she doesn’t do anything she doesn’t enjoy, so for
her there’s not such a distinction between work and leisure
...
I
was the cantankerous one, banging pots about in the kitchen
...
We met
some interesting people and as newcomers to the area, it was a good way to network
quickly
...

Our only loo was in our house, but it felt mean not to let people use it
...
I did used to
lock the upstairs doors, though, as much as anything because I know how nosy people can be
...
The owners of bed and
breakfast accommodation don’t have that luxury
...
Although they have been in the bed and
breakfast trade for many years, they still can’t switch off completely if there are people
staying in the house: ‘We relax more when there are no guests in the house – it has a totally
different feel
...

We have learnt to circumnavigate one another if we have differences, as with guests about,
rows are out of the question! Fortunately we have other interests we feel more strongly
about than burning the sausages! We are both introverts and quiet people
...

You have to understand yourself, your psychology and what your body needs, so you can get
out and use your energy to reduce stress
...
But
the doorbell, fire alarm and guests’ bell are all connected to their home, so they are
never off duty
...
‘It’s the responsibility of having people on our premises
...
You become intertwined in other people’s lives
...
You never know what’s going to come up
and everyone is so different
...
In the past we’ve blocked out time off but then a good
booking’s come up and we’ve scrubbed the time off
...
It’s easily said but so hard to do
...
’

Resources
o

Family and friends who live locally and will help out with childcare
...
nhsdirect
...
uk
Use the self-help guide to identify your symptoms and medical conditions and
get advice on treatment
...
andybritnell
...
uk
Our training and coaching website, where you can order a personality profile
and a one-to-one coaching session
...
Harper Collins, 1994
...
One of his main themes is the importance of
allocating roles at the start of a business, which allows for efficient growth if
needed
...
daycaretrust
...
uk
This national childcare campaign works to promote high quality, affordable
childcare throughout the country
...
childcarelink
...
uk
A source of national and local childcare information
...
workingfamilies
...
uk
Working Families helps working parents and carers and employers to achieve a
balance between home and work responsibilities
...
That ready supply of advice becomes less accessible when you work
from home and you may find yourself having to deal with all kinds of circumstances
using your own resources
...
The kind of challenges that might crop up for even the best organised
homeworker, relating to money, family, technology, other people, bad luck,
getting stuck, and running out of time
...

2
...


What could go wrong?
Sometimes I have felt as though I am the only one who has to deal with challenges
and setbacks at work and that other people just sail through smooth waters, gathering
success and accolades as they go
...
Business books and courses concentrate on explaining
how to do things properly and tend not to mention the possibility of mistakes
...
)
The feeling that you are somehow more unfortunate than others and unique in being
cursed with difficulties can block you from thinking clearly about your situation and
finding creative ways to improve it
...
What follows is a list of the
kind of challenges that can arise for any homeworker, in the hope that by being aired
openly they will become less threatening
...


Financial worries
Most of us rely on our salaries to keep ourselves and our families afloat, and so
financial worries can be the most profound and debilitating of all
...

Money worries can make you feel desperate to keep earning at your current or a
higher rate, and desperation can undermine your performance and actually reduce
your chances of success at work
...

LOSING YOUR JOB OR THE WORK YOU DO ON CONTRACT
This is a worry that more and more people are having to learn to live with and that’s
really all you can hope to do
...
From time to time I would find
flyers on doormats advertising cleaning services and feel anxious that my clients
would be tempted to take their business elsewhere
...
And that’s all any of us can do
...

NOT MAKING A PROFIT
´
It’s a tired old cliche yet all too true that change is happening faster and faster
...
Many industries are driving
down costs by sending work to be done abroad, automating tasks that used to be
done by hand or using large companies who attract economies of scale and can
undercut smaller operators
...
It’s not pleasant
to realise your lucrative niche no longer pays so well
...
That’s a big investment of time,
effort and emotion and to have it come to nothing can be a big blow
...
You can’t dash
out of the door in the morning and forget about home life until work is over for the
day
...

ILLNESS OR ACCIDENTS
Illness or accidents are probably the most distressing challenges you’re likely to
encounter while working from home
...

And, of course, illness and accidents can also happen to you, but in these
circumstances working from home can be an advantage
...
(But be careful to keep a healthy line
between work commitments and your own fitness, as discussed in Chapter 8
...
The boiler packs up on the coldest day of the winter leaving you
shivering and cross, or a thunderstorm takes out your power supply, effectively
cutting you off from the world and making it impossible to work
...
But since your home is your workplace
as well as where you lay your head, a house move is especially disruptive for
homeworkers
...
Not to mention the disruption to work caused by
the day of the move and then getting yourself back in working order at the other end
...


