A Code of Ethics is Required for Any Home Business Opportunity

A Home Business Article Contributed by Donna m. Brown

Your Home Business Opportunity Requires a Code of Ethics

Repeat customers is what will make your home business opportunity a success. Customer service and professionalism will assure your place in a business community that is still a little edgy about trusting at home workers who inherently have more potential for familial interruptions than those who are focused in a business setting.

You could be taken to task on your ability to balance your at home lifestyle at some point in the process of developing each new business opportunity.

Take the time right away to create your own professional code of ethics.

Never Lose a Home Business Opportunity to Poor Manners

Start writing your professional code of ethics with a simple brainstorming session. Ask yourself what kind of concerns you would have if you were about to hire an individual working from an office in his or her home. Would you be concerned about unexpected interruptions? A lack of professional commitment? Poor priorities?

You might be smirking right about now, or feeling personally offended, but let's face it, your home business opportunity could be an opportunity for people to see you as less of a professional if you don't handle every situation with the utmost of care.

What would you hope for and expect if you were one of your customers? Make a commitment to address each home business opportunity with the same level of service you would require.

Write 10 sentences starting with the words, "I will ..."

Here are some examples:

I will make business telephone calls in a quiet place that will allow me to fully concentrate on the task at hand

I will promptly return phone calls

I will meet deadlines

I will keep promises I make to my clients

I will keep careful records

I will provide quality products

I will respect the privacy of my clients and my family members by ...

I will keep personal conversations during my work time short

I will plan and prioritize for 30 minutes every morning

I will recognize my limits

I will allow myself time to take care of myself so I can take care of my clients and family

I will work in a place and at a time that will allow me to significantly reduce the margin of errors when conducting business at home

Your Home Business Opportunity Will Require You to Refrain from Some Activities

The list of things you will commit to may be very long. It is just as necessary for you to make a list of things you will not do. Make a list of at least 10 sentences that start out with "I will not ..."

For example:

I will not promise my clients products or services I cannot deliver

I will not allow children to distract me while talking on the telephone with a business associate or client

I will not allow food into my work area

I will not discuss confidential business information with family members in my midst

I will not allow my young children to answer my business telephone

I will not ever lie to a client

I will not ever mislead a client

I will not accept work I cannot perform

I will not take important files and papers into the personal areas of my home

I will not bill a client for time spent on dealing with family or personal matters

Your Home Business Opportunity is on Its Way to a Full Blown Home Business

People will respect your ethics and respect the fact that you recognize a need to state them! Once you have created your list, whittle it down to the things that will really matter to your customers and clients (even if they don't know) and especially to those things that will matter most to you.

Print your code of ethics on nice paper and post in in a place where you and your family can see it often. You will find this to be a first step in offering stellar professional customer service and repeat business that others without your focus can't offer!