Making the Change

There are critical times in a work-at-home Mom's life. These are times like having a new baby, sending a kid off to school, adopting a child, beginning to work-at-home, coming home after working at a job, moving, and other major times of change.

One Thing At A Time

Try not to come home from work one week, and start working a business the same week! Most changes take a month to adapt to, so give yourself that much time if you can, to adjust to the new routine of being home, then start slowing integrating a business into it. You can also do it the other way around - that is, to work a business in a few hours of the evening while still working your job, then cut to half time and increase your time both at home and in your business. The same is true with having a new baby, or adopting. Establish your business before the birth, or when the baby is 3 months old. Don't try to quit work at 8 months and start a business just as you are getting ready to bring a baby home, or decide to quit work when your adoptive child arrives and start a business at the same time. Keep the massive changes to one at a time to keep them manageable.

Plan It Well

Figure out ahead of time how much you need to earn, or how much you need to save to get you over the transition. Plan your business as best you can before diving in, and research it well also. No one can fully prepare you for the reality of your experience, but good planning and research will eliminate a lot of needless hardship.

Ask For Help

Don't be afraid to ask for help. During transitional periods sometimes there is not enough of one person to go around. While moving office we hired a lady to come in and do the final cleaning because it was too much for us to do while trying to organize the office at home. Decide the part you can do, and ask for help with just one or two specific tasks. Sometimes more information is the only help you really need, but you won't get that without looking for it either.

Involve Your Husband

Husbands often feel like this is your thing, not theirs, and that if it works, fine, if not, then you can always go back to work. They also tend to see things from their point of view, which is that you are coming home to do more things that they want you to do. This is not a criticism of men, all people tend to view things through their own expectations. Talk a lot about what you are doing, how you are filling your time, which things are hard and which things are going well. And if you need his help, ask specifically for it, and give him the chance to back out if he feels he does not have the time. Some of these same issues will be faced with children also, especially older ones who feel that if you get to play on the computer for half the day, so should they!

Step-By-Step

Prioritize what needs done. When we face huge changes, sometimes the whole picture is too much to get all at once. Break it down into smaller pieces, what has to be done first, what comes next, and so on. Take frequent breaks, and concentrate on just doing the next thing. A good breakdown of huge tasks can make the impossible achievable.

Changing the Business

Be willing to change when your life changes. It works well for a woman with young children to do daycare, but it may be better for her to do something else as her children get older. You may have the ideal house for a bakery or food production business, but if your husband changes jobs and it is necessary to move, it may be best to close the business and try something else in a new location. Changes in the market may also force changes in your business, and a willingness to go with it can make a big difference. Success is not always determined by making something work no matter what, but often by knowing when something works well, and when to change it for something else that will work well with new circumstances. And let your business grow with you. Most people learn things that let the business change and evolve as they learn new things. What it is now is not always what it has to be, even when it is working well.