wurk»home {Your career. Your say.}

“When you work at home you are, in effect, taking on a second job. Your family, the same family you decided to stay home and raise, the family that counts on you to be there, is your number one job. Anything else is secondary. Sometimes you have to remind yourself of that. I want to give you a glimpse into what it takes to balance work and family, all under the same roof. I am an extreme case. I take care of my son full-time and run a small company full-time. The extreme nature of my situation helps to flush out the real issues. I hope my experience can help you make an informed decision about working at home.”

Have to agree. Because you home, most people don’t realize that you are actually trying to get a descent amount of work accomplished. No one would expect someone in an office to leave their day job to rush home and bake cookies. But that’s what they expect from someone who works at home.
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Actually there are quite a few perks to owning your own business. That said, there are a lot of headaches too. That’s why I made an appointment with an accountant when I first began writing full time to see exactly what I could claim and what I couldn’t. It certainly made it a lot easier. Now, I just save every receipt and hand it over to her once a year.

No, I wouldn’t dream of doing my own taxes each year. And what she charges me, I can write off the next year.

I dug up an article for you that gives you an idea of what you can look forward to.

There are plenty of ways your accountant should be able to help you legally reduce your tax bill advises Christopher Raynal

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Related Tags: taxes, businesses, accountant, legally, tax bill

You would be surprised. My father-in-law had the most gorgeous penmanship and he actually wrote all of our wedding invitations by hand. This was just a labor of love, but just imagine how easy this would be to turn into a home business!

And all it might take is a class and a calligraphy kit.

Related Tags: home business, calligraphy, invitations

For some people, this is one of the hardest part of having your own business. There is no one else to do it… it’s my business and my job to make the call. On this one, I am talking from experience. I simply freeze up and my heart starts pounding when I have to call someone I don’t know.

But as making calls is a necessity in most businesses, I had to learn a few tricks… and fast. I found that if I made a list of points that I wanted to cover and had it right in front of me when I made the call, it seemed easier. Suddenly I wasn’t talking off the top of my head, I had a direction to follow.

I also noticed that if I looked the part in my own mind, my confidence received a little boost. I know that the person on the other end would have no idea if I was sitting in a pair of pajamas or a dress and heels, but for some reason, it made a difference in my own head.

If you have a problem making calls, maybe the same tricks will work for you! Can’t hurt to try.

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The most important word to remember when setting up a home office is the latter one: office.

This is your workplace; it just happens to be at home. This office requires all the elements that an office away from home needs: ergonomic desk or work space, storage, equipment such as computer and printer, adequate lighting, and accessories. And don’t forget photos of your family and doors to close when you’re finished working for the day.

With an estimated 4.5 million people working at home in 2003, the latest figures available, according to the U.S. Census’ “American Community Survey” and an increase of 1.1 million since 1990, home offices have become an integral part of our homes.

There were a lot of very good points made and I will be making some major changes in my own, but this one particular paragraph stood out. It talked about closing the door at the end of your work day and leaving it closed. There is no going back in after you have closed that door. You have to tell yourself that you are done for the day… and mean it!

And no this isn’t what my office looks like, but I just might take notes. It’s so neat!!!
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I just love stories like this. It just goes to show you what you can do with a little imagination and… someone named Ramon!

;)

“When Tarina Tarantino started her accessories business 10 years ago in her one-bedroom apartment in West Hollywood, husband Alfonso Campos played the role of publicist, charming New York magazine editors on the telephone using the alter ego of Ramon.

“Ramon was very flamboyant, everybody loved him,” Campos says. “Then, people started coming out to L.A. and wanting to meet Ramon, so he had to be retired to Australia.”

And if you decide to go into the jewelry designing business, make sure you wear your creations everywhere you go. And I guess it doesn’t hurt to have pink hair either.

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Head scarves for the beach this summer are going to be huge. If you can sew a straight line, this might be a great home business to start. And once you have mastered the straight line, who knows what you can move on to…

But that straight line is still beyond you?? You aren’t alone. I once had this brilliant idea to make cloth gift bags. Now how hard could that be? I went out, bought a sewing machine and made… oh maybe three bags befor the tension went wonky on me and I couldn’t sew a thing without breaking the thread. So, did I try to fix the problem?

No, and that sewing machine is still gathering dust in the garage. If you need to, sign up for lessons. I could be a multi-millionaire with my line of gift bags if I had only learned how to sew!!

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Just because you are lucky enough to work at home doesn’t mean that you don’t have to get dressed in the morning. Yes, I know it’s easy to get into the habit, but if you don’t get dressed, chances are you won’t leave the house and sometimes it is important. And I have even found that you sound more professional on the phone if you are dressed. Yes, I know that it sounds nuts, but it is true.

“So, you’ve traded in your three-piece suit for a comfy muu-muu and hung up your tie until the next wedding. You’re working from your home now and it doesn’t make sense to keep dressing up to go to work in your den. Right?

While one of the greatest perks of working out of your home is the freedom dress for comfort, pulling up at your desk in your pajamas can, in fact, have a negative impact on your business performance, some home workers say.” More on the topic

Apparently I’m not the only person who thinks that way! I would love to be able to lounge around all day, but for some reason, I just not as productive! Maybe putting on Pj’s makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and not in the mood to work??

;)

If you work at home, chances are you work way too hard. You need some down time and today I want you to think about what you want to do for fun this summer. Here’s my ever growing list.

1. Spend day at Wasaga Beach and play on a swing
2. Spend the day at the Eaton’s Center (shopping mall)
3. Visit Florida. The daily rainstorms are amazing in the summer.

4. Spend an afternoon horseback riding. Haven’t done this since I was a teen!

5. Sit out on the deck and just read every afternoon just for fun.

Feel free to borrow from my list and if you have anything to add, leave a comment. You can never have too many indulgences!!

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When I was a teenager, my best friend’s dad had a gum ball route and I thought that it would make such a cool home business. I don’t know what made me think about it today, but I decided to do a little digging to see what I could find and it seems to be a popular home business. The only “work” involved seems to be scouting out locations for your machines.

So why would store owners give you permission?? Because they get a cut and do none of the work. Sounds pretty promising!
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