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Downsizing Until Your Business Grows

No one likes to downsize, not even entrepreneurs, but sometimes it is necessary in order to take control of your finances. Here are some ways that you can downsize until your business grows and you can take control of your finances again.

Furniture

One of the fastest ways that you can make money is to have a yard sale and sell your furniture that you no longer use, or that you could do without. Now if you have a family, this will be extremely hard, as it involves them as well. But if it's just you, then you can do whatever you want to do, and get rid of as many things as you need to in order to make ends meet.

Your Car

Do you have a car? How about trading it in for a bike, or even better, just get rid of it and walk. This may not be possible if you live out in the country, but if you live in town then you definitely can do without a car to save on gas, insurance as well as maintenance on the vehicle. Again, if you have a family you need to consider how it will affect them, and it may not be suitable for you to get rid of the family vehicle.

Your Home

Do you really need to live in a fancy home? How about you sell, or just downsize into a small apartment until things pick up. No one wants to do this, but just think about the fact that it is temporary and that you will regain it all back.

Savings Account

Do you have a savings account? If so, then you may have to dig into that account as well, but use this only as a last resort.

Downsizing is probably one of the hardest things that you will ever do, as you get attached to your belongings. However, it helps when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, as you know that everything you lose will come back to you ten-fold.

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Four Solid Supports of the Work-Life Balance

You feel you may have all the freedom to be flexible and have the option of multitasking whenever you wish. But in reality it is found to be quite challenging unless you are aware and stay focused the whole thing can be counter productive too.

With proper planning and implementing your thoughtful plans it is also highly achievable.

Author Mireille Guilliano in her book - Women, Work and Art of Savoire Faire - gives an interesting analogy that I like to share. Like four legs of a chair there are four crucial aspects that support the work-life and keep the balance.

What are these four strong legs?

* Good health
* A supportive functional network with friends and family
* A solid employment situation
* Time, space, principle and policies for yourself

They work together in a mysterious way to keep the balance of life. When one is weak, the others can support for a while, but all these four posts need to be in good condition to keep the balance of life intact.

How do we implement them?

Good health:

Before the day start I try to make sure I know what we will eat today- I mean, the meal planning. Too much take-out or eating out can throw out the balance, though once in a while it is nice. Similarly the exercise routine must be taken into great importance and be practiced seriously.

A Supportive Network:

A Supportive network with spouse, other parents in your neighborhood or child's school and/or extended family can be a great help. Do put some effort in cultivating good relationships, mutual help and a solid support system so you do not feel overwhelmed.

A Solid Employment:

This is crucial and hard. Collect your thoughts, make short term and long term goals and take one thing at a time.

Time-Space:

It is extremely important to give time to yourself. Keeping a journal helps me as it gives a chance to see what is inside my mind.

Getting the big picture of the values of life, thinking about altruism, what do you believe, how you want to make a difference, where you can help and how far you can stretch yourself are points to consider and ponder about. We must have a clear idea about them Then it is okay to allow yourself to say - "no" sometimes. There is no need to expect a Supermom image or certificate.

Simple things that really help me:

1. A timer or alarm clock to give me a sense of time to myself - I some times get too carried away. I also use it with children to give them the sense of time, or when I get busy with social networking especially online.

2. Promise less (to family and clients/boss both) and then try to over delivery, if possible. Allow myself more time for deadlines -that way there is less pressure.

3. Define clearly what can be expected from me (in family and business both) and what I expect. This clear picture helped me as both circles - family and business appreciated that.

4. Plan ahead. When you know the animal it is easy to tackle it.

5. Above all- take it easy. Life is wonderful, cherish it everyday, share what nice things happened today with your loved ones.

With this attitude I hope we will sail fine. Like they say - Keep it simple silly.

Dita Basu, a Montessori teacher and mom writes in her web site http://www.Bead-z-mommys-business.com She taught Early Childhood classes in Saint Mary's College, CA and gave several Parent Education workshops through out the last twenty years. Her web site is for the work at home jewelry artist moms who work so hard for their art, parenting and home business all at the same time.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Four-Solid-Supports-of-the-Work-Life-Balance&id=460...] Four Solid Supports of the Work-Life Balance

Job Options For Stay at Home Mom's

There is a lot of opportunity for growth and advancement as a work at home mom. But it may not be for everyone. The great things about being a WAHM are that you can set your own schedule and you can be home to take care of your family. The potential problems can include feeling isolated when you are home all day and trouble juggling work and taking care of the family.

