What Type of Home-Based Biz Owner Are You?

Home-Biz Owner - Know Thyself!!!!

The article below has been excerpted from The Home Office From Hell Cure by Jeffrey A. Landers, available from Entrepreneur Press.

Before you can begin to cure your ailing business and become a thriving entrepreneur, you must know who you really are and what you really want.

Are You a Growth Maven?

Growth Mavens are fiercely ambitious. They do not think small.

The Growth Maven starts her business in her home office to keep expenses low but is champing at the bit to raise the company to new heights. Her dream is to grow from a single-person company to a multi-employee company and maybe even larger.

She isn't looking to settle down in her second-bedroom office and stay for any length of time. She is a visionary, and she has one eye on the future. She knows she has to take plenty of risks--there will be times when her cash flow is crunched because she is expanding more rapidly than the profits are coming in--but she knows that the uncomfortable cycle of growth will be worth it when her company is gaining attention and picking up customers.

She knows there is no limit to the amount of money she can make, and she is dedicated to innovating her products and services. But she has to get out of her house first. She has to take the first step.

Does this sound familiar? If you are a Growth Maven, you have to take the first steps to building your empire--you'll need to move to your first “real” office and bring on some staff. But you want to manage it so that the big leap doesn't drain your time, money and resources. You want to set yourself up for growth and long-term success. You want customers to know your name and what you stand for. You want to develop a reputation and have a consistent stream of dialogue running between you and your customers.

It isn't easy, but if you are a Growth Maven, you can make it happen. This is your time to harness your inner maverick and make your vision a reality. Say good-bye to your Home Office From Hell, Growth Mavens. You're off to build an empire!

Or a Lifestyle Guru?

The Lifestyle Guru made the dream happen the first day that he didn't go into the office.

His dream was to leave the soulless corporation behind and be his own boss. He hates the commute, the suit and tie, the cubicle, the office politics, and the crazy, overbearing bosses. He wants more--not to feel like he is just pushing paper until 6 o'clock. He wants to feel a sense of contribution and pride in his work. And he wants to do it his way.

He is psyched to be his own boss, have a flexible schedule and decide for himself when to work and when to take time off. He wants to wear pajamas to work and knock off at 3 p.m. for a few hours so he can catch his kid's soccer match. He doesn't mind clearing out his e-mail inbox after his wife and kids are in bed. Sometimes he works on the weekends; sometimes he doesn't.

He knows there is a limit to the amount of money he can make, but he is bringing in a comfortable six-figure income and has more leisure time to spend with his family and friends. When it works, it all feels pretty good.

If you are aspiring to be a Lifestyle Guru, you'll want to do a few things--increase your productivity, stay competitive, get better clients and continue to make more money--all without compromising your lifestyle choices. Whew! Sounds like a tall order, right?

No way. The Lifestyle Gurus who are doing it successfully have a plan for making it work. They make themselves look big even when they're small. They outsource the things that both drain their time and aren't revenue-producing. And they get their customers' attention.

They aren't wasting away in their basement offices, hoping they'll get that next assignment. They are out there. They have a reputation for being professional, organized and on the ball. They are constantly sending that message in everything they do.

It isn't a cakewalk, but if you are an aspiring Lifestyle Guru, you can make it happen. This is your time to harness your inner maverick and make your vision a reality.

So Lifestyle Gurus, get ready to eliminate the "From Hell" from your Home Office. You have a life to start living!

Figure out who you really are and what kind of entrepreneur you want to be. Are you a Growth Maven or a Lifestyle Guru?

You probably have some idea whether you are a Growth Maven or a Lifestyle Guru, but if you are sitting on the fence and not sure in which direction you'd like to go, then this quiz should help you figure that out.

The Quiz

1. When you fantasize about your successful business, what scenario appeals to you the most?
A. More than $500,000 a year in compensation, many employees, a nice office space buzzing with activity, and the knowledge that you are building a well-known regional or national company and brand.
B. A steady low six-figure income, great clients (that you can pick and choose) with challenging and reputation-building projects, and a casual and relaxed environment with plenty of extra time for leisure, home responsibilities and family.

2. When you think about the perfect workday, which description is more in line with your way of thinking?
A. A cup of Starbucks coffee to get you going, in the office by 8 a.m., eat lunch at a fancy restaurant with prospective clients, high-powered afternoon meetings with investment bankers and members of the media, a strategic planning session with your senior staff, complete employee reviews until 7:30 p.m., meet with colleagues for networking and drinks, get home by 11 p.m.
B. Up at 8 a.m., get kids off to school, at your desk in the spare bedroom working in your sweats until noon, grab a cold burrito from the fridge, conference call with clients while throwing a load into the washer, pick kids up at school at 3 p.m., coach soccer, finish new client proposal, and send invoices. Spouse and kids home at 7:30 for dinner, check e-mail, do 12 little things that need to get done, call Singapore, in bed by 11 p.m.

3. What is your definition of professional success?
A. Building a major business with a legacy, respect of colleagues, financial independence, opportunities to use your position and wealth to make a difference in the world.
B. Independence, challenging and creative work, time with family and friends, a secure and consistent living, service in the community.

