Many people think that working from home is the best possible situation. After all, you can work, earn a salary, and spend time with your kids all at the same time! It sounds great, but it actually comes with its own set of unique challenges.
I “accidentally” started my online business from home 5 years ago when I had a 1 year old son and was expecting our second baby. I was on bed rest during pregnancy and had 2 months of time on my hands. I started selling baby hair bows online simply as a way to pass the boredom, and I was amazed how a hobby turned into a business. I say I “accidentally” fell into this business because I had no business plan, no business background, no work-family boundaries, and no idea what I was getting myself into. This resulted in several problems. Over time, I also developed solutions, which I hope you will find useful.
In my previous career as a nurse, I was used to setting schedules. I left work at work. When I walked away, I knew I wouldn’t be back until my next scheduled shift. My “down time” was not consumed with thoughts of work or planning for work. This quickly became my most difficult challenge as a work-from-home business owner. I had so many ideas and plans, but with two young children, there was little time to carry them out during the day. I always felt like I could be doing something to improve my online bow shop, but I never finished everything as fast as I wanted. Often my work lasted until the night after the children went to bed. I felt like I was working all day since I didn’t have a set schedule. My husband resented the moment my new business was eating him up, and it became a tremendous stress. A solution was badly needed, or my new business would go out of business for the sake of my family.
As a solution, I decided to set specific work hours for myself…and actually stick to them! One of the advantages of working from home, especially in an internet based business like mine, is that the hours can be really flexible. For me, I found that I could get triple the work done if I got up early in the morning, instead of trying to work while my little kids were awake. I started tripping over my coffee maker at 4:30 am and also set aside the 2 hours my kids slept for any extra work. Not only was it a more productive use of my time, as there were (usually) no interruptions, but I felt like the time I did spend with my kids wasn’t distracted by the work I had to do.
After several months in my baby hair bow business, my husband kindly informed me that I could get a job at a local fast food chain and make more money per hour than I did at the time, considering how little I I was charging for my product. At first I was upset, but he was right. He was totally underestimating my time and talent. In my mind, he was charging a reasonable price for my product (baby hair bows) based on the cost of my supplies and the time it took for him to make a hair bow. What I wasn’t taking into consideration was the price I needed to charge for my time for other business tasks like inventory, reordering supplies, updating my website, answering emails, submitting articles, marketing, and much more. These tasks took more time than making the bows he was selling, but he wasn’t “charging” for them at his cost.
When I realized this, I began to increase the prices of my products, so that all aspects of running a business could be covered by the price of my product. My competitors already had higher prices, and now I understood that it was not an attempt to scam the customer, but that it was necessary to make a profit. For example, a large department store might buy an item for $3, turn around, and sell it for $15. If you just look at the cost of the item, it seems like an absurd increase. However, consider rent, electricity, employees, advertising, business tax, insurance…the list goes on. There are many hidden expenses associated with running a business, but the only way to pay for them is through the price of the product.
Over the past 5 years, I have experienced many ups and downs in home business ownership. I have worked for hours and hours, just to earn a few dollars. My husband told me that it just wasn’t worth the time he was putting into my business, considering the time he was taking from our family. My daughters have told me to stop working and pay attention to them. Through these challenges, I have learned to set boundaries, prioritize my time, price my time, and put my family before my business. Without learning these lessons, I could not boast of the successful business that I now enjoy.