ITglitches
Communications are key to homeworkers and so breakdowns can throw your
working routine into turmoil
...

WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY BREAKS DOWN
There are all sorts of reasons why technology can let you down and sometimes they
are completely out of your control
...

Margaret had a panicky time when her computer, hitherto reliable, went into a
terminal crash and she faced the possibility of losing hours of work
...
When the
wires needed replacing recently, it was a major job that took BT several weeks to complete
and for most of that time the business was without access to the internet: ‘ We were unable
to send or receive emails from authors, editors and designers, and had no access to our daily
sales reports, so we felt very cut off
...
It was very inconvenient and stressful as we had to find different ways of
doing things and all in a tight period of time to meet deadlines
...
When you need a bit more information or there’s an unexpected
glitch, a tiny detail can bring you to a grinding, frustrating halt
...

They might be your colleagues in head office, the stationery shop that supplies your
paper or the people who work for you directly or on contract
...

Ringing In Sick

‘

I used to dread the phone ringing at lunchtime, as this was the time cleaners were
most likely to ring in sick
...
My other cleaners would have to
be asked to do some extra time or in the worst case scenario, I would have to do the
clean myself, and with an already busy routine of checking offices and replenishing
supplies, that meant a lot of disruption and a lot of work
...

______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Bad luck

’

Some people regard themselves as lucky, some as unlucky and some don’t believe in
such a thing as luck at all
...
By his
definition, presumably ‘bad luck’ would mean a lack of preparation or lack of a
genuine opportunity
...
Things like car accidents, items disappearing in the
post, the cancellation of a train or plane on the way to an appointment, annoying and
inexplicable little quirks that can have a significant impact on how events turn out
...
Before you can do that it’s helpful to identify
why you’ve run out of steam
...
It could be that you didn’t
allow yourself enough time to begin with or you’ve allowed your time and
concentration to be deflected onto other matters
...
For instance, you might get a call out of the blue offering you
a lot of work, which you want to take on, but which will cause all kinds of upheaval
...
Deciding to go for such opportunities is exciting and scary at the same time, as
you push out of your comfort zone and take on new responsibilities
...
One day I was
sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in the thick of organising interviews,
buying new equipment and planning cleaning schedules when a horrible thought
popped into my head – ‘What if this all goes utterly wrong and I can’t do what I’ve
promised to deliver?’ I remember literally breaking out into a cold sweat as the
possibility of failure hit me for the first time
...

_ cope with all the disaster scenarios my imagination ____ _____________ ________

Ways to manage crises while keeping your head

’

This section is about getting over your own cold sweat moments as quickly as
possible
...
In fact people are paid to solve problems, and the bigger the
problem you can solve, the more you are likely to be paid
...


Get away from the problem
Getting away from the problem is my favourite solution to all kinds of difficulties, as
long as you don’t use it as an excuse for procrastination
...
You’ll be
amazed at how ideas and solutions come out of nowhere if you just give your
conscious mind a rest
...
We have been heavily
conditioned to believe every minute must be spent doing something productive, and
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productive usually means work related
...
Many times I have hung fire on a particular element of work, not really
understanding why, only to have a vital piece of information turn up that makes it
easier to complete
...
Somehow it felt far more constructive to clear out
cupboards and prepare for the move than to continue with the book, although I did
have occasional pangs of guilt
...
We were able to go along with their request and get the
sale resolved, whereas if I’d stuck to writing the book for that time, it would have
been_____________and____________________________we__________________________________
____________________________________________________might___________________________
_____impossible _________________________________________________________sale
...
I find cleaning the
bath gets my imagination fired up
...

Veronica used to be a coach in London and found that invariably she got her best
ideas in Starbucks
...
‘I have three benches in my workshop,’ he says,
‘because I have three jobs on the go
...
’
TAKE YOUR WORK SOMEWHERE DIFFERENT
No matter how efficient and comfortable your workspace, sometimes it can get stale
and that’s when a change of scene can help
...
If the weather’s good, take your work outside
...
You can find wi-fi at cafes in quite small towns, although all but the
larger chains tend to charge
...

