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One of the problems many home business owners face is being taken seriously. They have the issue with family, friends, and strangers alike. But, there are ways to deal with the different people in your life to make them take you seriously. It all starts with you.
Take Yourself Seriously
Before anyone else can take you seriously as a home business owner, you will need to be the first one. Be serious about your business and take yourself seriously. Study everything, write a business plan, and take steps each day to make your plan come to fruition.
Get a Business License
A license legitimizes your business and is proof that you are a real entity to banks, partners, vendors, and contractors. In some places, they will not want to give you a license if you have certain types of careers like “writer,” so you may have to find a way around that. For example, if you’re a ghostwriter or content writer, list yourself as a service provider.
Open a Business Bank Account
Once you have your business name, license, and are legally legitimate, open a business bank account. Keep your personal finances separate from your business finances. It will help you feel and look more legitimate.
Craft a Workable Plan
Using your business plan, craft a daily plan for work. Decide how you’ll get customers or clients, and when you’ll perform the work or create the products. Put it on your calendar.
Follow Your Plan Every Day
If you put off business tasks for everyone else and keep putting your business last, no one will ever take you seriously as a business owner. Instead, set aside certain working hours that you only break for emergencies. Then stick to it. Sometimes family members will buck against the system, but the longer you put your foot down, the better.
Show Them the Money
It may sound trite, but family members and close friends will often respect your business more when you are making money. They might not even realize you’re making money if you don’t point it out. Mention to your partner how much you deposit as your paycheck to your joint account. Mention to friends how your business paid for the vacation you just went on.
Watch Your Money
Managing cash flow is an important thing for home business owners because sometimes the money isn’t a daily occurrence. One month you may get a big contract and earn 10,000 dollars. Next month you might not bring in any money because you’re earning the $10K. Don’t spend it all as it comes in. Pay yourself a salary, know your expenses, and pay those first.
Get a Business Coach
A coach or mentor can help you tremendously with anything you need to do with your business if you choose the right coach. Don’t go for the cheapest one; assume you’ll need to spend good money to get good coaching. Choose a coach who has worked with the same type of business owners you are. Even better, take a course on how to start a home business that includes business coaching (like The Making It Pay Lifestyle Course).
Don’t Say You Stay Home
It’s especially hard for mothers to transition from being a stay-at-home mom to a work-at-home mom. People will see you the same as always, sometimes most especially your husband and family. When someone asks what you do, don’t say “stay-at-home mom” or “work-at-home mom;” state what you do. “I’m a writer.” Or “I sell ABC products to XYZ audience.”
Owning a home business isn’t really as new as people might want you to think. People used to own home businesses as small farmers, seamstresses, cooks, and bed and breakfasts. The industrial revolution changed all that. But, the technology revolution is bringing more people home where they belong to start and run six-figure businesses that are very serious. Be serious about yours.
