Setting Up Your Home Office

Before you can start your own home business, the one thing that you should do is to designate a place for you to work. The area that you work in should be free of distractions and have a computer,a desk, a phone, a connection to the Internet, and, if possible, a bathroom. This way you will have everything you need until you take your lunch break.

Something to remember is that you are ‘at work’ in this area. An ideal solution is to have every distraction taken care of. This means that you have someone looking after your child, if possible. If your child is younger than school age, hire someone to look after them during the day.

This may seem strange since you are working at home, but would you take a baby into your office with you? Probably not - your boss wouldn’t allow it. Having someone look after them while you are working ensures that you will get everything done during business hours.

If your children are school age and old enough to understand, let them know that you are working, and that you should only be disturbed if it’s an emergency. If they are still young, have someone watch them after school.

This may seem like an unnecessary expense, but if you are talking to someone on the phone they won’t take you seriously if they hear a crying baby in the background, or children fighting. You want to make yourself seem as professional as you can so that people know they can trust you.