You will need to consider the family budget and how making a decision to be a WAHM will affect your family. Can you afford to leave your full time job in order to work from home? You have to take into consideration that you will not need to pay for daycare if you are a WAHM. You may not make a lot of money as a work-at-home mom but there are also expenses that you won't have anymore so you have to consider the pros and cons to your finances before you decide to be a WAHM.

For many women, it is worth it to make some financial sacrifices in order to be home with their children. They value being there for their children and keeping them out of daycare more than they do bringing in a large income to the family. That is up to the individual, though.

There are generally two kinds of work at home moms. You have the option of being your own boss, or becoming an independent contractor. In both cases, you will be able to work when you want. That means you have to have a lot of motivation and be able to meet deadlines without a supervisor encouraging you. No matter how you work from home, you are going to have to meet deadlines and attend meetings of some sort.

Learn how to manage your time wisely. There are many books and articles at your local library that can help you with this subject. You have to learn to balance your work and your family life in a way that nothing suffers. This is the biggest challenge for many women who work at home. Deciding to be a WAHM is not something to take lightly. Often times the best people to talk to about making a change is your family. Note benefits and set backs that may occur and have a family discussion.

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Working From Home? Kill the Distractions!

1. Instant Messaging: When I worked at an office, instant messaging wasn't allowed. When I am at home, I can have it running whenever I want. It is helpful as a tool for communication, especially with colleagues but it is also a time killer. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of a task and you get messages from your friends about the weekend. It kills your momentum and can make the work day drag on.

An easy fix is to consolidate your instant messaging. If all your friends use MSN then just log onto that when you have free time. Talk your colleagues into moving to another platform like AIM or Skype. That way you can be sure it is only work related conversations you engage in. You can even turn instant messaging off altogether when you are doing a time sensitive task.

2. Family: We all love our families of course. It is hard to look at them as a distraction. Sometimes though it is true. Whether you live with a wife, kids, brother, sister or even a parent, you need to set boundaries. I look at it like this, if I was working at a full time job my family wouldn't have access to me. An emergency is something different of course, but general distractions to chat, or ask questions can kill productivity.

The fix is to set some boundaries. It can be hard because you don't want to treat your family like this, but if you tell your family member that you need a couple hours to go heads down they will be cool with it. One of the best benefits of working at home is more family time, so requesting some peace and quiet during big tasks should be no problem. In fact compared to a full time job it is a great compromise.

3. Pets: I think there are advantages in having pets at your home office and I often refer to my dogs as "office dogs". That said just like with family they can be a distractions. Sometimes they want your attention and they will bark or even nudge you. Just last week I was doing some intricate work in Fireworks. I was using the eraser tool and had to be perfect when BAM, my dog hits my arm. Thankfully I can use "undo" but it still cost me time and patience.

If your pets are trained properly it can be pretty easy to coexist. First off just make their bathroom breaks and meals coincide with yours. When I am going to the bathroom I see if my dogs need to. When I eat I can feed them and take them out for a bit of exercise. After awhile they will get used to the routine. In fact, now that I do this, they basically sleep on the floor content, while I work away.

No one wants to look at their friends messaging them, family and pets as distractions - but they can be for the home business owner. It is a fact. Luckily, there are some really easy steps you can take to avoid the distractions. Try my above suggestions and I am sure your days will be more productive.

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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Working-From-Home?-Kill-the-Distractions!&id=4669988] Working From Home? Kill the Distractions!

Stay at Home Moms Becoming Work at Home Moms

I've been a stay at home mom for 17 years. Not once have I regretted my decision to put my professional career on the back burner and place my time with my children as a number one priority. As a matter of fact I have always considered myself to be the "pivot foot" in our home life. Because my schedule afforded the most flexibility, I could be relatively versatile in handling the many needs of my family. I could do everything except...pay bills.

All the loving and family time and hugging and kissing boo boos is great - it's just that when our kids have desires to do and go and be (for me it started around 5 years old), making excuses for lack of financial flexibility gets old after awhile. It hit me like a tidal wave when a fellow work at home mom, who has a child with special needs told me that she found the perfect school that would allow her daughter to minimize her weaknesses and master her strengths. The only challenge was that the school tuition was $20,000 per year. Her next statement hit me like a ton of bricks:

"Why shouldn't my child, who I love so dearly, have the same opportunity for success as children of wealthy parents?"

