Moms Network

Sometimes home based business owners need to hear some “tough love”. It isn’t necessarily fun to hear, but at times, it is needed to make sure that you are staying on track with how you should be running and portraying your business. I am worn out from hearing the “poor poor me” bit; the complaining over and over again. Instead of whining about your situation, DO something about it. Instead of making excuses about WHY you can’t succeed, leap into action to change things.

In essence, we all start out being able to succeed as much as the next person. I don’t know too many home based business owners who were given the silver platter or a big bundle of money to start a home based business. So, why is it that some home based business owners soar and others sit and dwindle and eventually fade away? Why are some home based business owners always up and positive and others negative and look for what they can complain about.

It’s all about attitude. It’s all about goals. It’s all about hard work. It’s all about perseverance. It’s all about seeing the big picture and doing what you need to do in order to make it happen. AND it’s all about taking ownership and acting like a responsible adult.

If things are not working the way you want, it is time to step back and take a good look at what IS working for you and what isn’t. It is also time to look at how you come across to others and how THAT may affect your business. There are several things you can do, or NOT do, to create a shift for your business:

1. Do some research and educate yourself on a variety of topics:

*How to Run a Successful Home Based Business
*How to Market Your Product
*How to Organize your Business & Time
*Search Engine Optimization (for those with websites)
*How to Utilize Social Networking for Your Business
*How to Write Ads that Work
*The Power of Networking
*Secrets in Advertising
*How to Budget Your Business
*Time Management

2. Take time to PUT INTO MOTION what you have learned. Don’t put all that reading and research to waste by not applying it.

3. Don’t be too proud to look to others for help. Look at the people that you see are successful. Instead of harboring possible feelings of envy or jealousy, or even the thoughts of “well I could never do that”, study what they have done. Ask them if they could share some ideas or mentor you. Don’t expect that this advice or mentoring “should” be free. Be willing to pay or barter for help. You can’t expect that someone should give up their own time, away from their own business and family, to guide and teach you.

4. Make better use of your time. Take a reality check and chart your time for a few days, so you can see exactly what you are doing when you “should” be working your business. Are you spending too much time on message boards or email lists? Are you spending too much time chatting on Instant Message, Twitter or Facebook? Are you spending too much time browsing and getting “lost” on the internet? Are you spending too much time on customers who you may need to drop? Are you spending too much time on projects and day to day routines that could be more automated?

5. Realize that your business DOES need to change from time to time. You cannot expect growth from doing the same thing from year to year. Then be brave enough to make the changes that need to be made.

6. Reinvest the money earned from your sales to expand, promote and grow your business. Spend your money wisely on things that will help your business or your business “self” to grow and advance.

7. Don’t share too much of your personal “drama” with business associates, especially in very public areas such as message boards or email lists. You can lose a lot of credibility if it looks like you cannot manage your own life (financially, emotionally etc). People will and DO look at how you represent yourself personally and how you run your life and they will mirror that sort of management and behavior onto your business.

8. Don’t beg. It is not professional or ethical. Don’t tell people that you are desperate to make a sale or meet a quota, or worse yet, try to get people to pity you for a personal situation you may be facing that requires you to need more money. You NEED to separate your personal life from your business. People will be turned off and view what you are doing as capitalizing on a bad situation in your personal life. If you need more money to come in, offer a sale or discount. Do it in a very upbeat, positive and fun way. Don’t guilt people into doing business with you.

9. Each person brings a unique view and personality to their business. Utilize and capitalize on that uniqueness. Find your OWN way – through hard work, creative ideas and perseverance.

Remember the expression “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? Well, neither can your business be built in a day. A successful and long living business will take time to grow as it needs to. This could be months, it could be years. The sooner you realize that there will be good AND bad times ahead, the sooner you can get away from the “poor poor me” attitude when things aren’t as you had hoped they would be.

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Cyndi Webb is the Founder and President of Moms Network – an organization dedicated to the promotion and success of Moms in business. Since 1997 she has promoted and worked with thousands of work at home moms in coaching and guiding them in how to help grow their businesses. Over the years Moms Network has evolved to include more than 20 websites offering free resources to moms from all walks of life, the Connecting @ Home print magazine and the annual Celebrating Moms Expo which attracts thousands of moms in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Cyndi makes her home in Minnesota with her husband and two children.

Can business and friendships happily co-exist? Certainly, if the lines are not crossed and respect is given from both sides. Much too often ill feelings can arise when friends attempt to do business with each other. One person crosses the line with their expectations of what they feel should be acceptable behavior because of their friendship with the business owner. I hear time and time again how this has happened to many business owners, especially women in business.