Just a thought:

If you get out of your box, you’ll start to think outside the box
...
It’s also the
perfect excuse for an afternoon nap (see Chapter 5)
...
I always find that a day in a different environment, whether it be walking in
the country, wandering through galleries or meeting up with friends for lunch, gives
me a boost of extra energy and sends me back to my desk feeling fired up for the task
ahead instead of drained and anxious
...
Being
able to relax seems to move things on
...
Have a look at Chapter 7 for some detailed information on
how to get the best from networking
...
Exercise is a good way of
drawing the line between work and relaxation time (see Chapters 5 and 8 for more ideas)
...
The
important thing is that you experience a different environment, so if you live in the
country, a city break is good and vice versa
...
It can
stimulate new ideas and get you going on things you were totally stuck on
...
If you think it through when your life is going smoothly, you can
swiftly put your plan into action when everything’s turned upside-down, so do your
own risk assessment on how likely it is an emergency will happen and different ways
of coping if it does
...
Office equipment seems to know when it is most required and break down
at precisely that moment, so think of as many potential solutions as possible, which
might include the following
...


o

Carry out regular housekeeping on your computer to make the programs run
faster
...


o

Keep business and personal computers separate, especially if you have children
...


o

Get your data backed-up off-site every evening
...


o

Buy a broadband dongle
...
g
...


o

Keep good stocks of paper and ink cartridges, maybe a spare keyboard (you can
get them for less than £10)
...


PEOPLE CONTINGENCY PLANS
It’s relatively easy to plan for mishaps involving technology, but those involving
people tend to be a bit more tricky
...

HAVE SOME EXPERTISE TO HAND
A setback is easier to deal with if there’s someone already in place you can call on for
support
...

Mentors
A mentor is someone you like and trust who has already trodden the path you are on,
and can support you not only by encouragement but also by giving you access to their
own network
...
People are
usually flattered to be asked and willing to help as long as they are clear on how much
time they will need to commit
...
Working with someone who knows the right
questions to ask when the going gets tough helps you to achieve more than you can
on your own
...

Just a thought:

You don’t necessarily have to work hard on improving your weaknesses
...


Courses
If you are employed, your employer probably keeps you up to date with the latest
skills required to do your job properly
...
Training courses can seem prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, but
like networking they often have many unforeseen benefits in terms of improving your
morale and generating ideas
...

Informal help
Knowledge and expertise doesn’t have to come in the form of a structured training
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course, nor does it have to cost anything
...

For ongoing moral support and a chance to get out of the house, regular meetings
with a friend in the same line of business can be a life-saver
...
Without weekly meetings with a writer friend who was going through the
same doubts and difficulties, I don’t expect this book would have found a publisher,
much less been written
...
Taking the
long view will spare you a lot of stress
...
Sue puts her worries about her dependence on the internet into
perspective by remembering that by working from home she is saving herself two
hours a day in commuting time
...
I tell myself it’s just a
matter of time, that in the end it will come in, and it does
...
It’s a
strangely discombobulating feeling, being disconnected from the web, but there is
bound to be something you can do to fill the time until normal service is resumed
...

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HERE’S A

C

RISIS?

When you are self-employed it is possible there will be times when nobody responds
to your phone calls or replies to your emails, when arrangements are broken and you
feel like a twenty-first-century business leper
...
It won’t be long before you’re at everyone’s beck and
call again
...
There are always many different
perspectives on any event, as you may have found when seeking sympathy from a
friend for an experience you found difficult, only to find the sympathy
unforthcoming because they took a different view
...
You may have lost your job and felt
your whole life was at an end, but subsequently found another job that suited you
much better and had better prospects
...
All you need to do is
move forward to that positive emotion a little quicker
...
Maybe losing out on that contract means you
are free to take on something else next week that opens up a whole new area
...
He was fed up at the time
because the week abroad would have paid many times his fee for the workshop
...
Over a period of
months the company he did the workshop for gave him more and more work, amounting
in total to much more than the week abroad, which was a one-off with little chance of
more work following
...
There’s never any satisfactory answer to that kind of question and
you’re just wasting valuable time and energy by focusing on it
...
If you ask for this kind of feedback you must be
prepared for an honest answer and to use the information to improve your chances
next time
...

You should also bear in mind that the person who took the decision may have moved
on to other projects and be too busy to provide the kind of feedback you would find
most useful
...


‘You can’t win ’em all’
The kind of remark that can be infuriating to hear, but nevertheless it’s true
...
The success rate of direct mail campaigns can be as little as 2% but
marketing companies don’t stop sending out their promotional material because a
huge proportion of it generates no sales
...

A New Writer’s Story
Jenny used to work for a charity, but gave it up to embark on a freelance writing career
...

In a paid job she was able to accept that only four out of ten of her attempts would actually
pay off, but with her professional survival and self-esteem at stake, she was expecting a
100% success rate! By applying the 40% formula to her new career, she was able to relax
and enjoy her work more, and surprise, surprise, started to get more commissions
...
It’s a short step from there
to assuming that if we have failed at something, we obviously don’t have that golden
touch and we’ll never succeed
...
So it stands to reason that even phenomenally
successful people running a string of businesses have failures – in fact to achieve the
successes they have, they must have had more failures than the rest of us!
Just a thought:

‘Success comes from making enough mistakes
...