And when it comes down to it - we ALL want and deserve the best for our children. Unfortunately the best usually comes with a steep price tag. So... Where does that leave us parents? Impotent? Frustrated? Hopeless? Of course not! Anyone who has the wherewithal to go through 9 months of belly stretching pregnancy, can put their mind and there hand to a super creative option to open a financial pipeline to creating streams of cash to meet many of the needs AND desires of your family. For me these things look like gas & electricity bills, car payments, a house to live in, tennis, golf, piano, scuba, swimming, art lessons - just to name a few experiences. And of course family vacations are WAY AT the TOP of this list. Just this past summer we were able to take our 3 children and our goddaughter to Europe for 3 weeks. We are building memories and exposing our kids to LOTS of experiences, and guess what - many of them have a large price tag.

There are ways to increase your income by having weekly checks race to your mailbox, ahead of your bills. In today's economy, SAHM's have two choices - going back to a traditional job or becoming a work at home mom. I embrace the latter of course and encourage you to find a way to have it all as well - your family as a number one priority while you create a supplemental income from home.

Join the stay at home moms who have decided to have their cake and eat it too - it's time to stop "just getting by" and living a life of martyrdom. It's time to partner with someone who knows the ropes, who has had her kids on the side of lack and on the side of luxury - someone who can promise you that LUXURY IS ALL THAT IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE.

I am a mother who knows that the years go by quickly - join me in this decision so you too will be able to say - "no regrets".

And get this: There are tens of thousands of parents who have the same desires - to keep their children first and create a financial blessing at the same time. Thousands of parents are "going under" and are just looking for some "breathing room". Realize that you could actually be an incentive, an encouragement to others who are believing that there there options are limited. Won't you be the hero in your community?

Start building your legacy today.

I am a former Army Intelligence Officer who loves leading and serving. I have traveled and lived abroad for 5+ years, and discovered that people all over the globe are mostly striving for the same things - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Lots of times that looks like creating a better future for the next generation - more options and greater opportunities. It is a fair request. Happily married for 21 years, I am part of a vibrant, energetic, highly motivated homeschooling family.

Coaching for over 7 years, I empower people to move to greater levels of success - personal, professional, and financial. It all comes down to 2 words: Knowledge & Application - and I am good at helping people do both. I help people to be accountable to their own goals and outlandish in going for their dreams. One of my favorite quotes:

You only go around once... but if it's one good time - that's enough!

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Stay-at-Home-Moms-Becoming-Work-at-Home-Moms&id=320...] Stay at Home Moms Becoming Work at Home Moms

Work From Home by Doing Jobs You Love

Enjoy freedom with your work schedule.
Develop business and personal skills which will help you through life.
Take control of your financial future.
Better provide for your family.
Have time for the things you love doing - you set your own schedule.
Get a tax deduction for some costs which you already have today.

While it takes discipline and commitment, the rewards attainable by home based work soon motivate you to achieve more. That has been my personal experience.

I had an office job, a good job. But I wanted freedom from the nine to five day. I also wanted to have more money for travel as well as investing in property and shares. I felt constrained.

After looking around at the options including opening a business, buying a share in an existing business or working from home, I soon realized that this move was right for me.

Here are the tips which worked for me:

Setup an office away from the family which is your workplace.
In the early days, set aside structured time to learn the ropes.
Get out of the office for breaks to avoid becoming stir crazy.
Network online with others in your field of pursuit.
Track what you earn by the hour worked.
Set yourself financial goals, it may be a trip overseas, a new home, college paid for or a share portfolio. A goal is important as this is your motivator.
Set yourself personal goals. Remember and focus on why you wanted out of the nine to five rat race.

Setting up a business and operating from your home is liberating, challenging, exhilarating and rewarding. That is my experience. It is also my life. Time for family, time for friends and money for my future. The freedom is everything I hoped for. This is thanks to partnering with the right people.

Jackson Wells writes about working from home at [http://www.workfromhomeandrelax.blogspot.com/]Work From Home.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Work-From-Home-by-Doing-Jobs-You-Love&id=4605162] Work From Home by Doing Jobs You Love

Do You Play the Balance Game With Your Family and Business?

