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How Top Home Based Businesses Deal With Stress

By Annette on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 | View Comments

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Stress is a major issue for everyone and top home based businesses are not immune to this, although some stressful situations are eliminated by working from home others can be created. However, much of this stress can be avoided by adopting a few procedures thus ensuring both owner and business remains healthy.

It is important to recognize that stress does exist; however, it is just as important to remember that it can be reduced or in some cases, avoided.

The starting point is to identify as many possible stressful situations as you possibly can and at the same time realizing that there are always those times when unforeseen things happen that throw us into a tailspin! Not only will you have work related stress, but family and friends create stress for you too.

Once you have done that you can now start working out ways in which to handle these in a cool, calm and collected way when they occur. Yes, they will happen, and knowing that they will gives you the upper hand to be prepared and have a “procedure manual” to deal with them.

Each situation will require a different approach but some basic procedures can be applied to all.

When a stressful time occurs, take a deep breath and try to relax. Try to remain happy and cheerful as this will enable you to have a clearer mind. I do say try, because I do know that this is really hard to do, but if you keep practicing it will become easier.

Having a clearer mind will enable you to better handle any situation. In dealing with highly emotional and stressful times such as family illnesses or accidents, try removing the emotion out of the situation and try to be a little cold hearted if possible. This is not easy to do but if you practice it then you will find it is a great help. By letting the emotion take over you will not be able to function which is extremely important in life-threatening situations especially with loved ones.

To avoid stress caused by work overload, have a schedule and diary and plan everything out. Know when your deadlines and commitments are. By doing this you can organize your various tasks and duties to be done in a timely, well structured manner without any nasty surprises. Ensure that this schedule can be flexible enough to allow for any unforeseen circumstances. Do not overload yourself with too many tasks and duties. You can say no to requests from others because you and you alone are in charge of your schedule.

Plan your work so that you are on top of your tasks and do not allow them to be on top of you as by doing this you will have much better control of the workflow.

Ensure that you have plenty of rest breaks including having time away from the work in which you do something special for yourself and getting totally away from everything even for a short time. During this special time, do not allow yourself to even think about your troubles, make yourself think of pleasurable things instead.

If you are getting overwhelmed with work, then think about getting some help. This can be done by hiring someone to do some of the work for you or getting the family involved. If this is not possible, just take things one day at a time, do the work in small steps, multitask wherever possible and cut down the actual amount you do by reprioritizing your tasks and goals.

Talking to others is a great stress breaker, so do not bottle things up – find someone whom you trust to talk to, even if you have to go to a professional it is far better than you keeping quiet and getting more stressed out.

There are other ways to break the stress such as having a pet, spending time with loved ones or having a creative and relaxing hobby. Please do not turn to drugs or alcohol for help as these will only make things worse in the long run.

Also ensure that you take care of yourself by eating properly, drinking plenty of water and exercising.

Whatever the situation is, do not worry too much about it, and just tackle it head on which you can do because you do have the skills, talents and ability to deal with it. Then, when you have survived it, give yourself a little reward.

Please take care of yourselves and work out your own personal stress management plan. By doing this you will enjoy having your top home based businesses.

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.

How Top Home Based Businesses Have Successful Teams

By Annette on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 | View Comments

Top home based businesses and many other businesses are successful because of the way they recruit team members and because they recognize their value to the business they train, guide and support them with dignity and respect.

Looking after a team of people is a very responsible task. In doing so, it is important to remember that you are dealing with people and not machines; therefore, you must treat them with dignity and respect.

The first and most important rule in handling a team of people is to always treat them as you yourself want to be treated. Remember how you have been treated by bosses in the past – some good and some bad. Which bosses did you really like and put in that extra effort for? Was it the boss who was rude and aggressive or the one who was kind and gave you recognition for all of your efforts?

However, before you can start dealing with your team you need to get a team together. Before advertising and recruiting people set out some guidelines of what you are looking for in a team member. Then do another set of guidelines on how you are going to look after these special people.

You should recruit people who are keen to work with you and are willing to learn, even if they are actually going to be in business on their own they still can be part of a team. Being in a team has greater benefits for a home business owner as it provides them with training, backup and support as well as preventing that lonely feeling, which will be even more evident to them if they have been used to working in large businesses.

Once you have recruited a person into your team, you will give them training on how the business is run especially on how you do it and you will do it in a similar format to the training you received when you joined. However, if you did not receive training or you feel that the training your received was lacking in some areas you now have the opportunity to improve the system and ensure that your members are given good quality training.

