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Character Traits You Need For a Home Business

1.)Organization – Operating a small business presents a herd of obstacles that you wouldn’t really have if you were in running a retail business.

Primarily, your actual physical desk space or office room. Be sure you have a committed place to do your business, where you can go to get away and have some alone time. Keep all in it’s individual place. Keep your paper files carefully organized in a filing cabinet, and be sure you keep things clearly labeled. Keep your laptop free from mess by removing icons that you do not use daily or regularly into a sub folder. Clean up your internet favorites directory so that all the sites you use can be very easily located with 2-3 short points & clicks of your cursor. Make sure office space is free from distractions from anyone else you live with, spouse, children, or suitemates. The top choice would be to change one bedroom into your office area, since it would have a door that you could close for privacy. If that is not feasible, at least choose a place that is away from the activity of the main living areas…away from the kitchen, away from the TV, and away from where the children play. A dining room area may work well. When I was visiting someone over the break, I set up my office space on their ironing board in their basement!

If you have young kids like I do, make sure you set clear expectations so that when you’re in your office with the door closed, that they know that you are working and don’t want to be bothered. One caveat here – I’ve always told my kids that if my door is closed and they just want a hug or kiss, that is fine! Just come on in and there is little more important than that! If you’re on the phone for business and your daughter wants a hug, don’t apologize to the person on the phone, just tell them that it is part of the benefits of working from home and that you’re not some corporate-type person who only sees their children for an hour in the evening before bed. They will respect that.

2.)Discipline – You must create a DMO – or Daily Method of Operation. Essentially that is a routine that you’ll keep on the days that you’re working the business. Make it detailed. Plan out when you’re starting your day, eating, taking breaks, making calls, doing advertising, studying, attending conference calls, performing administrative duties, going to the bank/post office, shopping online, etc. Working at home makes you very vulnerable to distractions. By having a DMO in place and sticking to it, it will lessen the chance for you to waste time when you could be earning money. Working from home offers you the flexibility to take breaks or spend time with your friends when YOU want to, not when a managertells you that you can. Make sure to allow time in there for family time, calm reading time, resting, trips to the gym, spending quality time with your children, making breakfast for the kids, or even time with your sweetie during the afternoon with the door locked. You got into business for yourself from home for these perks, make sure you take advantage of them. Work when you’re working and play when you’re playing.

3.)Focus – Working independently from home will trigger you to wear many hats. One hour you’ll be a marketer, the next a customer service representative, the next a sales person, the next a student, the next a administrative assistant. You’ll basically have to do it all. Just make sure that you focus on one thing at a time and don’t try to do lots of tasks at once. Multitasking actually makes you LESS productive, because the human brain can actually only focus on one item at a time and still be totally focused on that one thing. You’re mind cannot be 50/50 focused evenly on 2 things. One of the things will get less attention and you’ll most likely fail. Compartmentalize your to-dos, focusing entirely on one thing until you get to the end and then picking up the next job. It may help to have a daily checklist of items you need to accomplish that would work in nicely to your DMO.

Keeping everything in mind that I have disclosed, just because you work from home does not mean that you always have to WORK FROM YOUR ACTUAL HOME! Let me explain. Some of my most productive days has been when I take my notebook and wifi and head out to the lake and work on a bench out in nature for a few hours, or sitting at a table at a coffee shop or Panera Bread. Most everyone in business will greatly gain by using a smart phone, which will allow you to send and receive emails on the go, update your Facebook Profile, Twitter profile, and other social networking sites. Don’t feel like you have to be ensnared in your home office, get out about 2-3 times per week to give yourself chance to change things up a bit. It will give you inspiration and get you out in public interacting with people. Go somewhere that will cause you to be operating in a energy and frame of mind that can be felt over the phone to those you may speak with while you’re out. What is FREEDOM all about if you’re still trapped in an office all day, even if it is a home office?

After reading Chris’s 3 Essential Character Traits You Must Have to Run a Successful Home Business article, thousands of internet entrepreneurs have acheived massive success in their home business by visiting Chris Swope’s Internet Wealth Strategy website and filling out an application. When you visit the site, you’ll have an opportunity to get access to over $150 in internet marketing training bonuses, as well as a free internet marketing DVD.