The first thing you need to do is decide what you want and need out of your business. Do you do your business because you need the money? Maybe you work your business for the satisfaction that you get when you help people. Whatever the reason is, you need to write it down so you will always have it in front of you and in a place where you can see it at all times.

The next thing you need to do is set your business hours. Now this is something you must work into your family time and they need to be involved in this decision making process. Now if you work from home full time and your children go to school full time, then the decision is easy to make. You work while they are in school, however this may be a completely different story if you work full time outside the home or your children are little and spend their days with you. This is why it's crucial that you sit down with your family and decide on a work schedule that works for everyone.

Once you have your hours set, you need to make sure you follow them. If your day is to end at 3 pm, then at 3 pm you turn off the computer and you don't do another thing with your business until your day starts tomorrow. This will be hard to do at first, but you are working to achieve balance and this is the start.

One of the easiest ways to achieve balance between your family and your business is to outsource as much of your workload as you can. You may think this will be hard to do, but you can do it. Remember the reason behind this is balance and it won't happen if you don't figure out a way to make it work.

Outsourcing is where you pay someone to do the work for you. For instance, writing articles and submitting them to the article directories can be a timely task. But, if you outsource this to a Virtual Assistant, you won't have to spend the time doing it and you will be able to work on things that can't be outsourced.

It doesn't matter what kind of business you work, there are things others can do to help you save time. Even direct sales people can outsource work. If you are in direct sales, you probably do online networking, advertising placement, article writing and submissions, and blog writing and posting. Those are all things that can be outsourced. If you run a coaching business, there are a number of things you can outsource as well. Look at your day to day tasks and see if you need to be directly involved in it. For example, you shouldn't outsource your product presentations or coaching meetings. Those are tasks you should do yourself.

Another way to achieve balance is to organize yourself. Organization is key to accomplishing a lot in business. If you have your office organized and you use a daily planner, you will know what needs to be done, when you need to do it, and everything will be in place so you won't have to search for anything. When you work your business this way, you will be able to complete so many more tasks than you ever thought would be possible.

These are two of the many ways to balance your family and your business. Remember to take a break every once in a while, spend time with the family, and go on vacation at least once a year. When you do these things, don't bring your business with you. People will understand. Think about what it will take for you to win the balancing game in your life and go for it!

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. She enjoys helping others reach their goals and dreams. Check out her website at [http://www.virtualfreedom4you.com]http://www.virtualfreedom4you.com.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-You-Play-the-Balance-Game-With-Your-Family-and-B...?&id=4617865] Do You Play the Balance Game With Your Family and Business?

How to Work at Home and Not Become a Workaholic - Separating Work From Family

Learn how to manage your time- Make sure when you are working you are spending your time wisely. Try to think about your business as if you were working in a traditional office setting. They don't want you spending all day checking personal e-mails, chatting on the phone or updating your status constantly because it is not productive. If you treat your business the same way and do personal items outside of business time it will be a better use of your time.

Write to do lists and prioritize- Schedule how you are going to use your time and get it on paper. Write out a list of tasks for the day and go through the tasks one by one. Put the most pressing thing at the top of the list. If you don't get all your tasks done for that day move it to the list for the next day.

Get a designated, organized work space- Set aside space that is specifically for your business away from the family space if possible. Try to get a space where you can go in the room and shut the door and not be interrupted. Organize the space so that it is easy to find what you need when you need it.

Have set work hours and set family time- Set the hours you work and plan to stick to it. Spending time with family is very important so make you don't skimp on that time. If you are handling your time well this should not be a problem. I know it is easy especially when starting a business to get carried away with work hours. You don't want to get burnt out and sacrifice getting to spend time with your family.

Outsource things when you can- You may find that certain tasks are consuming a lot of your time. You could save yourself time and have more time with family if you outsource some of your work. The best things to outsource are mundane tasks that are easy for other people to do or things you are not good at. You will save yourself a lot of time and frustration if you can avoid things you don't know how to do. You can then focus your time and attention on what you are good at.

You are your boss when you work at home. The best gift you can give yourself is to learn how to manage your time effectively so you have time for yourself and your family.

I am a work at home mom who works in network marketing and feels strongly about empowering others to become great network marketers. I blog about personal development, social media, network marketing and inspirational topics. http://www.angelapaige.com

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Work-at-Home-and-Not-Become-a-Workaholic---S...] How to Work at Home and Not Become a Workaholic - Separating Work From Family

Let Your Friends and Family Find the Business That is Right For You

She said it was easy, my friends and family choose it for her. We continued to talk about it and I found out that it was an easy fit for her and it was her friends and family idea.