Good quality training is extremely important as this is the foundation of the business. If the team member does not how to do the work then they will quickly give up and you will lose all that valuable time and effort as well as losing a potentially extremely valuable person.

Have plenty of patience whilst training as every one learns at different paces – some will learn quickly, whilst others will take that little bit longer. Give plenty of praise and encouragement, especially when they are struggling with an issue. Ensure that you give positive feedback and not negative as you want to be uplifting to your people and not drag their spirits down making them feel as if they are useless.

Do not just train your members and let them get on with the job. Give them ongoing support, assistance and guidance. Keep in touch with them to see how they are getting along. Listen carefully to them and their needs. Be happy and cheerful too when talking with them as they may be feeling a little glum and hearing a cheery voice always works wonders and is so uplifting.

Training can take a few forms from the initial and ongoing one-on-one lessons to having group training with all the members of the team.

With group training, empower your members to input other ideas and tips that they have learnt along the way. After all, these team members could also now be team leaders themselves.

You should also provide a backup system for your members as everyone needs a break from time to time and illness does strike us all at some time, so it is a huge relief to know that the business will continue whilst we are out of action. This is what team work is all about.

Always be available for your team members by providing them with a variety of ways in which they can contact you such as phone, emails or skype. Of course there will be times when you cannot speak with them, so in this case, provide them with either other team members they can get in touch with or give them a time when you will be available and a system where they can leave messages for you so that you can contact them as soon as you are able.

Looking after a team is really very rewarding. Ensure that you take the time to look after your own team of people and that way you will have top home based businesses!

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.

Top Home Based Businesses Provide Excellent Customer Service

By Annette on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | View Comments

Top home based businesses provide excellent customer service because they know the value and importance of their customers, so they treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

Customers are very valuable to all businesses and home businesses are no exception. Therefore they should be treated with respect, dignity and professionalism.

When dealing with your customers, think about the times when you were not treated well, such as when you went into a store and were ignored or the staff were rude to you. How did you feel? Did you go back to that store?

The same applies to your customers. When they come to you to purchase your products or service, you should always greet them warmly, no matter how you are feeling personally. A warm, happy smile and lovely greeting always works wonders. They may be already in a sad or bad mood because of other circumstances so they would appreciate a bright, happy face – they do not want to be greeted with a grumpy person. Do not burden them with your own troubles as they probably have enough of their own.

If you are busy with another customer or on the phone when the customer walks in, do not ignore them. Excuse yourself from your current customer for a moment, turn to the new customer and acknowledge them and let them know that you will soon be with them. If you are on the phone then look directly at the customer, smile at them and give them an indication that you will be with them shortly. It is so rude to simply ignore your customers to chat to others or do other work; after all, they are there to give you business and not the other way around.

Treat them as if they were the only person in the world, and, in fact they are, at that particular time, they only one for you.

If the customer has a bad experience with you, not only will they not come back, but they will tell others of their experience so you will lose future prospective customers. Word of mouth advertising is the best method available to get customers so you do not want to waste one opportunity.

Always answer the telephone within 5 rings as there is nothing worse for a customer to hear that ring-ring-ring again and again. If it goes on too long then they will assume that no one is there and hang up – never to return. They will then simply ring your competitor. Your greeting should be a happy, pleasant and welcoming one. Have a smile on your face when you answer as this does reflect in your voice. Ensure that the tone of your voice is pleasant too – do not be grumpy and do not proceed to tell them what a bad day you are having as they are probably having one too.

Follow up on promises to get back to customers when you say you will. It is imperative that promises that are made are kept. If you know that you will not be able to get back to them, then do not say you will. Always do everything you say in a professional and timely manner.

If you do not have the goods or service that the customer wants or needs at that particular time you may want to direct them to where they can get them. This may not seem a good idea; however, you will reap the rewards later.

Do not try to make too much money out of the customer. Ask the customer what they need and listen very carefully so that you can provide them with the ideal solution. Customers will appreciate you so much more if you try to work out a solution for them that will save them money in the long run. For example, say you sell computers, then do not sell them the dearest model that has all the bells and whistles on it that they never need, instead inform them that a cheaper model would be better for them because as they do not have a need for these items it is better for them not to pay precious money for these options. We all appreciate it when salespeople actually look after how much comes out of our wallets and how much stays in.

The most important way to have good customer service is to treat your customers in the manner in which you like to be treated.

