Success as a Work at home mom? That's your decision!
The Non-Stop Mama
Founder of Group "What Would Mama Do?" and fanpage "What Would Mama Do?"
I was recently engaged in conversation about being a work from home mother. There were some points that I'd love to write about today.
Whether you work outside of the home, work from home, or both, work ethics are an important aspect to your reputation and your business life. It affects your family life in ways you might not realize.
Let's look at Ethics. By definition, Ethic means, moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior. syn- moral code, morals, morality, values, rights and wrongs, principles, ideals, standards (of behavior), value system, virtues, dictates of conscience.
Do you practice such things when you are doing your day to day work? I run several of my own businesses, and I try to incorporate a good standard, high morals, and Ethics into everything I do.
Here is why. My children witness me at work. They witness my clients. They witness how I deal with my clients and they witness the standards at which I hold myself to my businesses.
This brings me to Reputation. If you want to succeed in the small business world, your reputation should, by every standard, be one of the things you worry about. Not just how your business runs, but how you carry yourself with your business. Are you putting a good reputation out there? Are others seeing you and saying good things or bad things? Do you let them give you feedback so that you can fix things? Or do you have the mentality of "If they don't like it they can bugger off!" This could be a problem. Negative comments that someone would have of you, spread like wildfire, where positive comments take time to grow and prosper. It is unfortunate that this is the case, but it is.
Again, this is something your children also witness.
Do not bad mouth your clients and customers. It will get back to them more times than not! I witnessed a local photographer making fun of a client's teeth in her portraits. She thought she was safe because she did it on a photographers group. It just so happened that this victim's relative was also part of that group and told the client where to find the posted picture and comments. Your children also might witness this and think it is ok to make fun of people for their appearances. But ultimately, you just lost tons of customers.
And lastly, action! Proactive action. Have a plan! One of my jobs involves hiring others to work for themselves while I help manage them, guide them, and urge them on. The job itself is new to me but the act of managing is not. I've held management positions before. I watch as some of these Mama's who work from home struggle and finally find their niche. I also watch while some of them sit down on their behinds and expect the work to do itself. Then I watch them tear down other people who may have worked harder at their own goals had they not been beaten down by the lazy one with no goals. I absolutely love when I see the ones who work hard and get proud of themselves when they finally get past that beginning stage. Refreshing!
Yet again, this is something your children and your peers notice. So be proactive. Make goals, long term and short term. Make to do lists. And bring a positive attitude with you when working on them.
It is Normal and OK to get stressed out when working. So find a way to step back and de-stress. Let your family see a realistic outlook on what the real world is. If it is a family business, let them be involved with helping with small tasks. Sometimes my girls accompany me on one of my jobs and help out with setting up and shutting down.
Do not lose hope, do not lose sight of your goals. Take breaks but don't give in. You will Succeed if you WANT to Succeed.
http://www.youravon.com/shimmyhips
http://www.coolcapturesphotography.com
http://www.facebook.com/coolcaptures
http://www.facebook.com/sisterhoodoftheshimmyhips
