The pursuit of happiness is a day to day challenge in any home office. On one hand, it is perfectly natural to find inspiration there—isn’t that part of the draw?! On the other hand, I am constantly striking a balance in order to succeed as a home office entrepreneur.

For instance, I will not conduct conference calls with dogs barking, children crying, or the television blasting in the background. Just common sense—I also never meet with clients wearing a tank top and flip flops. The key is to inspire confidence and project a professional business identity while enjoying the entrepreneurial lifestyle as much as possible. Here are some simple steps you can take to strike the right balance in your home office:

1. Present your home-based business professionally. First impressions are extremely important in business—so be the consummate professional. The appearance of your home office says something about you and your business. Use your surroundings to inspire the kind of confidence necessary to hire you.
2. Invest in technology. You should invest in a computer, multi-function copier, and software (accounting, security etc.) necessary to run your business. Maintain a website—even if it only serves as a brochure for your business. Use your website hosting service for business e-mails. Back up your computer data every day.
3. Setup a “Smart Phone System”. This means a business phone line separate from your home phone . Once again, no kids yelling or dogs barking during your business calls. Update your voice mail messages daily. Call forward to your “smart” cell phone (I use an iPhone)—this will provide greater access to clients and critical business data while you are out of the home office. Depending upon the nature of your business, it might be worth paying for an answering service to serve as a buffer between work and your personal time at home.
4. Professional marketing materials. In order to effectively compete in the marketplace, you need professional business cards, letterhead, and brochure material. I can’t stress enough just how important this investment is for a startup, home-based company. Anything less and you might appear bush-league.
5. Set up separate business bank accounts. Establishing good business credit is one of your first priorities. Remember, banks take credit history into account when deciding whether to issue a loan. Suppliers negotiate payment conditions based upon a business’ credit. Good business credit could mean the difference between C.O.D. and 90 day payment terms. And, potential business partners also assess the risk of doing business with your company based upon credit.
6. Effective Time Management. Define the parameters of your business. Then organize your time accordingly—you may no longer work in a 9-5 world, but your business still needs to provide services like one.

Take these steps and you are on your way to working without shoes successfully!

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