It can become a vicious cycle if you are not careful. What can happen is people become accustomed to the discounts or free offerings and when you put a stop to them, they can become bitter and distant. All of a sudden, in their eyes, you are not the wonderful, supportive, business owner you used to be. You are no longer the person who gives out discounts and “freebies”. Unfortunately, some people consider a business owner as being supportive only when they can benefit from that business. They look at how their business can grow from the special services and products offered to them at a discount or free. There are others who feel they deserve the special treatment because they are a family member, friend, or associate of the business owner.

I receive many emails and phone calls from women in business who don’t know what to do about their situation. They have family and friends taking advantage of their services or products they sell and feel defeated because their income is not what it needs to be. What started out as a one time favor has turned into an expectation from them.

Awhile back I witnessed a conversation where one person was complaining that she had approached a business about purchasing product from them at a discount, and the company said “no”. The business owner had responded in honesty and stated that she could not do that as she was trying to earn an income and build a business. This makes perfect sense. How can a business grow or create any sort of income if they are undercutting what they need to make? What I heard next from the individual who had approached the company for a discount surprised me even more. This person stated their frustration that they couldn’t receive a discount, then went on to say to their associates, “But I know that I could ask any of you for this and you would do it.” I thought this was such an unfair assumption and expectation to put on people.

Could your business survive if you gave away your product and services or if you gave everyone a discount? Not likely. Do not expect others to offer what you are not willing to offer yourself. And do not expect others to offer what you may already be offering. Each business is different. Each has different budgets, expenses and goals.

Ask yourself the following questions: Are you expecting special treatment and rewards? Do you put your friends on the spot to extend favors to you?

Do you judge other business owners by what you think they should be doing for you? Do you get angry when you don’t receive perks from your friends in business? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to step back and look closely at your motives and the way you conduct yourself in business.

When I resigned from my outside job to be a work at home mom, I needed to replace the income I was making. This was the understanding that I made with my husband, for our family. For almost the entire first year I found myself continually giving free services, time, and even product to people. I felt bad and even guilty every time I would hear of someone who didn’t have enough money or didn’t have the proper skills/software to do what they wanted in order to help their business grow. What ended up happening is that I felt I couldn’t say “no”, and because of this, I put my family’s finances at risk. This was unfair to myself, my family and my business. I have had to learn to say “no”, and have had to learn to draw that line between business and friendship. It is a struggle, and something that is still not fully resolved.

Am I saying that you should never help others by offering discounts and free services? No, definitely not. What I am saying is that you need to be careful and not fall into the trap of attempting to make everyone happy and of taking care of everyone else’s problems. If you run your business this way, you will run it right into the ground. Pick and choose what you can do for others.

Help others when you can – when you and your business can afford to. You will find both you and your business will run more smoothly when putting limits on your generosity.

Doing business with friends can work wonderfully and be beneficial if done properly. By setting up some guidelines and having candid conversations up front, you can have a business relationship with respect and understanding.

Guidelines to Follow:

1. When becoming a customer or client of a friend, don’t expect any special discounts or treatment. This is unfair to the business owner and directly affects their livelihood. If you each want to extend a discount or other perks to each other, be open and up front about whether it is feasible. Remember, if your friend gave a discount to every friend/associate they had, they wouldn’t be able to make the income they need. You are not the one to judge what another person needs to earn or should be earning.

2. Pay your bills on time. Do not treat your friend’s business any different than other companies you deal with. Put yourself in their position. What if all of your customers/clients did not pay you when their bills are due? Paying on time not only shows respect but is the right thing to do.

3. Don’t take “no” personally. If your friend cannot offer you a free or discounted service, respect that. She/he is attempting to run a business and not only has their business expenses to pay, but an income to earn. It has nothing to do with the type of person they are. Do not judge someone by what you can receive for free from them. You do not know what their situation is or all the free services/products that they already provide to others.

4. Do not over-extend yourself. Many times people allow themselves to be taken advantage of out of guilt. They feel they need to help and offer their services for free or at a discount to everyone. Unfortunately, some friends, family members or acquaintances will try to make an individual feel guilty.

You know what you can and cannot do in the area of helping others. Do not put yourself in a bind so that your business or family suffers – financially or time wise. This is unfair to your family. You cannot be everything to everybody. Be true to yourself, your values and your needs. This does not mean you are being selfish. It means you are being realistic and will help where and when you can.

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Cyndi Webb is the Founder and President of Moms Network – an organization dedicated to the promotion and success of Moms in business. Since 1997 she has promoted and worked with thousands of work at home moms in coaching and guiding them in how to help grow their businesses. Over the years Moms Network has evolved to include more than 20 websites offering free resources to moms from all walks of life, the Connecting @ Home print magazine and the annual Celebrating Moms Expo which attracts thousands of moms in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Cyndi makes her home in Minnesota with her husband and two children.