There is no failure, only feedback
You might have heard this saying and found it either comforting or exasperating,
depending on the circumstances
...
Far better to think of life in terms of learning and development
– if you will learn something by trying it out then it must be worth doing, even if you
apparently ‘fail’
...
Just
make sure you’re not dumping on the same poor person all the time or that you only
call when there’s a problem, and have a look at Chapter 7 for more on the art of
building a supportive network
...
I
also spoke to other people in similar situations who reassured me that my situation
was by no means unusual and I had to give it time
...
When asked how on earth she copes with
all those conflicting demands on her time and energy, Annie simply replied ‘Well,
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you just get on with it, don’t you?’ Her reply was echoed by several other
homeworkers I spoke to soon afterwards
...
But then I realised that ‘just get on with it’ is as good a piece of advice as any
to give to a homeworker
...

It’s also the case that the only way you figure out how to do something well is
to
...
Theorising is fine but it won’t actually achieve anything
...


Understand what’s going on
Once you’re over the initial shock and disappointment, think as objectively as you
can about why you failed
...
Take a deep breath and a step back, stop worrying
about it and think about what you are trying to achieve
...
Talking to
someone close may help you to uncover the underlying emotion and get you
moving again
...
There’s always got to be a funny side somewhere, no matter how
bleak the situation at first appears, and learning to spot it will help you immensely
...
Laughter takes the stress out of the situation, and out of you,
and leaves you in a better place to make a good decision and move on
...


166

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C

RISIS?

Resources
o

A friend with a dry sense of humour
...
Humour is a personal thing,
so rent DVDs of your favourite comedy series or try some of the classics like The
Pink Panther films
...
getsafeonline
...


o

www
...
co
...
Also check to see what is available from your
local colleges and Business Link (www
...
org
...


o

www
...
co
...
Robert and his team run workshops and coaching programmes for
blue chip companies and offer public events on achieving happiness and a
positive attitude to life
...
You can sleep during the day, have the dog sitting on your feet
or break off from work to do a spot of weeding
...

There may be aspects of homeworking you don’t like, but you have the liberty to
make any changes you want to fit your temperament and circumstances better
...
By all means take note
of my suggestions and the solutions found by the people featured here, but if it
doesn’t work for you, don’t hesitate to reject it and find something else that does
work
...
Maybe I’m not going mad, after all
...
workfromhomewisdom
...


169

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INDEX
accessories, 104–5
accountant, 56
auditory type, 26
bank manager, 56
branding, for the self employed, 110–
14
broadband, 71
business adviser, 54
business ideas, 46
business meals, 106
buying an existing business, 42
call centres, 8–9
cars, 105
Chatham House Rule, 98
children, 145–8
clients, how they affect your
professional image, 113
climate change, 7
clothes, 82, 102
coach, 57, 161
coffee shops, 77
computer, 71
complaints, dealing with, 100
confidentiality, 97
contingency plans, 160
customer service, 98–102
customers in your home, 149–51
data protection, 50
decision making, 31
decoration, of workspace, 73
diaries, 84

diet, 87, 136
direct selling, 43
emails, 89
emergencies, family and domestic,
154–5
employing staff, 50, 111–13
environment, 50
etiquette, 105–8
exercise, 137
extrovert type, 20
failure, 164–5
family and friends, managing, 139–49
feedback, giving and receiving, 142–3
feeling type, 23–4
financial
implications of self-employment, 51
worries, 153–4
franchises, 42
funding, applying for, 52
furniture, 68–9
grants, applying for, 52
‘green’ workspace, 72
guilty, feeling, 134
health and safety, 50, 65
heating and lighting, 68
homeworking
advantages for business, 10
advantages for communities, 11
advantages for the environment, 11
advantages for you, 9
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as an employee, 35–9, 108–10
downsides, 11
‘opportunities’, 35
style, find your, 82
housework, 84
illness, 138
industry association, 57
infrastructure, 64
‘in-time’ people, 31
insurance, 54, 65
internet businesses, 45
introvert type, 20
intuitive type, 22
isolation, 21, 117–19
IT
glitches, 155
support, 71
Jobcentre, 77
judging type, 24
kinaesthetic type, 26
landlord, 64
learning, for different types, 27
legalities, in making a workspace, 64–5
limited company, 48
limited liability partnership (LLP), 48
live/work units, 78
loans, 53
location, of workspace, 63
managing your finances, when selfemployed, 51
meetings, conducting, 90
meetings at home
advantages, 74
alternatives, 76
disadvantages, 74
172

