Preparing for Ups and Downs in Your Home Business

Your dream for your business might be a steady amount of client/customer activity but that is seldom the reality.

In my experience, both as a home business owner and as a home business coach, it’s assumed that your business will run at a steady level of activity. The truth is, that’s seldom true. In most cases, your business is going to experience a series of ups and downs. That’s why it is important to prepare for the ups & downs in your home business.

In the early days, you’re probably going to find yourself with lots of time on your hands as you work to build sales or your client base. Then, as your business gets busier you may find yourself so busy that it’s hard to find the time to do the things for your own business, like marketing, blogging, or even invoicing. The temptation is going to be to put what your own business needs on the back burner, but that’s an unwise course of action.

So how exactly do you deal with the ups and downs of business ownership?

1. Prepare for the up times during the down times.

If you’re dealing with a slower time in your business, whether it’s during the start-up phase or after you’ve become established, use it to simplify your business processes. This will help you save time when it gets busier and you’re feeling the crunch.

Some things you can do to simplify your business processes:

·     Create an intake process for new clients or customers

·     Create automatic or templated email responses to questions and requests that you get frequently.

·     Create an information packet to quickly and easily share information about your business.

·     Create blog posts and stockpile them for busy times.

·     Use an invoicing service like Freshbooks, which makes creating, sending, and following up on invoices quick and easy. 

2. Create down times during the up times.

When you’ve got a full client load or a big upswing in sales it can leave you feeling overwhelmed. As hard as it may seem it’s important for you to create down time in your schedule to keep from burning out. One thing to always keep in mind; never schedule a full 8-hour day of client projects or customer-related work. Also, be sure to add the following to each day:

• A short mid-morning break for grabbing a coffee, tea or a walk. At least 15 or 20 minutes will generally do the trick.
• At least 30 minutes for lunch. 60 minutes if you can possibly swing it. Eat away from your desk, or at least away from your work. If you must eat at your desk, don’t eat and work. Watch a TedTalk, read a book, sit in the sunshine. 
• Schedule phone calls. Taking phone calls can set your schedule back tremendously. Consider using a scheduling app of some sort so you can take calls during certain hours or even on certain days. Set your voicemail message up to ask callers to schedule a call and then let the phone go to voicemail. Turn the ringer off if you’re the type of person who has a hard time not answering the phone when it rings.
• Schedule time for your own business. Be sure that you set aside an hour or two each business day for taking care of your own business needs. It doesn’t have to be the same time each day. Use that time for things like attending local business group events, attending seminars or webinars, doing invoicing, answering emails and inquiries, writing blog posts and marketing. If you’ve been wise during the down times in your business, your processes will be streamlined, making just an hour or two a day plenty of time to get things done.
• Don’t be tempted to work ridiculously long hours or weekends. Getting a break from your business is an important element for success. It helps maintain the ebb and flow in your small business, even during extremely busy times.

Your dream for a home business may have always included the perfect, balanced amount of activity and down time, but that’s not realistic. Even so, don’t get discouraged by the fact that owning a home business means ups and downs. Rather than bouncing between feeling like you’re over your head and treading water and lying around like a fish out of water, having steps you can take during both ups and downs helps level it all out.  

Do you know someone who would benefit from these home business tips? Share the link below with them!

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My name is Tina Marie Hilton and I've successfully run my own home business for almost 15 years now. Over those years I've done a lot, and I mean a LOT, of trial and error to see what worked for my business.

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