4. I am more comfortable in a working environment that is _________.
A. Formal. I prefer designated spaces for employees, clear boundaries between staff and management, a conference room for meetings, a receptionist to greet guests, and a clear beginning and end to the workday.
B. Informal. I prefer to multitask, moving between personal and professional obligations as they come up. I like to work in my pajamas or sweats (except when going out to meet clients). I prefer a workday schedule that corresponds to the needs of my family and my clients, even if that means working at odd hours in the middle of the night or on weekends.

5. What do you think (hope) your business will be like in 10 years?
A. My company, its brand, and its products will be recognized as a leader regionally/nationally/internationally, have many employees, be positioned for consistent future growth and be constantly innovating in new directions.
B. I will have a steady, but not overwhelming, stream of challenging work and an impressive reputation. I will make more than a comfortable living and have plenty of free time to be with family and friends.

Growth Mavens to the Right; Lifestyle Gurus to the Left
You probably have a pretty good idea now which way you want to take your business. If you answered "A" to at least three of these questions, you are definitely a Growth Maven. If you answered "B" to at least three out of the five, then you are a Lifestyle Guru.

Jeffrey A. Landers is a serial entrepreneur who has founded five companies and has advised small businesses for more than three decades. His company, Home Office Success Inc., has helped thousands of home based businesses become more professional, more productive and more profitable. His book The Home Office From Hell Cure is available from Entrepreneur Press.

How to Boss Yourself Efficiently

Structure your day. The problem a lot of homebased business owners have is that they no longer have a boss standing over them making sure they get their work done, or a tangible start and end of each workday. It's easy to let time slip by as you head to the refrigerator, catch a few minutes of TV, or dive into a project first thing in the morning, neglecting the other tasks you need to perform to keep your business running smoothly.

Create a structure that mimics what you had in the workplace. Structure your day so you have a start and finish time, with certain hours set aside for specific activities. A general rule is to spend the first hour of the day prospecting for new clients. Send your emails, write your letters and make your phone calls first thing so you don't forget to do it later.

Use Outlook or some sort of contact management software to serve as a visual reminder of what you need to accomplish that day. Live and die by your to-do-list. Try to have everything crossed off by the end of the day. Even my own children know that if they want me to do something for them during working hours, they have to put it on my to-do-list or it will never get done.

Stay connected. Carry an organizer wherever you go. If you're still using a day planner or similar dinosaur, consider upgrading to a Blackberry or other high-tech gadget. You don't need to go crazy and spend a lot of money, but invest wisely in something that will hold everything you need and allow you to instantly access it on the go. Another good idea is to not keep all of your information in one location, such as the hard drive of your home computer. Keep your data hosted on a virtual exchange server so you can access it anywhere that has an Internet connection. A big misconception about homebased business owners is that they stay at home all day, everyday. And as you know, that's just not always true.

Organize your family time. Once your professional life is organized, you may need to consider organizing your personal life. Maybe you noticed right away, or maybe it's just becoming apparent, that you tend to work around the schedule of your family members. This is especially true if you have children. A lot of people, especially young moms, decide that they're going to quit their jobs in corporate America and work from home in order to care for their children and save on daycare expenses. But in reality, if you're serious about running a homebased business and earning a decent income, you're going to have to make arrangements for childcare in or outside the home. Otherwise it becomes too distracting. Consider hiring a babysitter so you're guaranteed five to six solid hours to get your work done.

Motivate yourself. Sit down and set some goals for yourself. You no longer have quarterly reviews or progress reports, so it's important to keep track of whether or not you're making progress in your business. It's one thing to set small goals like completing your to-do-list--you also have to set goals to motivate yourself to succeed. Hopefully by now you're making as much, if not more, money at your homebased business than you were at your former job. If you aren't, begin by setting a goal to bring in the same amount of income you were, and slowly raise the bar to increase your income by a couple of thousand a month. Once you've met a goal, make time to reward yourself by doing something fun, which brings us to the next tip.

Take time out for good behavior. It's not uncommon to find yourself working 60- to 70-hour weeks. But the good thing is, if you want to sneak out and see a movie at two in the afternoon, nobody's going to tell you not to do it. You have that freedom and flexibility as a home business owner. It can be tempting to work all the time when you start seeing how successful your business has become, but know when to relax. You've already established a smooth-running business. Take a break every now and then so you don't get burned out.

Be a Jack-of-all-trades. There are a lot of roles you play as a homebased business owner: You're the CEO, president, secretary, office manager and tech support. Learn the basic skills of running an office, including how to troubleshoot some rudimentary technical problems. You don't need to become an expert, but make sure you have a basic understanding of tech support issues, bookkeeping, etc. Otherwise it will become too expensive to have to pay someone to do everything for you.

Network. Network with other homebased business owners in either a formal or informal setting. This is a good way to find service providers, leads and potential clients. Surrounding yourself with people who also work from home will give you the support you need, and refer you to people who can help you grow your business.

Consider moving out of your home. For a lot of people, working from home is a launching pad. In the beginning, many business owners work from home in order to keep overhead low. If you have more than one person with different roles working from your home office, you should ideally be working in separate rooms. It can be difficult having two people work side by side, even if those two people are spouses and love each other very much. It's distracting for anyone to have someone three feet away from you talking on the phone. Be prepared for expansion. At the point when your business becomes so successful that you cannot efficiently work close together, start considering moving your office outside the home.

Excerpted from Entrepreneur.com.

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