Top 10 Lifetime
Improvements A Home Career Brings To Your Family
Role modeling is a priceless
gift you offer your children when you become an EP.
© 1997,
by Lisa M. Roberts
We all know what a home career can bring
to an individual -- financial reward, professional growth, autonomy,
intellectual challenge, to name a few. But what does your @home
work option bring to the other members of your family?
Here are the "Top 10"
gifts you give to your family when you choose to become a home-based
Entrepreneurial
Parent. If you are already
an "EP,"
you may be scooping out
the following lifetime improvements in large portions already!
1. Comfort. Being available to your children without
apology or hesitation on those sick days, sad days, befuddled
and confounding days is the priceless gift a home business brings
your family throughout the year. Your children will grow and
glow in the warmth of your physical presence in their daily lives,
comforted by your availability to them.
2. Hope. Home business offers children the opportunity
to watch their parent(s) being productive -- and happy -- in
non-domestic pursuits. They will catch you at the height of your
productivity and during the peaks of achievement, learning that
work can be a positive force in a person's life. This subliminal
message boosts their own lifetime aspirations.
3. Perseverance. Children who grow up with a home business
in the other room will experience with their parents the realities
and stresses of adult responsibilities. They'll come to understand
that work is not all fun and games, and learn from you how to
persevere when multiple responsibilities lead to frustration
and anxiety.
4. Teamwork.
A home business family
knows well that the harder you work now, the more fun you'll
have later. Since your income is assignment-based rather than
salary-based, it's easier to designate "Monday's work"
as "Saturday's visit to the zoo." Family vacations,
a new car, piano lessons, tickets to a baseball game -- these
are all tangible rewards you can offer your family in exchange
for their support of your business activities. Such a team effort
strengthens family bonds.
5. Parental
Harmony. Every couple
who lives with a home business works as a team to pull it off.
Many find that a home business serves as a peace pipe between
partners -- either by bridging the vocational gap between them
or by enabling "The Home Front" to run smoother. Parental
harmony goes a long way in the emotional well-being of children.
6. Creativity. Ever wonder what happens to all those
ideas about your business that flow out of your head? Your children
catch them! In an entrepreneurial household creativity abounds
-- and the ideas you verbalize but don't implement are rarely
wasted. They're put to use by your children in the world they
live in -- through schoolwork, play, friendships, etc.
7. Economic
Awareness. Children of
home-based entrepreneurs become economically astute at an early
age. It's likely they'll witness checks or money being exchanged
for products or services developed at home, go with you to the
bank to deposit those checks, then accompany you on errands to
purchase consumer products that were made elsewhere -- completing
the economic cycle on a personal level.
8. Generosity. Business ownership offers ample opportunities
for volunteer work and community involvement, teaching children
the gift of giving.
9. Financial
Security. As the workforce
shifts to accommodate new technology and employment opportunities,
contract working is emerging as a viable and profitable work
option. A home business develops highly marketable career skills
that will help parents cross over the bridges between big business,
small business and self-employment as family and economic needs
change. This helps secure the family's finances.
10. Career
Development. A home business
also helps develop the career skills your children will need
as young adults. By enlisting their help in administrative tasks
as they grow, you will be exposing them to a solid foundation
in business management. Such an invaluable experience will serve
them well in whatever work option they choose for themselves
when someday they have their own bills to pay...
- © 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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