The Stresses of Being a Parent and Running a Home Based Business
A Home Business Article Contributed by Rebecca Lanham
Running a Home Based Business Isn't All Glamour and Riches
All the benefits of a home based business: you get to be your own boss...you get to set your own hours...you can work in your home and not worry about the morning and afternoon commutes! What could be better?
However, if you ask a person who runs a home based business if it is easy, I bet they will tell you "no". And they would be telling the truth. Home based business is not as simple as some make it out to be. Just like working for 'corporate America', it has its positive side and its negative side. If you are a parent and decide to start a home based business, the challenges and stresses should not be something you take lightly.
Finding the Time to Run Your Home Based Business When You are a Parent
"I need 26 hours in a day! ", "Where did the time go? ", and "When will I find the time for that on top of everything else? " are common statements and questions made by parents today. Even parents who stay home without needing to be employed can feel that there just isn't enough time to accomplish all they'd like to in a day. Adding a home based business into the mix can make that time crunch even more tight.
The only way to make a home based business work when you are a parent is by sticking to a strict schedule, but also remaining flexible. That may sound like a contradictory statement, but it is the only way to run a business in a home with children without creating an unbearable amount of stress. Plan to work from time A to time B daily (making sure you don't decide the movie on TV just can't be missed), but expect that schedule to be disrupted on occasion.
Even parents in the traditional workplace deal with parent conferences at school and sick children that pull them away from their jobs every now and then!
A great way to make a home based business work when you have kids is to find a job you have the skills and training for, will enjoy, but that can be accomplished outside of the traditional workday. If your home based business is something you can do from 9 or 10 PM until midnight, after the kids are asleep, it will help minimize your "missing work" to be with them. Therefore, you will minimize the possibility of becoming overly stressed because of work left undone.
Making Sure Loneliness Does Not Sabotage Your Home Based Business
The reality of running a home based business is that you are alone quite a bit of the time. A few phone calls here and a meeting there can supply a conversation or two, but when it comes down to it the only people you will have when you are a parent running a home based business are your kids. Keep that in mind if you decide to start a business! If you don't like solitude, prefer constant feedback on your work, have no desire to create budgets and keep track of taxes, then a traditional workplace may be better suited for you.
Budgeting Money to Start Your Home Based Business
No home based business will make you a great deal of money in the first day. Few will make you financially secure in a month. As a matter of fact, a lot of home based businesses will cost you money for a while. Take that into account if you plan to start a home based business! You may need to work a tradition job part time for a while to make ends meet. You may have to secure a start up loan. Any and all of these possibilities should be considered when starting a home based business, whether you are a parent or not! And when money is tight, that can cause a great deal of stress.
Even Though Challenges of a Home Based Business Can Be Great, the Rewards Can Be Greater!
Look back to the first sentence of this article! Those rewards can make a home based business worth its weight in gold when you have kids! Have faith in yourself if you plan to start a home based business. You CAN do it!
