12 Step Transition to a Work at Home Career
by Beverly Bass for Work-at-Home.org
Converting to a work at home lifestyle can be a big change. These tips will help make the change easier and more positive.
Deciding to change to a work at home profession is a big change that involves the whole family.
If you’ve already given the decision lots of consideration and are sure that this transition to working at home is right for you, these tips will help make things easier.
Work at Home Financial Considerations
If one of your concerns is money, you’ll want to design and keep a specific plan of action to get you to your financial “freedom” goals. This may include an increased savings plan for six months or so, to help out in the early months when you will be on your own without a regular income. Remember that when you work at home you may immediately start saving money on day care, commuting costs, parking, dry cleaning and outside meals. You may be able to take a pay cut and still have more money left over.
Your work at home financial plan may also include a plan to pay off credit cards and other debts before you take the work at home plunge. Make sure you have enough credit available to spend on your business, if you’re starting one, and that you will be able to handle paying more than the required minimums each month to avoid being in a deep financial hole.
Make sure that you will be adequately covered by a health insurance plan, and that coverage will either be acquired privately or through 18 months of COBRA. Decide on how you will manage these costs after that time period is over. Do NOT live without health insurance. It’s just not worth it, in my opinion. So research and plan accordingly if you have the time to do so.
Put specific financial goals on the calendar. When you reach each of these goals, discuss the implications of what you’re about to do with your family, friends, financial advisor, and anyone else you trust. If you decide it’s a ‘green light’, take a really deep breath, say a prayer and give proper notice at your job. Then, celebrate and go for it!
Making a smooth work at home transition
Firstly, anyone working from home who has left a paying outside job MUST stay steady, motivated, educated, healthy and alert. The path to success can be rocky at first, so please:
1) Set aside the same scheduled work hours every single day unless childcare/family issues or emergencies arise (after all, that may be why you decided to work at home in the first place). Your work hours can be whatever/whenever you want, even the middle of the night!
Even if you’re consulting for a company or telecommuting so technically there is someone you report to regularly, you are now the one determining your own schedule and can work in whatever mode you work best; morning, noon or night. And unless you plan on videotaping the whole thing, no one will be able to see (or care) whether you’ve washed your hair or have your make up on, (however I suggest keeping up with general hygiene; it’ll make you and your loved ones a lot happier).
Just keep it CONSISTENT so you feel that you are organized, efficient and professional, even if you‘re working in cutoffs or your PJs. Consistency is high on the path to transition success.
2) Make sure you eat well. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. Nothing heavy. Be healthy about it, especially if you’re moving around less than you did before. Since you’re not walking to the subway, train or car anymore or out at lunchtime for a walk around the block, this can make a big difference in your energy and weight levels and unfortunately reflect really, really fast in the wrong places, (if you know what I mean). So, exercise daily, get up and stretch and walk around the house or the block or the yard at least 3 x each day. (By the way, walking to the fridge or the bathroom doesn’t count).
3) Be sure to keep in touch with friends and colleagues who are still in the workplace. You need the camaraderie and to stay up-to-date on what’s going on in the world, in your field, or the businesses you are just starting. Certainly, no matter how tempting it may be, don’t call just to gossip about the boss or to hear about how your replacement’s doing, but rather to keep up with business trends, especially if you’re staying in a similar field of work and need to maintain important industry contacts. Include on your weekly calendar who you will be calling, emailing, twitting, or whatever.
4) Watch your money carefully. Just because you don’t need work clothes or fancy suits anymore is NOT a reason to shop online for ‘other stuff’ during the day. Trust me, put your credit cards somewhere other than your ‘office area’ where conveniently there is a computer and phone. Wherever that is, DON”T keep the cards there. Put them in your underwear drawer or someplace else that’s a ‘safe zone’, where you’d actually have to get up and move around to get to which would interrupt your train of thought and give you a few more minutes to consider whether you need the purchase right now or not
5) Get a credit card for work expenses only. NEVER, ever use it for personal items. Keep track of all your expenditures with sophisticated software or even just a plain notebook for now.
6) Line up a good accountant, or learn some of the simpler accounting software that‘s out there for small business owners.
7) Design a great looking business card. Pass it out wherever you go.
8) Start a new email account just for business. Have another one just for research, information, and to keep track of online purchases that are business related.
9) If you’re starting a business, join the SBA, Small Business Association in your town. Find out if SCORE, the volunteer organization of Retired Executives is located anywhere nearby. Make sure to investigate if they can help you in the planning and execution of a great marketing plan for your new business.
10) Make sure you have a great resume and professional headshots available to post networking site such as LinkedIn and even Twitter. Research other online social/professional networking sites. Keep in touch with potential prospects and others who are in the same or similar fields of work. Read what they’re reading, subscribe to the sites you see them linked to. In other words, don’t be left in the dust.
If you are not technically oriented or up-to-date on these programs and networking sites, hire a college student to teach you. Or trade your expertise for something they need and help one another for free and a great reference.
You can also sign up for inexpensive Adult Ed classes. Many high schools offer courses in online networking, marketing, accounting, etc.
11) Remember, you’re still part of the world out there; you’re only working from home, not on an island alone. Do not isolate yourself. It’s not healthy.
Start by joining a group that meets ‘live and in person’ on a regular schedule. Join the local Chambers of Commerce or industry-specific networking groups that meet every few weeks and make sure you go. It’s your chance to dress up a little, have a familiar kind of deadline (the time the meeting starts) and continue to be a vital part of the ‘action‘, the workforce, except for the fact that you’re now your own boss.
In fact, make sure to join other parents and individuals at events specifically geared for people who work at home. Check out “Meetup.com”. There are tons of networking and businesses-oriented groups starting all the time through “Meetups” around the country.
Join as many groups as you have time for and volunteer to chair a few events.
12) Read, read, read as much has you can, for business and for pleasure. Subscribe to newsletters, blogs, etc and keep your mind active. This will keep you an active participant in your field of work, building new contacts all the time. In this regard, you may choose to do some of your networking online, especially if time outside the home is limited.
This can be achieved via blogging (start your own blog and build a following and valuable prospect mailing list), and participating in online forums and discussion groups that pertain to your business, skills and goals. New business contacts will continue to seek you out, attracted to your knowledge and expertise.
So work comfortably. Work smart. Decide that meeting your other responsibilities such as kids and other loved ones you take care of, is entirely possible when you are confident, fiscally responsible, organized and rested.
You’ll be working at home and you’ll be fine.
I wish you much success, prosperity and personal growth as you enter the challenging but rewarding world of those who work at home.
Beverly Bass works for a non-profit agency located in Greater Boston. As Job Development/Employer Relations Manager, she assists people with developmental disabilities such as autism, mental retardation and Downs syndrome to transition from Special Ed high school classes or workshop settings, to the ‘World of Work’. Beverly also works from home 15-20 hours per week as a successful ‘netpreneur’. Her online businesses include a ‘Health, Well Being and Weight Loss’ program as well as information software and techniques for networkers who need to generate leads for their own online ventures. You can contact her at: beverlybass at live(dot)com.