By treating your customers well, you will have great top home based businesses!!

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.

How Top Home Based Businesses Communicate Effectively

By Annette on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 | View Comments

Communication is the most valuable tool that all top home based businesses have as it is used in every aspect of the business, so it is important to learn how to use this tool effectively and efficiently as poor communication could result in the failure of the business.

There are various forms of communication and they include speech and writing. Body language is another form of communication as well as sign language.

Whenever you have to communicate with someone you will have to use one method or another, so you will need to choose the best one to use at the time. This will be dependant upon the form of the communication, where the person is at the time and which is the easiest and best to use for your particular situation.

There are different tools used too in communication. For speech, there is talking face to face with a person, using the telephone (mobile or landline) and web cams. You communicate in writing by using letters, email and text messaging via mobile phones.

No matter which method of communication is being used it is important to be mindful of whom you are communicating with as each person and each situation is very different. At all times it is imperative to remember that you are communicating with a person and that they must be treated with respect and dignity.

Speech face to face is by far the best method of communication as you can use various inflections, facial expressions and body language to enhance the message. This method also allows you to get instant feedback as to whether the message is being received correctly and if not then you can amend the situation on the spot. Talking on the phone does not allow you to get great instant feedback; however, you can get a general idea as to the reception of your message by the tone of the other person’s voice or periods of silence.

When talking on the phone it is a good idea to have a smile on your face as this will reflect through in your voice. Use this even if you are correcting someone or are upset over a particular matter.

Timing of your message is crucial as you want your message to be well received and understood. If the person with whom you wish to communicate is tired, angry or upset and your message is one of correction then it is best to leave it for another time. However, if your message is one of good news or praise then this might be the best possible time for them to receive it.

To work out if the person is currently receptive to your message, spend a few minutes in greeting them and have a general talk with them. Do not approach them abruptly, for example, as soon as they walk in the door before they get a chance to get settled. Ensure that you listen very carefully to what they are saying, or not as the case may be. This will then enable you to gauge the situation and assist you in your decision to go ahead with what you need to say to them, or how you are going to approach the subject.

Remember that everyone has other issues happening in their lives that you will not be aware of and these issues will affect how your message is received.

Location is another crucial factor in communication. For example, if you are speaking to a person about a private or personal matter, or if it is about correcting them, do not speak to them in the open in front of others. Discretely take them to a quiet and secluded area where you both will be able to talk more freely.

Word selection is crucial in getting the right message across as words can be easily misunderstood which can cause problems. Ensure that your words are caring and gentle – not rough or aggressive and always remember to talk to the person and not at them.

Watch the tone you use as the inflection in your voice will affect the way the words appear to the person on the receiving end.

The printed form of communication, such as letters, emails and text messages should be used extremely carefully as you cannot put inflections into written form and neither can you get direct feedback as to how the message is being received.

Again, here choose your words carefully because we all misread things especially when we are tired, in a hurry, or have something else on our minds, so you will have to make your message exceptionally clear especially if you are giving instructions.

Communication is crucial, not only to top home based businesses but to us as people as well, so follow the above tips and you will ensure that your messages will be better received and understood.

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.

How Top Home Based Businesses Balance Their Work and Family

By Annette on Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 | View Comments

Owners of top home based businesses must ensure that they carefully balance their working life with their family life. It is important to take time out from work and spend quality time with your family and friends as well as having some time just resting and relaxing. Otherwise you will be tired and stressed out which greatly affects you, your family and friends, and your business.

Whilst work is extremely important as it brings in the money to give you the lifestyle you crave for, or mainly, just to pay for the basic necessities in life, it is just as important to have time away from work. Do not allow the business to rule you just like your previous employers did. At that time, it was their responsibility to aid their employees to achieve the correct balance, but now you are your own boss so it is your own responsibility to do this.

Remember that stress and not having a good work-life balance are some of the reasons why you wanted your own home business.

By working from home, you are in greater control of finding a great balance of work and social life which includes family and friends and, importantly, some time just for yourself because having rest and recreation is extremely crucial for your personal well being. If you just keep working you will get tired and then your health will suffer and your family will then suffer too as will your home business will also so everyone and everything loses!

Remember that your family and friends need you more than the business does!

The best way to work out a good balance is to have a diary and a schedule planner. Start off by writing in this your important work deadlines. Next put down all of your important events and tasks such as taking the children to school and picking them up (include in this travel time), meal preparation and meal times, sports and other after school activities, birthdays, anniversaries, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, clothes shopping, other shopping, religious activities, school holidays, doctors and medical appointments and, most importantly, bed time.

