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Having Doubts About Your Home Business?

Doubts about starting a home business can serve as a healthy "reality-check," but if your fears aren't confronted they can hold you back from realizing your work-family dream. Fight your fears with awareness and information.

©1997, by Lisa M. Roberts

Making a career change like the launching of your first home business is bound to stir up some serious doubts. However, don't be alarmed if questions like "Can I really do this? Do I really have what it takes?" keep poking at your psyche. Even doubts have their role in a home business plan. More often than not they act as reality checks rather than enthusiasm meltdowns.

For instance, you may be sure home business will fit in well with your lifestyle but not too sure you have all the skills you need to pull it off. Doubts like this are healthy -- it means you are grounded in reality. Yet you will discover, simply through firm commitment to the "cause," that you can address these issues in a resourceful, rebounding way.

However, if you find yourself hesitating at the edge of the diving board for too long, you may never take that final leap into entrepreneurship. So now is the time to get down to those bottom-line concerns. The following are the five most common objections to home business -- identify your primary fear here so you can move on!

The Five Most Common Objections to Home Business

OBJECTION 1: "I don't want all that responsibility!"

You are far more interested in working within your field of expertise than in embarking upon the unknown territory of business ownership.

CONSIDER:

  • That nobody expects you to be an expert at all aspects of business management. As long as you are strong in the area of the core service your business offers, use outside help to keep your business in order. Ask around; then hire.
  • Starting small. Take on one project at a time. Grow your business alongside your courage and expanding knowledgebase.
  • Take on a partner whose strengths are your weaknesses.

OBJECTION #2: "I need a full, steady income."

You believe home business is a financial risk.

CONSIDER:

  • Moonlighting. Start your business on the side while retaining your present employment. Make the switch only after a secure clientbase is lined up.
  • Reducing your full-time employ to part-time, then make up the difference in salary with supplemental home business projects. Enjoy a steady (albeit reduced) paycheck on the one hand, and growing, untapped profit potential on the other.
  • Trimming your present salary down to its true profit. After child care, transportation, wardrobe and lunch are weeded out, a $50,000 annual salary may really boil down to a mere $10,000 flowing into the family budget. A $15,000 net home business beats that. Knead your figures; work them out.

OBJECTION #3: "I don't have the time."

You are a parent juggling too many responsibilities as it is.

CONSIDER:

  • Employing as many of your family members as you can -- spouse, older children, Mom and Dad (if they live nearby). Turn a home business into a family business. Promise them pay upon profit, and you might develop an enthusiastic, hard-working support team in-house.
  • Taking a good look at your recreational/relaxation time. Set some of it aside for professional development. Self-fulfilling, productive work can be more of a stress-reducer than complete downtime like TV viewing.
  • If, like most parents, you're completely drained by nightfall, try turning in an hour or two early. In a few days, your natural clock will be set on an earlier schedule, and you can squeeze some bright, early-bird hours in before your household comes to life.

OBJECTION #4: "I'm too social."

You believe home business is inherently isolating.

CONSIDER:

  • That small business is a social business. Start knocking on doors, introducing your service, making contacts and building business relationships. You'll be meeting more new people and developing strong business relationships than you ever thought possible.
  • Joining small business and trade associations and attending as many social events as you like.
  • Starting a local home business support group in your community -- a network of friends and associates who are willing and able to gather for a cup of coffee, talk shop and share gossip on a monthly, weekly or daily basis!

OBJECTION #5: "I'm too shy."

You find the sales end of business ownership intimidating.

CONSIDER:

  • That there are other ways to sell your service besides cold calling, networking or phone contact. Try direct mail, newspaper or yellow page ads, flyers, press releases, web pages, etc.
  • Hiring a salesperson to represent your company. Advertise in the local paper: "Part-Time Salesperson Needed -- make your own hours." Interview candidates and enlist the one who most fits the sales persona you wish you had. Pay on commission.
  • Joining Toastmasters. Membership is full of shy professionals who are tired of having that particular personality trait hold them back from pursuing their financial, professional and/or personal goals.

Remember, working from home must simply make sense to you and feel right at your core. Everything else will fall into place. Even the doubts...


© 1997 Lisa M. Roberts, all rights reserved. The above article is an excerpt from How to Raise A Family & A Career Under One Roof: A Parent's Guide to Home Business, a title highly recommended by La Leche League, Home Office Computing and the Family Christian Bookclub. Order your own copy today!

 
 
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