Recent estimates place the number of home-based entrepreneurial ventures in the US at around 13 million. A recent article at the Wall Street Journal suggests that home-based businesses need a plan as much as any other entrepreneur. But rather than being used to secure financing, this plan should be used to keep sanity and order in your home office.
Alvah Parker…a career transition coach…suggests at-home entrepreneurs write a detailed business plan that includes not just projections for the business itself, but also specifics on how you’ll manage working from home. This includes laying out a regular work schedule and describing in advance how you’ll handle specific scenarios, such as if a friend or relative calls during working hours or your child interrupts during an important phone call. You might even designate a time during the day or evening for household tasks, errands or recreational activities you’d otherwise be tempted to do during work hours.
And that reminds me… it is 2:30 and my plan for the day at my home office is to stop writing and take a walk with my wife and our dogs. I need to stick to my plan!
I appreciated two of your entries, the one on boot straping your business and this one on having a plan. I learned the hard way that every business plan needs to begin with an exit strategy, even if the owner has not intention of every selling. In time the price may be right or the inclination to pursue other interests be the priority, then this forward thinking will be invaluable. Better to think with the end in mind as Covey says that walk away from a multi-million dollar bundle.