There are many other items to be included in your schedule, but the most important ones are the ones that relate to your family. Spending quality time with family is extremely important and precious as life can throw up some awful events, including losing people we love and then have regrets later that we did not spend the time with them when we could. All of these events cause a great amount of stress, so to avoid this from happening allow room in your schedule by building in a fair amount of flexibility thus giving you room to breathe.

Another major item that must be included in your schedule is time for yourself. It is extremely important for you to get away from work and family so that you can recharge yourself so you can be ready and able to handle anything. Make this time your own special happy time, so do not allow yourself to think about anything other than what you are currently doing, for example, having a relaxing massage or a leisurely stroll in a park.

You should also allow yourself some time for exercise too as this will help maintain your health. Yes, I know, we all do not do enough of this and we should all work towards increasing this activity. Taking the dog for a walk once a day is a good way to go and is good for both dog and human.

Now that you have all your important items in your schedule, you will now have a much clearer picture as to when you can work your business activities around your other events, for example you could takeg some of your work out with you whilst you are in a waiting room or watching the children during their activities. However, whilst doing this ensure that you do not get too absorbed in your work and ignore everyone and everything else, otherwise your family and, in particular the children will really feel neglected and upset which is what you must avoid.

It will take you a little time to work all of this out, and you will need to rework it constantly but you will be so glad you did because you will be surrounded by a happy family and a successful business which all adds up to a happy, stress free you.

Wishing you well in organising your work-life balance!

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.

How Top Home Based Businesses Keep Their Skills Updated

By Annette on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 | View Comments

Top home based businesses have a Personal Development Plan to set various goals in a variety of areas, including their skills, with measures in place to test and assess that these goals have been achieved and that change has taken place. This is done so that they ensure that they continue to grow both professionally and personally to enable them to earn extra money at home.

Personal development is a wide ranging subject. It involves not only developing oneself but developing others as well and it is a continual process by setting goals, making plans or doing actions to achieve various aims. These aims include improving self-awareness and self-knowledge, developing various strengths or talents, improving quality of life and the fulfilling of aspirations.

It is extremely important for home business owners to have a personal development plan because personal training makes you expect to succeed, it allows you take risks and set challenging goals, it helps you keep trying if at first you don’t succeed. It also helps you control your emotions and fears when the going gets rough all by developing competence by showing you how to manage your emotions, how to find a great work-life balance, how to have good time management plus it teaches you in many other areas.

A good personal development plan has a framework where various development methods, tools, techniques, learning and assesment systems are laid out in such a way that you can see if changes and results are actually occurring. This is done by setting out goals and benchmarks, including having various milestones, levels and stages for testing that the particular goal has been achieved or not. Setting milestones along the way ensures that you can gradually improve, feel and see the difference and thus are encouraged to continue on rather than being discouraged because you cannot see any results causing you to give up altogether.

There are various areas that should be included in top home based businesses personal development plans and these include:- defining priorities, values and ethics; the strategizing and prioritizing of dreams, aspirations both in your career and your personal lifestyle such as health, wealth, family, friends, community and culture; developing and learning skills and talents as well as those you have a particular weakness in or difficulty or fear of; professional potential and individual competencies; learning on the job; stress management; a good health and fitness program; managing money; if you have a group of people working with you then include team management and also and most importantly including becoming the person you aspire to be.

There are many tools and resources available for personal development readily available such as professional courses but if you don’t or can’t pay too much, then look to the Internet for various learning programs that you can do. Of course there are lots of books available covering a huge multitude of topics. Then there are motivational speakers, some of whom also have their own websites with a lot of material available and a lot of this material is free.

This material can also be downloaded onto an MP3 player. You can get individual counseling by a life coach or attend workshops. So no matter what is the area or areas you want to learn or improve in, or how much money you can spend, there is plenty of help and resources available.

Personal development should be done every day and there are always ways to fit it in to a busy and hectic life. For example you could listen to your MP3 player whilst walking, driving, shopping, bathing the kids, vacuuming, playing sports or washing the dishes. I am sure you can think of many other ways that not even I am aware of!

Whatever method or methods you choose, ensure that you do set some time aside each and every day to do something toward your own personal development and then watch yourself and your top home based businesses grow!

Thank you for reading this article. Don’t forget to apply for your Free copy of the 7 Day Boot Camp series on Home-Based Businesses by filling in the form on this page.