Moms Network

Working from home brings lots of positives to life, but also a fair number of challenges too, particularly for moms.

Creating a calm working space to make tasks as simple as they can be and which limit distractions for optimum efficiency, will help to minimize some of those challenges.

Read on for seven great tips for creating a great work-from-home office space.

Dedicated space

Whether you have the space at home to dedicate a whole room to your office or if you can only spare a small corner of a room to transform into a workstation, it is important you have a place you can go to knowing this is your place for work.

This will help you to mentally separate your mum duties from your work duties when it is time to clock in.

Calm surroundings

There are lots of ways to make your workspace a calmer place to be. Avoiding a buildup of paperwork and other clutter is essential. You can also add scents to the air, some low-level calming music to block out exterior noises and even have a jar of CBD gummy bears to hand from a CBD online shop which may also add to the feelings of tranquility.

Reduce distractions

It can be really difficult to maintain concentration when all the reminders of household chores yet to be done are hanging around, but it is essential to separate work life from mom life.

To reduce distractions, make sure toys and other motherhood reminders are all hidden out of sight, even if you have not yet had the chance to tidy, just make sure there is nothing in your eyeline while in your office space.

Ergonomic furniture

So many home workers subject themselves to sitting at the dining room table, or worse hunched over a coffee table, to carry out work. This is bad news for your back and will also distract you from your work.

Investing in some made-for-purpose office furniture such as an ergonomic desk and chair will offer you a comfortable place to get on with the to-do list without aches and pains affecting productivity.

Good design

Style your office to suit your tastes and you will find it more of a pleasure to escape to when you have got to go to work.

A big positive of home working is you can make your working space attractive to you, so spending a little time on its design is well worth the effort, ensuring you can settle down for the day in a space that makes you smile.

Efficient storage

Being unable to put your hand to what you need can be incredibly time-sapping. To avoid wasting precious minutes searching for what you need every time you need it, invest in appropriate storage.

Good connection

There are not many situations more frustrating than having to wait for a slow internet connection, and remote working generally requires at least some level of connectivity, so getting the fastest broadband you can is a good choice.

Whether you need to file share, visit websites, take part in video conferences or any other tasks requiring connecting to the web, get your internet up to speed.

Working Smart

Launching your own business and becoming an entrepreneur can be a great way to realize your professional ambition, particularly if you want to carve out a flexible career. For working moms, the option to work from home or to adjust your schedule around your kids needs can be invaluable. When you start your own venture, you can ensure that your professional and personal lives complement one another.

Of course, running a business is never easy, which is why it can be helpful to simplify your operations. When you spend less time on the day-to-day management of your firm, for example, you can focus on core activities and business growth. With this in mind, take a look at these four ways to streamline your business management now:

1. Work with Talented People

When you cultivate a talented and reliable team, you’ll feel more comfortable delegating responsibility and be able to trust your workers to complete their tasks satisfactorily. Instead of having to micromanage staff or continually quality check work, you can allow staff to assert their independence and manage their own workloads. Whether you’re hiring in-house employees or working with freelancers, finding talented professionals can transform the way your business runs.

2. Outsource Specific Business Functions

No matter what type of business you run, there will be a range of functions and processes that need to be managed. However, you don’t necessarily have to manage them in-house. When it comes to accounting, IT strategy or marketing, for example, outsourcing can be an effective way to access the specialist services you need while streamlining your business management.

When you work with renowned marketing experts, like merrittgrp.com, you can achieve your goals, increase brand awareness and even boost your marketing ROI while reducing the amount of time you spend managing this area of your business.

3. Use Workflow Management Tools

When you take a strategic approach to workflow management, you can increase your productivity and efficiency but, crucially, you can also manage workers more easily and effectively. By finding the right project management platform for your business, you can ensure that every worker has their own custom dashboard and can access visual updates and forecasts in an instant. This drastically reduces the amount of time you spend managing projects and can increase efficiency throughout the organization.

4. Increase Automation

When business management involves repetitive tasks, such as invoicing or document creation, you can streamline the process by implementing automated solutions. This means you’ll spend less time carrying out managerial tasks, but it also reduces the risk of human error and can increase the quality of your outputs. With a variety of automated solutions now available, it’s easy to find options that match your business needs.

Take a Strategic Approach to Running Your Business

As your business grows, managing every aspect of it can seem overwhelming. With the right strategy, however, you can minimize the amount of work that’s required and even reduce your costs while streamlining the management process. By doing so, you’ll free up your own time, optimize outputs and potentially increase your profitability too.

Managing business finances is challenging for any business owner but when you have a stay-at-home business, the challenge gets amplified. This is because you are responsible for handling all your business’ finances because you may not have any employees yet. Even when you have the skills to create the products and services you sell, managing your finances can still feel like a chore, leading to financial habits that can lead to business failure. To help you out, here are a few tips to help you manage your business’ finances better.

Woman at Laptop

Pay Yourself

If you are  running a small business from your home, it is easy to set aside some money to pay yourself. A lot of people end up putting all the money back into the business and forget that they have financial responsibilities outside the business.

Once you start paying yourself, it gets easier to extend that type of thinking to employees and to see the need for them because you know you can work the business’ finances to find the money needed to hire extra help.

Have a Billing Strategy

Almost every business has a client who is always late on their payments. If you have such a client, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy cash flow. This is why it is so important to have a billing strategy in place.

Some strategies include considering discounts for clients who pay early and letting all customers know that you need them to pay within a certain number of days, usually 30 days after an invoice has been sent. If not, it is always better to find alternative clients than to deal with the headache and cash flow issues caused by one client.

Do Not Be Afraid of Loans

There is a false notion that if you run a stay-at-home business, you might not be eligible for a loan. While loans can be scary, there is no reason why you cannot apply and get one while you work from home. Lenders will want to see your numbers and a demonstration of your ability to repay the loan. Businesses like Advance Business Capital are helping people find the right types of loans for their businesses, regardless of the types of businesses they run. If you are ready to give your business the financial reserves it needs to be successful, you can talk to them to get a quote for the right type of loan.

Keep an Eye on Your Books

Even when you have someone taking care of your books, it is important to set some time aside every week or month to go through the books. Doing this ensures you are intimately familiar with your business’ finances. Also, it can help you notice if anything nefarious is going on.

Running a stay-at-home business can be hard, especially if you do not have someone helping you with your finances. However, it is possible to learn everything you need to so that you can know what is happening in your business as well as to find the extra cash you need if you ever need it to grow your business.