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Managing Your Home Based Online Business -
By Roy Thomsitt
Working at home in their own business is something millions of people
strive for and dream of, but most in the Western world never actually
get around to doing it. For those who do achieve it, how do they
adapt if they have changed, for example, from an office environment,
where they were employed, had a strict routine imposed on them, and
were told what to do all the time by those above them in the company?
How do you manage working alone
from home? Now, that is not "manage" in
the "how do you get by?" sense. It is manage in the manager/staff
sense. You work at home alone, you are the boss of your home based
business. So who or what is there to "manage"?
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The profitability of any business, sole proprietor or multinational,
depends on the successful management of a number of omnipresent departments:
marketing, finance, human resources, computing, purchasing, and,
if appropriate, research and development, and production.
If you are working at home, alone,
online, you have all those management responsibilities and functions
rolled into one. Your management task is perhaps the most difficult
of all. You have to manage yourself. If you have never thought about
it like that, then I suggest you consider it for a while. To run
a successful business, you need to have a grasp of all the elements
of that business, and how they interlink. That is as true with a
home based online business as it is with a large corporation. Managing
all those different elements of the business, I think you will find,
is not as easy as it may sound. Managing yourself is definitely not
as easy as it may sound.
Working at home for many can mean
an escape from the managers above them who may have made their lives
a misery, or at least less satisfying, for all of their previous
career. But does working at home mean an escape from
management altogether? No, it does not. At least, if you want a more
profitable home based business, then management will be every bit
as important as before. In fact, more important.
Why more important? Now it is your business. If you had shares in
a company, would you not want good management to increase profits
and thus your dividend and capital? Of course you would. You are
not earning profits for others, unless you have family responsibilities.
Okay, you will pay taxes, but that's not your biggest concern when
you get started. You just want to get started and make some profits.
Having achieved your dream of a home online business, you want it
to succeed. You will have an online business that will belong to
you. You are the boss, and the expert on all aspects of running the
business. You have your freedom at last, now you need to manage your
new business in a way that will ensure it grows and prospers.
With you as manager and staff, these things will all be so easy
.....won't they? Maybe not. Having your own business, especially
based at home and alone, is not necessarily as straight forward as
you may have thought. Just ask yourself for now, if you were a manager
before, were you a good manager? As a subordinate, were you a good
member of staff, someone your bosses respected and could rely on?
Ask yourself. Be honest and ask some of your former co- workers,
who should be honest too. Listen to any conflicts. You will have
to deal with those conflicts as manager and staff.
Really? Yes, really! You have to
deal with yourself. You are the boss and the
staff. The best staff are those who follow instructions, work hard
in their allotted time, work efficiently in what they are doing,
and apply all the knowledge and training they have. They are also
going to flourish by coming forward with good ideas and having them
listened to.
The best managers give clear instructions and communicate their
expectations of their staff. They also explain why certain things
are done and paint the broader picture to enlighten their staff about
what their role means. They also know when to listen to the ideas
of others, including staff, and when to buy in expertise. Are you
able to fulfil both roles?
By being aware of the need
to manage the finance, marketing, purchasing and the other “departments” of your online business,
you are part of the way to managing your business more effectively.
If you can learn to compartmentalise, in your own mind, those same “departments” then
you will be taking another step along the same road. If you can devote
time to learning more about those “departments”, becoming
an expert in each, and also learn what you can about management,
then you will be a powerful manager of your online business.
Who will benefit from that? You, and those you support and care
for. Does that not make the effort worth it?
About the Author: Roy Thomsitt is the owner of the home business
website: http://www.change-direction.com
Source: http://www.isnare.com
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