mentor, 57, 161
mood, changing, 133
money, save, 6
mortgage provider, 64
motivated
away from, 30
towards, 30
multi-level marketing (MLM), 43
naps, 87
National Insurance, 49
negotiating with your boss, to work
from home, 39–40
neighbours, 66
network, 119
network marketing
points to consider, 44
what to look for, 43
networking, 124–30
online, 129–30
offshoring, 9
oil supplies, conserve, 8
paper, controlling, 92
partnership, 47
party plan, 43
peak oil, 8
perceiving type, 24
personal hygiene, 103
personality profiling, 19
pets, 122
phone, 70
using the, 91
planning permission, 65
PRIME, 55
Prince’s Trust, The, 55
proactive type, 32
procrastination, 93–5
productivity, 80–1

I

professional association, 57
questionnaire
are you ready for homeworking yet?,
13
are you suited to homeworking?, 32
reactive type, 32
re-energisers, 138
relating to people, 28
running expenses, 70
saying thank you, to different types,
28, 107
self-employment, 47
self-motivation, 29
sensing type, 22
sockets, 70
sole trader, 47
solicitor, 56
space saving, in your workspace, 69
status, of your business, 47
structure, for your day, 84–8

NDEX

suppliers, how they affect your
professional image, 113
switching off, 135
tax, 49
technology, 4
teenagers, 148–9
thinking type, 23
‘through-time’ people, 31
timekeeping, 30, 105
time management, 88–9
time wasters, avoiding, 89
VAT, 49
visual type, 26
work/life balance, 5
work miles, 7
workhubs, 78
workspace
improving, 63–76
legalities, 64
setting up, 63–76

173

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Starting and Running A Coaching Business
Aryanne Oade
This book guides you through a comprehensive, practical and personalised process as
you negotiate the pitfalls and reap the rewards of working alone, selling and
marketing your business and taking sole responsibility for decision-making and
problem-solving
...
You will
discover how to define your coaching offer; find and sell your services to potential
clients; handle your relationships with your clients; manage your business’s finances;
manage yourself and your ethical responsibilities; stay on top of your ongoing
professional development; and much more
...
’ – Jobs & Careers
This book will guide you through the process of establishing a profitable online
venture and steer you towards success
...
It is packed full of practical, down-to-earth advice based on the author’s
own, and other successful entrepreneurs’, experience
...

‘His no-nonsense approach is inspirational
...
The
book covers everything you need to know from a person who has gone through it
themselves, and is written in a humorous helpful way
...
’ – Reader review
ISBN 978-1-84528-289-9

Start & Run a Successful Cleaning Business
Robert Gordon
This book will give you insider knowledge of the world of office and domestic
cleaning and provide you with all the practical tools you need to succeed in a
competitive but rewarding industry
...
’ – Greetings Today
This book takes you step by step through the process of starting and running a
business with lots of useful practical advice to help you
...
’
– Best
‘The perfect escape plan
...
’ – French Magazine
‘Anecdotal and easy to read, but full of detailed practical advice and the important
lessons that need to be learnt
...
’ – Food and Catering
‘An absolute gem of a book, which I enjoyed reading very much
...
’ – The Landlord Law Blog
ISBN 978-1-84528-269-1

Starting and Running a Catering Business
Carol Godsmark
‘Full of practical information for the novice caterer including up-to-date details on
catering legislation, employment laws and sourcing supplies, amongst other topics
...
’ – Delicious
ISBN 978-1-84528-260-0

Starting Your Own Childminding Business
Allison Lee
‘This is the perfect book for someone to read right at the beginning stages of thinking
of becoming a childminder, especially before getting the ball rolling on becoming
registered, and a good read before the Ofsted pre registration visit
...
’ – Jobs &
Careers, Newsquest Ltd
‘This is an excellent, back to basics book, and a valuable guide for both new and
established childminders
...
Every subject from your business plan to
tax legislation is covered here in straightforward and encouraging terms making you
realise just what is possible
...
’ – Permaculture Magazine
‘A practical and informative guide for anyone wishing to set up a new business
...

Tel: +44 (0)1476 541080
Fax: +44 (0)1476 541061
Email: orders@gbs
...
co
...
howtobooks
...
uk
To order via any of these methods please quote the title(s) of the book(s) and your
credit card number together with its expiry date
...
howtobooks
...
uk
Or you can contact us by email at info@howtobooks
...
uk



---