Here is her story; Linda always likes ways to make people feel very comfortable with themselves. So she created comfort basket for friends and family, which in the long run they became her customers. Whither it was for a good occasion or not so good. A joke or for other things, the creation became such a big hit that she continued and started a business from there. Linda has been in business for more than 5 years doing her comfort creation baskets. The idea grew and prospered into a business because of her friends and family.

Have you ever sat there and someone told you that is a good idea or you just creating a product and it became so natural that you just did it. How about when you are talking to friends or family about an idea and you get a lot of yes or no's.

What is going on at the time is you are testing your product with a bunch of people who know you and trust. You are creating a customize set of people that can give you a good honest yes or a nos.

That in time becomes your testing ground and you are learning on how your business should work and then you can market what you are finding out. When you get to the point of learning that. You are creating and starting your small business.

With these friends and family, you can ask, how's and do's and don't. You are seeing if your product is good and once you gather all this information, you have just become a business owner. You have just come up with the product line and marketing will be easy because of your testers. You will also find ways to make it big and right.

So if you ever have an idea or a thought and you pass the idea to your friends, family and others and you feel it is right. Then you have just created a very good business for yourself. Think of it this way, a business just fell in your lap.

That is how you go into business without even thinking about it. Linda did, I did and so can you.

Ricardo Gonzales is a Small Business Consultant, has been writing small business and at home articles for over 5 years. His 20 years experience in business and helping other open their own business has allowed him developed information packages and advice. With his expertise in this field, he will help give and work on question that a beginner might have. For more information or are wanting more, go to [http://www.startyouronlinecompany.com]http://www.startyouronlinecompany.com.

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Parent Coaching - A Creative Re-Discovery Process For Stressed Out Moms and Dads

In the mist of this exhaustion, what if parents could work with a parent coach, a well-trained compassionate professional whose credentials are impeccable? Wouldn't stressed parents begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel working with such wonderful professionals? Absolutely. Research over the past six years on the Parent Coaching Institute's coaching model demonstrates that it reduces parental stress, gives important resources, and most important helps parents see and use theirs strengths, their inner wisdom, and come to appreciate themselves and their children in profound ways. The parent coaching process is energizing and draws forth the highest, creative expression of the entire family.

There will always be challenges in life. How we address those challenges is what is most significant. Can parents keep our center, our self-identity, and and our integrity while rearing our children to a self-actualized adulthood? They can more easily with the help of a parent coach--one of the fastest growing professions because there is such a huge need for these services.

Family support professionals can begin their parent coaching journey by researching the training programs available. Working from home while developing the business is an ideal way to get started in this rewarding career. In fact, training for Parent Coach Certification can take place through distance-learning programs. There are several alternatives for the serious-minded parent coach who recognizes that parents will spend their dollars more easily and readily on parent coaches with success track records.

Look for parent coach training that allows you the most credentials while also allowing flexible studying hours from home. You will then be getting in the groove of home-based work and your transition from student to successful parent coach will be a creative process that you truly enjoy. Besides, the focus on your own creativity during this studying and practicing time will then be a natural part of the creativity that will serve you well when begin coaching moms and dads in your parent coaching business.

All positive, long-lasting change starts from the bottom up. Being a parent coach and working with parents to help them make wise daily decisions is truly where the "rubber hits the road," transforming society, form the bottom up.

Gloria DeGaetano http://GloriaDeGaetano.com/ is the founder and CEO of The Parent Coaching Institute, (The PCI�), http://thepci.org the originator of the parent coaching profession.

An acclaimed keynote speaker, Gloria is a sought-after favorite for major national and international conferences because she is a recognized leader in family support, media/digital literacy who provides very specific and practical tools for parents to successfully navigate the stresses of modern day culture. An innovator in parent education, Ms. DeGaetano often trains parent educators and agency staff on how to best help moms and dads in our digital age which often divides family life, making it even more difficult for healthy parent-child relationships. Gloria's popular Best Solutions Programs are tailored to the specific needs of participants, resulting in positive outcomes for the agencies and the parents they serve.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Parent-Coaching---A-Creative-Re-Discovery-Process-F...] Parent Coaching - A Creative Re-Discovery Process For Stressed Out Moms and Dads