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December 10, 2006
Your Business Shouldn't Take the Holiday Season Off
Over the years I have noticed that the holidays can be a difficult time for moms who work out of their homes to stay focused and stick to their regular work routine. While working out of your home does give you flexibility, you still do have a business to run and people counting on you to deliver your product or service. So, while it may be tempting to "ditch" work more than normal to run holiday errands, bake cookies, decorate and take more breaks than usual, I caution you to be careful to not go overboard. Plan accordingly, just as when you worked out of the home. When work needed to be done, you couldn't decide to just not show up for work or leave during the work day because you wanted to have fun, instead of being in the office. Granted, all people get vacation time and you need to, in essence, schedule your own vacation time from the business you do out of your home.
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Being your own employer takes discipline, and requires that you make sound and professional decisions. You need to remind yourself that even though the holidays are here, you do have a business that still needs to run and be taken care of. Depending on your business, and whether you own that business or work for someone else, you need to make a plan that will carry you through the holiday season while still creating the time you want away from work. By playing hooky too much, you will fall behind in all you had hoped to accomplish, and be complaining about it when January hits, and even worse, not bring in as much money as you need each month. Remember, real businesses in the real world don't stop when the holidays hit. They need to go on as they always do throughout the entire year. |
This holiday season, be sure to make a plan, take some extra time off to enjoy family and festivities, but at the same time, making it a priority to continue with your work and business in a professional and responsible manner.
Posted by Cyndi at December 10, 2006 09:16 AM
Comments
That’s right the holiday season is no time to “play hooky.” The holiday season is a wonderful test for work at home moms.
There is so much to do for festive season and yet still carry on your business. Yes you need a plan. This plan should allow for work life balance.
It is necessary to enjoy time with your family and also honor your business responsibility. The plan may not be about making money but maybe getting rid of some of those emails that are piled up in your inbox or having your computer serviced.
Posted by: Cecil at December 10, 2006 11:46 AM
Hi: For many home-based businesses that include any kind of retail sales, the holidays are a prime time to actually increase what you're doing in terms of advertising/marketing your product(s)! Think of things like gift baskets, stocking stuffers, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, grab bags, Secret Santa gifts, my ideas go on and on! And often if we take
December off, it takes 2-3 months to make up the loss in momentum! So embrace the holdiday season, and reap the rewards!
Posted by: Robin Shaw at January 16, 2007 07:20 PM
I have found that if I set a certain time that I will be "Closed for Christmas" I can avoid being dragged out of the house to the irrisistable sales and the freedom of shopping when the crowds are smaller. This year we actually went out of town for Christmas, so I missed out on my opportunity to take that week for myself. But I did keep my focus on work during my operating hours and still managed to get in some shopping in the evenings during the week. One bonus was that I didn't spend a large chunk of change on presents! I tend to be a lot busier during the holidays because many of my clients want to take time off themselves, or they are starting new projects for the new year and need extra help. I definitely agree that we need to keep our focus on our goals - even if our favorite department store has 50% off everything :)
Posted by: Kris Havlicek at January 17, 2007 04:45 PM
